My Audio Kit

when ben burt starting recording for star wars, all he GOT was one mic because he was recording on a Nagra 4.2 - mono! so thats irrelevant. hopefully we have progressed a bit in the last 40 odd years.

"I'll just let the list speak for itself" - that would be nice.

BTW, you have the transmitter/receiver backwards. You run 400 Rx, not Tx.

Maybe you should start with 2 G2 sets...
 
timapter said:
when ben burt starting recording for star wars... hopefully we have progressed a bit in the last 40 odd years....
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Please god please don't age me an extra decade...Star Wars (can't believe this dates me) was only THIRTY...30...a three and a zero years ago.

At 1AM I actually had to stop and recalulate my age before realizing this error.

For future reference: http://www.mtsu.edu/~smpte/timeline.html (check under the 70's....not 60's)

Must get sleep now :zombie_smiley:
 
my bad... i didnt feel like researching to make the point. either way, we have advanced somewhat in 30 years.
 
timapter said:
Maybe you should start with 2 G2 sets...
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Yeah, THAT puts it all into perspective, doesn't it? Talk about "advanced in 30 years"! We have some GREAT equipment available for purchase these days for [relatively] little money.
 
ive used G2 for film production. Its not the best in the world, but its a really nice package, especially with a good mic on it.

re: B&H, thats a plug on transmitter. its not really designed for lavalier microphones.

it lets you run a boom or interview/stick mic wirelessly.
 
What input does the B6 have? I saw that the COS-11 had XLR and I would prefer to have my equipment as standardized as possible so if I wanted to or needed to I could run the boom wirelessly.

I just listened to those lav tests that Ptalsky ran and he said it was through a G2. It sounded great to me. I guess I don't understand what the problem is with the G2. Unless someone can tell me otherwise, I think I'm going to switch to that and save a few hundred dollars.
 
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Gorilla:

Once you get into this kind of quality lav mic, you can pretty much get it with ANY kind of connector imaginable.

"I guess I don't understand what the problem is with the G2."
Who said there was a problem with it?

This may sound like a broken record, but the products you are talking about here in this {extremely long, and increasingly tedious} thread, are of SUCH high quality, most mortals WILL NOT HEAR ANY DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER between them. Once you get into this level of equipment, we are talking about squeezing the last few percent of quality out of sound; and that has to be accompanied by skill and experience to achieve.

It almost sounds like you are falling into this all-too-common trap, where one focuses on some technical aspect of filmmaking (like gear), where one would be far better off garnering other skills. You might be over-focusing on this a little too much, is what I am saying.
Sometimes we need to take a step back, re-examine what we are doing, and how we can achieve our [filmmaking] goals best, because all too often we get stuck in some detail, and go nuts trying to get THAT perfect...and we all know there is no such thing: perfect.

This is just some friendly observations, I in no way am trying to lecture, or criticize.

Cheers.
 
I'm just trying to lockdown exactly what equipment I'm going to buy. Once I get it, aside from a few occasional questions regarding how to maximize it's use, you probably won't hear too much from me after that because I'll be out using it building up that sound library I mentioned. Plus by that point my script will be finished and I'll be out doing location scounting and laying down a rough audio track for the animatic. I do tend to obsess over one thing until I gt the answers I'm looking for and than I move on to the next. right now my obsession is finishing my script and building a great and versatile audio kit.
 
Gorilla King said:
I'm just trying to lockdown exactly what equipment I'm going to buy.
Click to expand...

Understood, but [just about] EVERYONE here is telling you that you CAN'T "lockdown exactly what equipment" you NEED on an internet board. You need to listen to the different set-ups YOURSELF, and try them out and USE THEM in REAL LIFE, real world/recording settings.
 
well I will just as soon as I figure out what I want to get. If it doesn't work for me when I try it then I'll try something else.
 
About a year ago one of my friend's parents died and he inherited a pretty large estate built mostly on stocks and several real estate land and builing deeds. This is a guy who I saw drop out of college and just float from job to job, never really doing anything with his life, but always knowing that one day he was going to be set. I remember hearing him talk about what he was going to inherit and thinking he was full of $hit, until about a month after the funeral of his mother he showed up at my work driving a Porsche convertible, red, decked out, 61 miles on the odometer. This is the same guy who two weeks earlier had been driving a smurf blue Toyota Tercell. That Porsche was bad ass... and a week later it was totaled, but he survived the crash.

Moral of the story, well... there are two.

First of all, my friend was and is a complete moron, but he's sometimes fun to hang out with because he always picks up the tab for those of us less fortunate. Still, he's sort of an arrogant prick who gets on my nerves pretty quick.

Moral 2: When you go from nothing to the best then you're going to crash and burn.

What all this means: I'm just getting sick of this thread and the endless splitting hairs. If I'm alone in this opinion, well then that's fine, I'll just keep it to myself, but I just think this has gotten rediculous and the whole idea that someone is giving you $15,000 interest free just seems...

Anyone wanna buy a bridge? I got a great one in Brooklyn

-Jeremy
 
No need to get bitter about it all. If you all prefer the "how can I get great sound for under 300.00?" questions then go have fun answering those. No one is forcing you to post here. Also your assertion that I'm going from nothing to the best is just outright dumb. I'm going from an XL1 (which I might remind you WAS the best when it was first released) and ME66K to an HVX and a good, and more complete audio kit. On top of that, I spent three years in school working with audio and video mixers doing film and TV production work. And before THAT I had been making films on my own for more than seven years. I mean I even showed you one of my films I made when I was 18 with no budget, no real actors and nothing but me and my camera. And you know what? You thought it was pretty good. I'm so sick of whether or not you've worked in "the industry" being the standard for whether you deserve any respect. Fortunatley for me, somone was kind enough to contact me and offer to help me out. that's more than I can say for a lot of you guys. You kick and punch anytime you see someone coming up the ladder because God forbid that they should become good at doing audio work too. If you don't want to answer my questions then fine, don't. I've never met such a stuck up bunch in all my life.
 
Boy Gorrilla, you suck all of this information from us, you don't listen to advice until you are beaten in the head with it, you constantly keep trying to impress us with your massive amounts of experience creating masterpieces and award-winning films with no budget and no crew and now you call all of us stuck up. Well, guess what, hundreds of people have come here sincerely asking for advice without a chip on their shoulder have left happy, satisfied, and I feel quite confident, have created better sound as a result. You came here, scanned a few posts, boldly declared that you have decided on your equipment package and then dared us to tell you what was good and bad about your choices. Then, you call us all stuck up.

To me, you sound like a petulant child railing against your parents when they tell you not to play in the street. You're going to do it anyway, because you could never get hurt.

So here's the deal: Stop trying to impress us with your vast amounts of experience and long history of award-winning films. No one here is buying it. You know what impresses me? I check out Oleg's IMDB page and it has about 50 entries as a sound mixer. I check out other IMDB pages for guys like Willie Burton (who I met on the set of Pursuit of Happyness) and he has 85 entries on his page and 6 Academy Award nominations and one win and a lifetime achievement award from C.A.S. These are the people that impress me. Winning your college's film festival does not impress me.

As I said before, take the advice you're given, say thank you and STOP arguing. If you are not going to listen to the advice you're offered, STOP asking. And do some of your own research. For example, you asked above what is wrong with the G2. Did you read any of the hundreds of threads on the G2? Your answer is there.

And do you seriously think we care one way or the other whether you become good at being a production sound mixer? You say no, the interesting thing is, I think we all actually do. If you had really read through this forum, you would have seen the number of times we cheer for each other when a success is shared. There actually is a camaradre (sp?) amongst the members here and it isn't limited to just a select group. But, you also seem to miss the fact that many members offer experience and advice and research they've done. In other words, they give back to the forum. You've already said that as soon as you suck us dry for information, we won't see you again. That's a nice way to pay back the vast volumes of advice you've been given.

So, unless you say something equally stupid as "I've never met a such a stuck up bunch in all my life" I'm done with you. To quote Dogbert: "B'ah - You're banished from my universe".

Phil
 
No, you know what's bull is when I do say thank you and I continue to get insulted, mocked, belittled and basically spit upon. Do you honestly expect me to just say oh well he told me this about such and such a mic so he's entitled to treat me like crap?
 
uh, this is getting ugly.


your kit isnt "good and more complete", its frickin feature film dude. If thats what you wanted to hear, then great, Im happy for you. But Yankee is right, sooner or later, you're gonna crash that Porshe...

You mentioned earlier in this thread that you cant believe people are knocking you for trying to get good sound. They arent knocking you for that, they are knocking you for having the arrogance to come here (with your largely pre-assembled list from B&H - I know, Ive made those lists before too), and say that this is my incredible kit. Its the best. I dont know how to use it really or what alternatives exist. But this stuff costs the most so now I rock.

And personally, I advocate buying the best people can afford. But only after trying all the options out man. I mean, WORKING with that gear, learning its weaknesses on days you dont want to relive, learning its strengths on days when you walk around saying "Damn this thing rocks" to the disinterested PA because you are so amped about the sound you are recording.

You cant say you know what you are doing. ME66 to the kit you are using is completely insane unless you've been assisting Jeff Wexler and co. for the last year.

Gorilla, I really do respect you. I really do. And I've never said anything to insinuate otherwise. I just think you're going balls deep in this thing without much audio experience (which, by the way is A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THING to camera/directing/whatever experience), and you're pissing these guys off because they know better than to buy the best and EXPECT the rest (damn, good rhyme) to follow.

They have got to be where they are by making mistakes, and learning these lessons the hard way. Not making mistakes doesnt make you better than anyone else, it just means that one day you have further to fall.

Peace man.
Tim
 
I do think my attitude is being misconstrued to a certain point. Yes I did bring up my previous experience with filmmaking but only in response to what was implied about me having no experience whatsoever. If y'all can accept that I'm not completley green I think we'd get along a lot better. Second, I don't appreciate the backhanded insults at all and I think they're completely uncalled for. If those would dissapear we'd get along a whole lot better.

Now with regards to the equipment I'm buying, I'm doing extensive (and clearly some here would argue excessive) research in hopes that I can learn from YOUR mistake rather than having to make all of them myself and have it cost me thousands of dollars. Sure, I'll be making my own fair share of mistakes and I'll get better through them, but there's no reason to waste money when a few questions will save me hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

By the way, here's my NEW revised kit:

1. Tascam HD-P2 900.00
2. Sennheiser 416 900.00
3. Schoeps CMC 641 1,500.00
4. Compact Flash Cards 50.00
5. Sound Devices 302 1,200.00
6. Sennheiser G2 500 Series 900.00
7. Countryman B6 Lav (Beige) 290.00

Now if that doesn't reflect me listening to you all I don't know what does.
 
Now, I really think thats a kit that you'll be happy with, be able to grow into nicely, be able to make REALISTIC career choices and income with, and ultimately upgrade the odd piece here and there as you develop as an audio person.

Im sorry, but you need to define being an AUDIO professional, with being a director/writer/cam person. If all you had before was an ME66, and thats all you've EVER used:

YOU ARE GREEN.

and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Sure, you directed a good film. That means nothing if you come into an audio group.


Good luck with that kit, I think it will give you much joy. And please, please god, look after that Schoeps, its a very sensitive, fragile microphone. :)
 
I would ditch the Schoeps and get 2 of the T.H.E. hyper cardiods.

You're missing wind protection, shock protection, cables, ect.

-Jeremy
 
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