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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Is there a decent inbuilt audio solution for the 2/3 Scarlet?

I have a Soundevices MM-1 Line Driver / HP Monitor
http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mm1master.htm

Would that work as a better solution to the onboard preamp?

Might be useful to allow fast manual gain adjustments and headphone monitoring for a boom operator.. Scarlet has limiters, and because of its full 24 bit/48kHz AD sampling will likely have a very good preamp built in. I don't see the SD pre improving performance much. We don't know much about the specs at this point though.
One caveat: The XLR to mini-jack mixers made for DSLR's and consumer/prosumer cameras with stereo unbalanced inputs will not work with Scarlet.
 
One of the worst things about the mini jack sockets being used on the Epic or scarlett is that they arent lockable like an xlr would be or the mini jacks used on Sony radio mics which you can screw on and they cant slip out.

In terms of the Wooden Box device it looks very like a simple adapter from xlr to mini jack which anyone with basic soldering skills could make up - but they are charging $200 dollars for!!!???

Time to buy a soldering iron, 2 female xlr connectors, 2 stereo mini jacks and some cable - total cost: about $25 .... plus you learn and new and very useful skill!!
 
Time to buy a soldering iron, 2 female xlr connectors, 2 stereo mini jacks and some cable - total cost: about $25 .... plus you learn and new and very useful skill!!

Very true. I've been doing that kind of stuff with my mics and recorders so I can literally plug anything together, plus I save a few bucks, and then soldering is easy, and you can repair stuff on the fly.
 
Best miniplug I know of: Neutrik NTP3RC and NTP3RC-B

Right angle and metal housing. B is black, but still has metal housing, and has gold plated contacts.

There's a reason why Wooden Camera and Action Products both use them.
 
I would let the sound guy handle it and not worry about, myself. When someone contacts me to shoot a job and ask me about sound I tell them their sound guy is in charge of that. Why would I worry about another department?
 
One of the worst things about the mini jack sockets being used on the Epic or scarlett is that they arent lockable like an xlr would be or the mini jacks used on Sony radio mics which you can screw on and they cant slip out.

In terms of the Wooden Box device it looks very like a simple adapter from xlr to mini jack which anyone with basic soldering skills could make up - but they are charging $200 dollars for!!!???

Time to buy a soldering iron, 2 female xlr connectors, 2 stereo mini jacks and some cable - total cost: about $25 .... plus you learn and new and very useful skill!!

$200 is for a beautifully designed and engineered CNC machined housing with rail clamp for the XLR's.
 
I would let the sound guy handle it and not worry about, myself. When someone contacts me to shoot a job and ask me about sound I tell them their sound guy is in charge of that. Why would I worry about another department?

+1. Besides ENG/EFP, we should all keep respectful silence when it comes to running sound. Even on low budget, doc-style work, it's our job to say "sound is as important as picture and one person cannot do both," because we wouldn't want a sound mixer offering to operate camera.

Breakaway cables and the levels at the bottom of the screen ought to constitute our involvement. For solo shooting, well... I hope they enable phantom power eventually!
 
Not all feature films go double system. Some features use single system with the mic directly plugged into a mixer and out into the camera. Sound is half the story and one shouldn't have to count on the "sound guy" to take care of that department. Your budget will not always allow a sound person to be hired and thus flexibility is important for one to choose whether to go single or double system. The audio features on the scarlet are an absolute must
 
From the draft Epic Manual (p. 13):

"LINE LEVEL ANALOG INPUTS
The recording level of Line inputs are affected only by the signal provided by the field production sound
mixer or other external line level source. The sound mixer operator should choose a mixer output level
that aligns a reference tone signal to the 0dBu (0.775 volts RMS / -20dBFS) reference mark drawn
through the camera’s Peak Meter, or if using +4dB as reference level, a mixer output level that aligns a
reference tone signal to the +4dBu (1.23 Volts RMS / -16dBFS) reference mark.
The 0dBu setting provides up to 24dB of input signal headroom above reference level before clipping
(20dB for +4dBu reference level) and the maximum signal to noise ratio for the 24-bit digital recording."

So yeah, it will take line level inputs through the mini-TRS jacks. Lot of other good info applicable to Scarlet in the manual.

Ok, there's the most important feature right there -- line level. Awesome!
 
Audio Inputs on EPIC

Audio Inputs on EPIC

To clarify, the camera brains - EPIC or Scarlet - accept Mic level inputs, not Line Level inputs, and digitize to 24-bit 48 Khz.

The Microphone inputs may be balanced or un-balanced, and once firmware enables it, can provide +48V Phantom Power.


The PRO I/O module supports both Mic and Line level analog inputs, and in addition 4 chan AES / EBU digital input signals.
 
Your budget will not always allow a sound person to be hired and thus flexibility is important for one to choose whether to go single or double system. The audio features on the scarlet are an absolute must

Agreed, single-system is just fine. And shooters need phantom power. But I wouldn't want to shoot a feature where there is sometimes no sound department. And Stuart's post means the pro i/o module is a must for professional in-camera sound.

Line-level input from a mixer makes Red One preamps work. Plugging a mic directly into a Red, especially with phantom power, will never have the same low interference and nuance of a dedicated sound mixer and system. Simply electronic physics. Sure you can get "good sound." But without a professional mixer, you'll spend just as much in post as you would have on set.

Sound without image is music; image with decent location sound is grating. We are responsible for final product. Agreeing to work with no sound dept. on a dialog project hurts us, the production, and the sound industry.
 
Agreed, single-system is just fine. But I wouldn't want to shoot a feature where there is sometimes no sound department

Wise words.

If you have budget, independent multi-channel sound mixing and recording - and scratch track on the camera - is the best solution.

However, if you need to operate in run and gun situations, EPIC and Scarlet's built in Mic level audio solution is very competent.
 
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