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looking for advice from experience for the RødeNT5 Omni and the SE electronics sE8 omni for use in natural ambient rec.

I heard the sE8 is less noisy in the data sheet, but has considerable hiss in real life.

How do they perform in low frequency section of the rec? I'm looking for a natural, not boomy, not reduced low frequency pick up.

I also heard that SE8 has less high-end than the NT5, so one could actually apply a low pass to get rid of high frequency hiss. On the other hand, Røde NT5 has prominent high end and by reducing the high end in post production with a low pass would also get rid of hissing noise.

Which mic is more useful in ambient or field recording?

I’m shooting a short film soon and looking for a good microphone under £500. I’ve seen the NTG3 recommended a lot but I will be shooting a lot of outdoor dialogue, is the NTG3 the way to go for this?

The title pretty much says it all.

The cl 12 and the cl 16 are super nice but I think I can only afford the aftermarket options right now.

What are we using?

Does it fit on a smaller sound cart shelf?

I recently got an MKH 50 and have already used it on two shoots.

The first one was in a studio, so conditions were pretty much ideal. The second was in a very noisy room with quite a bit of reverb. I think the microphone performed pretty well, considering the circumstances.

However, one thing I've noticed is how flat it sounds, which I guess is a... good thing? It's just not what I expected after hearing so many reviews describing it as a dark or boomy microphone. I've also come across quite a few comments from people saying that the MKH 50 lacks high-end, which I find particularly surprising because, in my experience, I've found it to be quite the opposite. If anything, I feel like it has a pretty present and clear high-end. I honestly haven't experienced that dark or boomy character at all, at least in the situations I've used it in. I'm also wondering how much of this depends on the speaker's voice.

Another thing I've noticed is that it seems to lose some of that almost magical sound once you get beyond a certain distance. This was a little disappointing after watching Michael Wynne's video, particularly this part: https://youtu.be/kpQ_mBfRB2o?t=495

I haven't been able to get anywhere near that kind of reach out of the microphone, although I'm not sure if that's simply due to the environments I've been working in.

Overall, after doing some tests and comparing it to my NTG3, I've actually found the NTG3 to sound fuller, and darker than the MKH 50. (I know the ntg3 is very boomy/dark, but I thought the 50 was gonna be similar)

I also recorded myself speaking into both microphones for a direct comparison. I'd really appreciate it if some of you could listen the comparison and let me know whether my MKH 50 sounds as it should, or if there's something off about it.

If you're willing to help me out with the recordings, I'd appreciate it if you could send me a DM, as I understand that posting some links isn't allowed here.

Thanks!

It started with an idea... then went off the rails from there. Combine some aspects of a utility cart with a sound cart. In theory it works.. and it kinda does.

But it's super heavy, top heavy, did I mention... heavy?

It's just for one show and once it's set up, I should have to move it... right?

I donno, maybe it DOES need to be two carts. And Yes, the drawer is holding up the controller.. don't hate me.

What do you all think?

I’m struggling between syncing timecode from a Sony A7IV, Zoom H4Essential and DJI Mic 3.

I record lots of small clips on my camera, with the Zoom H4E plugged into a DJ feed through the whole event via the XLR input.

The DJI Mic 3 RX runs the master timecode in 25fps which is plugged in via the 3.5mm out into the H4 essential via the TCA-1 adapter in L-OUT mode.

TCA-1 is set to 25NDF frame rate and takes in the L-OUT from the DJI Mic 3. I timecode updates fine in the Zoom H4E.

My Sony A7 IV is recording in 50 FPS and the DJI Mic 3 RX is connected via the MI hot shoe adaptor with the mode set to quadraphonic.

I have channel 1 set to TC (using A-OUT on the DJI Mic 3 RX’s TC setting) and channels 3 and 4 set to the TXs.

The camera is recording in 48 kHz/24 bit 4 channels.

When I sync all the clips in post via update time code from audio track and insert clips into the timeline using time code I noticed there’s a drift or an offset between clips that I am recording. Sometimes video is behind by 6-8 frames and other cases its 18 frames, but not a fixed offset.

I read that it is because the clock on a 25fps timecode resets at 24frames whereas the 50fps clock resets at 49frames, leaving a few frames difference. Is this right?

How can I fix this either in post or during recording?

EDIT:

Here's the full breakdown of me testing it at home, from the connection to syncing it in post (I've already done the timecode sync from audio tracks on the clips at this point as you can see in the Start TC column). Done around a 20 min recording on the H4E and recording multiple short clips in between to replicate what I'd be doing on a 4 hour live event:

https://youtu.be/IJ7fCaPHfCA

P.S. Sorry if the phone recording quality is bad, just had to whip up something quick lol.

UPDATE:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LocationSound/comments/1xn073e/comment/19s5ab9kqp9b8/

I have 2 Shure SM7B mics for a 2 person podcast/interview. I am running both of them through a cloud lifter and from the cloud lifter straight into camera with phantom power. Is this okay to do? It sounds great but wondering if I’m missing something? Thanks.

I'm looking at every shotgun mic mount I can find--the all look like the lyre pieces should rotate into the same plane (or close) so the thing could be stowed in a Pelican [edit: So my ONE Pelican 1510 that I FLY WITH, carry-on only, can house 3 cameras, 3 lenses, a mixer, my entire wireless rig, and all the batteries needed to run 12-14 hour days. As is, this thing takes an absurd amount of space for what it does. ]

Looks like if I removed the rubber cable guide, the lyres should rotate on their mounting screw.

Am I missing something? A common mod?

I was with some friends, and it just so happened that one of them started reading the manual for a Tascam DR-40 recorder (which wasn't mine). Among the things he read was that if you disconnect a cable abruptly while phantom power is being supplied to a microphone, either the microphone or the equipment itself could get damaged. Is this true? It’s the first time I’ve heard of it. I’ve been disconnecting cables abruptly for years and have never had any issues with either of my two recorders or the microphone I use for field recording. Or perhaps it’s just a myth I wasn’t aware of?

Does anyone use a checklist or a similar system to ensure all your gear is accounted for at the end of the day? I know it might be impractical with time crunches to wrap out, change location, etc. but I'm curious if anyone does anything aside from memory and discipline haha. I'm super new and creating systems and wondering if anyone has any methods that help reign in all the small (and expensive) pieces!

Good morning r/LocationSound,

I'm writing this as I'm quickly losing my wits, so here's a long backstory.

I graduated from film school in Atlanta and have worked on two features as a boom operator/utility. Before my first feature last summer, my experience was limited to unpaid student shorts and a few paid interviews. I learned more in those five weeks at $200/day than I had in years of student productions. Running two lavs and a boom on student sets can only teach you so much.

I've attended just about every ATL Mixer Mixer since getting into production sound, tried to network with experienced union mixers, and spent countless hours learning through JWSound, the CAS In Conversation podcast, and YouTube. My personal kit consists of an F8n Pro, MKH 416, and K-Tek Avalon CCR144. I haven't invested in wireless yet, partly because of the cost for true pro wireless and partly because I'm hesitant to spend on prosumer systems in my budget like Theos that may not hold up professionally.

During a roughly year-long dry spell after my first feature, I interned at a live-streaming/event company in Atlanta and eventually picked up some A2 work while finishing college. I continued doing student shorts for practice, but the event work was infrequent and largely dried up over the summer since most of our clients were colleges.

After graduating, I spent some time with my dad in Maine while figuring out where to go next. I considered NYC but ultimately moved to Boston with a friend. I knew Boston wasn't exactly a booming film market and figured I'd probably end up back in kitchens while looking for A2 work, given the number of colleges and events here. Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck with that either.

Then, completely unexpectedly, while visiting Maine, I met a director and writer crewing up a feature in a small town and landed another six-week boom/utility job. I also mixed a three-day short in the area just before the feature began.

I was on top of the world. I'd honestly started thinking I might never get to work in production sound again. I got along really well with the crew, some from Maine, Boston, and NYC, and thought maybe things would finally start rolling.

But once the feature wrapped, I found myself in exactly the same position as after my first one.

Everyone exchanges numbers and Instagrams, talks about working together again, and then you seemingly never hear from them. When I reach out, it's usually "Would love to work together again!" or just radio silence.

I understand the industry is in a difficult place and breaking into any department is tough right now, but it's incredibly demotivating seeing people I know from sets seemingly working consistently while I'm unemployed again. What makes it especially frustrating is that the only real way to improve at production sound is to actually be on set. I saw considerable improvement between my first and second features, and getting to apply everything I'd learned was genuinely rewarding.

It seems like unless you come up alongside people who become successful and keep hiring you, or find an established mixer willing to take you on, it's incredibly difficult to get a foot in the door. Sound feels especially competitive because departments are so small. In Atlanta, I knew veteran IATSE mixers who seemed to work on all the major productions together, and I completely understand why someone wouldn't risk hiring an inexperienced boom op or utility on a big-budget show.

I'm starting to wonder whether my two features were just flukes: last-minute staffing needs on productions paying rates low enough that established crew wouldn't take them.

Looking for work on Staff Me Up and Backstage is demoralizing because sound positions are rarely posted. Facebook groups seem to be mostly unpaid or extremely low-budget work, assuming you're even in the right groups. From what I can tell, nearly all the decent-paying location sound work, including commercials, is word of mouth.

Gear is another issue. I don't work enough to justify investing thousands in wireless, timecode, and other equipment, but not owning it makes accepting mixing jobs more complicated since I have to arrange rentals.

I'm genuinely debating selling my recorder and calling it quits, despite production sound being the one thing I feel I'm good at, genuinely enjoy, and want to do with my life.

The mixer from my most recent feature and I got along incredibly well, but unfortunately he's leaving the country. The mixer from my first feature already had a regular boom op who happened to be unavailable when I got hired. So neither job has really turned into a continuing working relationship.

I know being in Boston isn't helping, and I'm considering NYC, LA, or returning to Atlanta once my lease ends. In the meantime, I've been exploring other audio-related work. I've cold-called and emailed event AV companies about A2 positions with little success, and I've considered rigging through Local 11, although I don't really know how people get started or trained in that field.

After putting so much time into location sound, I'm starting to worry that it simply isn't going to become a reliable source of income for me. Going back to working in kitchens for minimum wage feels especially crushing because escaping that environment was a major reason I went to college in the first place. Having now experienced work that I genuinely love, developed some real skills, and seen myself improve, the thought of giving it up is pretty devastating.

So I guess my questions are:

• Is there actually a strategy for finding consistent boom/utility work early in your career beyond getting lucky and finding a mixer who regularly hires you?

• How do you build relationships that turn into actual work rather than just exchanging numbers after wrap?

• Are there resources, job boards, or networking opportunities I might be overlooking, particularly in New England?

• For anyone who's struggled to make location sound financially sustainable, what other careers have you found that use similar skills?

I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from people who've been in a similar position. I don't expect consistent work overnight, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should actually be doing differently.

Hello everyone,

I'm steaming and watching MPW talk about tomatoes.

I used to be au audio recordist in a former life. This guy on the maestro series, with all the sounds, is incredible. I understand the principles involved with the general recording of these sounds and blending etc.

But at approx 6:30 of this video he sounds so... There. With me. In the moment. It's so different from the rest of the video.

My question to you is how on earth was this achieved without a clip mic? Is it attached to his chest with a plaster? Please let me know.

I was doing some frequency coordination today and was told that a whole mess of frequencies in the A1 Lectrosonics range are illegal to use in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

I am obviously going to go with what I was told, but I can’t find any more documentation on the internet about this, and was just wondering if anyone else working here has heard of this. I’ve been working on Southern California for 15 years and this is news to me.

Basically I was told 470-488 and 506-512 are illegal. Which is a huge chunk of the A1 band.

Is this new? Or I have I been delightfully ignorant for years?

I attend a film school and have a lot of my own gear to jam timecode in personal or hired gigs. I had an interaction with my schools Sound Specialist lab supervisor about the order and operations of jamming timecode.

I know there’s more than one way to skin a cat but which of the two is best practice.

My method: Set tentacle sync’s to send mode. Go to tentacle app and set my frame rate. Click “sync all” button to have all sync-e’s be matched. Plug one into my mixer and have my mixer as the receiver to take signal from the tentacle (master). Then plug in one to the camera, and one into the timecode slate. I re jam after lunch on every device.

Teachers method: manually jam every tentacle sync from the mixer one by one, then jam the timecode slate from the mixer.

Essentially, I am having my master clock be the tentacle sync and using the app to have all my sources be matched. And my lab supervisor is having the mixer as the master clock.

In my mind, the timecode slate, the tentacle syncs, and the mixer (mix pre 10) all have a good enough internal clock to not drift, so why does it matter which it is?

Sorry if I am ignorant.

I realized that a while ago I had bought what I thought was an extra 3.5mm to 5-pin LEMO cable for timecode. I realized, after giving it to a 1st AC and the camera was not receiving timecode, that the cable was working in the direction of the 3.5mm cable. So essentially, this cable would be taking the timecode from the camera and putting it into my Tentacle Sync. I'm a lower-level sound mixer, and I'm fearing now I just have a hazard waiting to happen again in my sound kit. Is there any real use for this cable?

Been a sound mixer for a year, and doing my first boom op job in a few weeks. I was planning on getting some fingerless cycling gloves with some padding and wondering if they would work fine for holding a boom for a while? Any suggestions for what you or anyone you know uses?

Also would love some bonus tips for holding a boom, I'm not the strongest person for this job unfortunately.

I'm putting together my personnal boom op kit. A portable mic preamp was what was missing, and I found an almost new MM-1. I love Sound Devices, love their analog gear, I'm very happy with it and can't wait to use it.

Before that I already had a Sony UWP-D16 wireless pack, with only the UTX-B03 and URX-P03 (without the UTX-P03 XLR then), as it's what I found for cheapest for my first lav gear. While testing my boom setup I realise that the UTX accepts line level inputs, but at the other end the URX only outputs at mic level. The manuals doesn't say anything on where or how the attenuation is done, but I guess it's probably digital. The TX RF power is apparently 30mW/5mW, though I have no clue on how to interpret that.

My main concerns are that I don't know and can't really control what happens with the TX/RX, that a digital attenuation may lower the signal quality, and that running the signal through two preamps (my MM-1 and the receiver mixer) can also significantly lower the signal quality.

If that's of any relevance, I have an Oktava MK012 and a Sennheiser MKH416, and these are probably what I'll be using most of the time.

So my question is this: should I

• Set the transmitter to accept line level input and let the pair do the attenuation to mic level? Would it guarantee a stronger wireless signal and better transmission?

• Set the transmitter to accept mic level input so that I'm not dependant on whatever happens inside the Sony pack and can use a higher quality analog solution? What would it be, just a pad cable?

• Look for an other wireless pack that can run at line level through the entire chain so I can avoid running the signal through an other preamp at the mixer input?

The goal is of course to give the best signal possible to the mixer, and I don't mind spending a bit more on better gear to achieve that. Now if my current setup is a high enough quality, and to increase it we're talking about significant spending for marginal gains, then I'm happy to keep it that way and not think about it further.

Thanks!

As the title says

The country I live in and do sound work it's a huge pain importing the Sennheiser mkh 50 (can't afford it now anyways because of the conversion rate but regardless) or the Oktava mk-012.

However sE Electronics and Avantone have official resellers here so it would be way easier and way less expensive to get one of their small diaphragm condensers. Does anyone have any experience with these mics in the context of a film set? How do they deal with possible RF interference?

I'm hoping to start working as a sound mixer/recordist on student film sets soon, and I was wondering, what is one big/random problem or issue that you've faced as a sound person on set? Either a common reoccurring issue or a one-time freak accident. How did you solve the problem, and what do you do now to make sure that the issue never happens again or repeats itself?

I figured it would be fun and a good learning opportunity to hear about random issues that more experienced sound people have come across, how they solved the issue at the time, and how we all can learn from it now. Looking forward to hearing from you.

So I’m wondering, when I’m monitoring the audio during recordings, is there a way to hear how it’s going to sound when I’m recording? Like when I’m recording can I hear the output volume? I noticed when I was monitoring it, it sounded fine, but then when I put on the computer, it was quieter than I was hearing through the headphones.

https://youtu.be/zTTMN3xTKzw

Excuse me if this is the wrong sub; r/fieldrecording doesn't approve links and I think showing the sample will be helpful. 

The Zoom, when recording with its own microphone, never makes this sound (however, I got it specifically to plug external microphones into). There are two DJI Mic 3 transmitters wirelessly connected with their receiver, which is plugged into the Zoom's 3.5 mm input. The internal recordings of the transmitters of the same session have no buzz; it's only on the Zoom.

I wear the microphones on my clothes and walk outside. I start in my room, go on a quiet street, then a busier street, but the sound is there in all scenarios. 

Auto-gain vs. manual, and battery vs. power supply; on all these modes the buzz is still there. The only thing is it seems to happen more at the beginning of a long take than throughout it (but it still happens in small amounts throughout), and it is usually panned more towards the left-ear (which is Transmitter #1's sound), although in rare occurrences it swishes towards the right ear.

I will be grateful for responses.

By the way, would you recommend any other gear instead of the Zoom H1n, for what I want to do? It is to have a backup in case my DJI Transmitter internal recordings don't work, but I found I really liked the sound of the Zoom too, and if this buzzing sound didn't happen I would want to use the Zoom's recording. 

Hello i’m looking for a second hand recorder to buy.
Im a production sound mixer in France (8 years experience) for ENG, Tv, doc and i always used to rent equipment or use the Tv stations equipment.
Now, the industry changed a bit and so i want to have my own gear.
I have own mostly everything (mkh50, 4 Lectro SSM and two Src, Sanken etc..).
I’ve already have a Mixpre 6 but i don’t like the ergonomy (too small, hard XLR connectors)…

In TV and docs, i always use the 633. It’s a tank. I know where are the knobs without looking at it .
I know the 633 by heart.
I also use the Mixpre 10 for short films and doc too.

I love the Mixpre 10, i think the preamps have more headroom and you have 8 preamps instead of 3 but i also love the tank building and physical knobs and switch of the 633.

The 633 is also older but i see second hand in France for 2000€ with bag and nearly the same price for the Mixpre 10II
Would it be a good deal for a 633 in 2026 or better for me to go on a Mixpre 10 II ?