two headphone setup question

J

joeboda

New member
Hi, I'm just about to start buying equipment, and I'm looking for a little help. Without a mixer (can't afford yet), what are some of the best ways for both the camera guy and the boom operator to monitor the sound? I will probably be purchasing an internally cabled graphite boom pole and two Sony MDR-7506 headphones, but I can't figure out/find a monitoring solution. Any suggestions, with links to vendors would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe
 
Re: two headphone setup question

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mm1master.htm

ill explain why is it your best friend and why boostato shmoostato is avais of money

you cant control the sound input level during the recording you dont have time or abillity to do the both at ones - the booman - soundman can
the booman can go between the preamp and the camera return with out here not nessery second channel that only can disturb his work
he can control indipendently his wolume control
he can cut low fq rumling befor it actually go to your camera
and the important thing - you have much better preamp thaen you have on your camera
buy one good pars of cans for your booman , buy very cheap for your self - you only have to heare what happend not more then that
 
Re: two headphone setup question

I bought the Azden FMX-20 mini mixer for this purpose. It works fairly well, but it's biggest limitation is it doesn't do phantom power. So if your mic can take a battery instead, this is a good, low priced option. 2 inputs, 2 outputs and phones, and it hangs nicely on your belt.

I'm also investigating a monitoring system that can be used by multiple people on a production, especially where sound is going into a recorder rather than into the camera (my preferred method). Nady makes a fairly inexpensive monitoring system (see my other post asking for feedback on this) that lets you add multiple receivers for a fairly low price (~$35 each). The transmitter + one receiver goes for about $129.
 
Re: two headphone setup question

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I guess my fantasy of a low cost, high quality solution won't be coming true. :'(

I'm definitely going to get a mixer in the future, so I really don't want to spend much for an intermediate solution. Is there a device that will just pass the phantom power to the mic, pass the signal back to the camera unadjusted, and power a pair of headphones? Kind of like an XLR barrel with a headphone jack. 1 XLR in, 1 XLR out, 1 headphone out. No mixing, no pad, no cutoff. Maybe something like a simple Shure FP22 at 1/3 the cost? If not, I may just go with plan B.

Plan B:
Split the camera's headphone out. 1 to camera guy, 1 long one to boom guy. Comments?

Thanks,
Joe
 
Re: two headphone setup question

Plan D: spring for the mixer. :D Put the price difference on your credit card (borrow a little from savings, bank loan, whatever). Even the credit card interest will be less then having to buy better professional equipment when your consumer equipment fails you.

Unlike camera equipment (ie-DVX 100) that will be obsolete in less then 3 years, professional-level audio equipment has a conservative half-life of 15 to 20 years. Some audio gear (like microphones) even longer.

If you are in this business for the long haul it just makes the most sense. 8)
 
Re: two headphone setup question

thats smart - there are 400-450$ different between usless setup and the one i sydgested , so if you buy something that really good and has long shelve life( usially thats analog - first stage gear ) - even in a rush you can return at least 70% on the first few months ,- so actually you re talking 125-175$ loose , with 10% intrest from the bank ( credit card - i actually taking more then you can get) thats 50$ a year - so you can end with 225 $ loose - thats less then 20$ a month , ok if you are asmocker - you will qweed and if you regullar bar rat you will drink milk for a wile
 
Re: two headphone setup question

Well, after staying up past 5 am researching this, I've decided on plan D.

I'm going to get a Sound Devices MixPre. It seems like it will do everything I need it to do (for the near long term that is.)

Thanks again,
Joe
 
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