Multi-channel setup

T

thunderfm

New member
I'm looking to set up a rig with multiple wireless lavalier systems, booms and plant mics to do a wide range of productions and I'm looking for some advice on choices of gear.

I want to be able to do a live mix to stereo recorder, which I already have with the DR100mkii and also a multi-track recording to my macbook.

In terms of wireless gear, I have been looking at two systems. The sennheiser g3, both with battery receiver and mains receiver. I am just concerned with the new licensing laws, that this will be a problem to use outside the UK. I have also been intrigued by the new digital systems from Line6. I've used them on live stages and have been quite impressed. I'm informed that licensing issues are not a problem with digital systems.

I have also heard that boom ops can be rigged to wireless systems. What systems are compatible for providing 48v phantom for shotguns?

As for an on set mix, would you guys go for an analogue or digital board? The new desks from Allen and Heath and soundcraft look very promising, such as the QU-16 and SI-Expression. They also allow for multitrack USB/FireWire outputs and the soundcraft also has a word clock input for sync.
 
The UK channel 38 is unique, there is a tiny bit of overlap with the band used in some countries, but realistically, if you are legal in the UK then you won't be able to use it abroad legally. Most euro countries allow ch 70 license exempt kit but some don't seem to bothered. I had some ch38 kit in my kit bag going into dhubai airport and although they had obviously seen it on X-ray and wanted to look, they didn't seem bothered about the operating frequency. Ch 38 isn't correct in the UAE.

Boom wise, if you are using plug on or wired to tax booms then just give the op an IEM pack and they can hear their mic via that.
 
Thanks. So would you recommend going for CH38 gear and paying the PMSE license, then just hope for the best if a job pops up overseas? Is there a risk of unwanted interference in CH70? Are there issues with digital systems at the moment, hence no-one recommending them?
 
Digital systems are free of possible noise reduction (compander) artifacts. I don't know about the cheap 'digital' systems. I have (analog) G3s, 211s and digital 411s. When everything is set-up and working properly, the audio difference is negligible with typical dialog, all other parameters being equal.. That said, you get what you pay for.
Digital or analog board? Both have pros and cons.. your choice.
Where is "overseas"? Each area is different. For instance, a single frequency block will not work everywhere in the states.. legal or not.
 
What's your budget? Also, I would avoid doing any sort of production work recording to a macbook without another multi-channel recorder. I know guys that use a Macbook Pro or even Mac Mini on their sound carts with Metacorder or Boom Recorder, but that's their backup and not their main machine.
 
Overseas, I'm mainly thinking Continental Europe. The budget for radios is the G3 area. At the moment, the main ones I'm looking at are Sennheiser EW100 G3 and Sony UWP-V1.

Good shout on a separate multi-track unit. I've already got a DR-100mkii and a DR-680, but I was looking at the laptop solution for higher track counts.
 
Not ever arguing against backup but in a bunch of big multi track recording gigs I have used Boom Recorder with nothing close to a glitch. I would have run a backup if there had been the budget but there wasn't. I do run a continuous backup by going to two drives but that is no help if the system goes down.

BTW in tests before the first gig I ran huge tests (72 tracks recording to a single drive). I did one hour record tests to a USB2, Firewire, and ESATA drives at that track count and the buffer ring never got past the 1/2 way point (there is a "buffer ring" that shows you if the drive/ system is keeping up or not). Talking with the developer he actually recommends against using ESATA because it's not as good at dealing with competing demands. I have used USB when I was just running BR as a backup but the paranoid in me makes me run FW when it's the primary recorder.

This was mostly a write test. I only have 14 ins so I was using BR ability to write to multiple files to get up to the 72. I was mostly worried about USB handling the traffic with out glitches since I wanted to use that as the backup drive. I was frankly amazed. I can't imaging ProTools pulling this off with out a glitch. During the shows I was only recording 20 tracks, 12 isos and four mix downs of various flavors (there were multiple simultaneous translators).

And I do know of a number of folks using software as the primary recorder. Generally they will also be running a mix feed to a backup recorder or possibly a mix and some key isos. It really depends on the show. If you are over eight feeds it starts to get expensive and complicated to use dedicated recorders for your main recorders. Something like Boom Recorder is fantastic at handling large and complicated setups AND produces great sound logs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top