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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 :)

Maxx or SD 633

You are correct on the price of tx units and rx units for zaxcom talent wires.. think $3k/per link. However, they also have a built in backup recorder.
You can of course use any talent wires you like with this system, but you won't get the zaxnet system capabilities, or the back up recording in the tx unit.
Neverclip is excellent, but will not be available to you on other brand's wireless.. that is to say, you still have to keep them gain staged below clipping point inherent in their design.

Yes a Nomad is pricier than a 633, but it is a more complex product. It's more like a 664 or 688 in target market.

You basically are using the top of the line IFB product to distribute TC and a scratch track from Nomad to ERX-TCD units. It would indeed replace the denecke box in your setup.
remember to check and change batteries on anything you leave on the camera for this purpose.

The testing prior to use option is tough.. why not email Zaxcom for advice. they are very supportive of their customer base, and a knowledgable person will reply to you.
 
Christopher Mills said:
You are correct on the price of tx units and rx units for zaxcom talent wires.. think $3k/per link. However, they also have a built in backup recorder.
You can of course use any talent wires you like with this system, but you won't get the zaxnet system capabilities, or the back up recording in the tx unit.
Neverclip is excellent, but will not be available to you on other brand's wireless.. that is to say, you still have to keep them gain staged below clipping point inherent in their design.
Click to expand...

Interesting!
Its not quite as bad as 3k I think, this one is 1.5k http://www.pro-sound.com/p/SZAXTRXLT2.html if I understand correctly and it can also record stereo which could be useful.
So for lavaliers would I have a lot more power with there transmitter compared to sennheiser, right?.
I guess I can use Never Clip, and control gain from the mixer. How is it with Sennheiser do you do that on the reciever? I don't remember.
As I see the benefits of Zaxcom transmitter:
- Can control gain from mixer
- can I remote control record start stop? not sure how other lavaliers work, do they auto record, or?
- backup. Backup is always good
- NeverClip sounds useful
- I can use these transmitters for other things since they also can send stereo.
- I don't have to have a reciever in the bag so less clutter, less weight and less cables, right?

Grumble, grumble, maybe we will consider those transmitters as well, its "only" 2000 dollars more for 2 of them:D Thanks for all the help
/Andreas
 
For your talent wire system you still need a QRX series receiver in the bag plugged into the Maxx or Nomad. As it SOME QRX units have the IFB tx capability, you then could buy the less pricy MAXX, and use the QRX and you r IFB/Timecode tx unit.

Your package would include:
Zaxcom Nomad OR MAXX
TRXLT2 talent lav tx units
QRX series receiver(s) and IFB transmitter combo (MAKE SURE IT HAS THE IFB AND TC SEND OPTION)
ERX-TCD unit(s) on cameras as high quality scratch plus timecode management

I presume you already have a TC slate, and would just jam it periodically via cable from the bag.




Sennheiser does not have a neverclip feature. You can have clipping caused by overload at mic and hitting the gain staging limits. NOT adjustable from mixer or RX part of circuit at this point and price points.

This system has a lot of features that drive higher billing and achieving good results in more complex situations. As in, yeah it cost more upfront, but it does things for which you can bill. Or deliver amazing results your competitor can't.

Zaxcom has the patent on remote controlled backup recording that can be auto combined in post.

Tascam has some interesting units that can be combined, but are not wireless. They are bodypack recorders with lav mics.. repeat not wireless.
 
Christopher Mills said:
For your talent wire system you still need a QRX series receiver in the bag plugged into the Maxx or Nomad. As it SOME QRX units have the IFB tx capability, you then could buy the less pricy MAXX, and use the QRX and you r IFB/Timecode tx unit.

Your package would include:
Zaxcom Nomad OR MAXX
TRXLT2 talent lav tx units
QRX series receiver(s) and IFB transmitter combo (MAKE SURE IT HAS THE IFB AND TC SEND OPTION)
ERX-TCD unit(s) on cameras as high quality scratch plus timecode management

I presume you already have a TC slate, and would just jam it periodically via cable from the bag.

Sennheiser does not have a neverclip feature. You can have clipping caused by overload at mic and hitting the gain staging limits. NOT adjustable from mixer or RX part of circuit at this point and price points.

This system has a lot of features that drive higher billing and achieving good results in more complex situations. As in, yeah it cost more upfront, but it does things for which you can bill. Or deliver amazing results your competitor can't.

Zaxcom has the patent on remote controlled backup recording that can be auto combined in post.

Tascam has some interesting units that can be combined, but are not wireless. They are bodypack recorders with lav mics.. repeat not wireless.
Click to expand...

That's great info! Good to know that you need the receiver. How useful is the Neverclip? It sounds extremely useful, really a lot like HDRx.
We dont have a TC slate yet, but will get one. Any special you would recommend? I looked at either Ambient Lockit Slate or Denecke Slate.

After this conversation I must say its leaning heavily against the Zaxcom Nomad 10 channel. 5000$ so need to check how much its here in UK. But I really do appreciate that it also has more XLR mic inputs than the 633.

If you use other cameras like Canon 5D. How easy is it to get the timecode on them when one uses a ERX-TCD. As I understand the transmitter can insert timecode markers in the audio and then they have their own program that can insert timecode. Is this something you can batch do or do you have to do it one clip at a time?

/Andreas
 
I have no experience using an ERX-TCD with a Canon 5D or other DSLR... Mozegear makes a really good product, the TIG-28 that can feed both timecode and pass through audio to a DSLR. I am sure you could combine it with an ERX-TCD, but, that's two boxes combined to do the job.
 
Christopher Mills said:
I have no experience using an ERX-TCD with a Canon 5D or other DSLR... Mozegear makes a really good product, the TIG-28 that can feed both timecode and pass through audio to a DSLR. I am sure you could combine it with an ERX-TCD, but, that's two boxes combined to do the job.
Click to expand...

Re: cost.. you are building a complete field bag sound recording system, which has its own significant value as a cross rental.
 
Andreas
In another thread I saw you are near Birmingham?
I am currently near nottingham and have the Nomad, you are welcome to come and test it if you want.
The price in the UK was about £3100 for the Nomad and about £400 for the ERX2s last time I checked about 18 months ago.
 
Slightly offtopic and only concerning the timecode-part -> in my opinion and experience a small and very nifty solution, especially for gear without TC options (most DSLR's / B-Cams) are the tentacle-sync boxes; http://tentaclesync.com The size makes them perfect for most of my use-scenarios (which are more on the budget side, without 'time' and money for real TC handling) - can be easily velcro'd to gear and is not too much in the way. And works like a charm (for my workflows)... Only TC as said, but very helpful to jam-sync stuff.
 
Tom Hanmer said:
Andreas
In another thread I saw you are near Birmingham?
I am currently near nottingham and have the Nomad, you are welcome to come and test it if you want.
The price in the UK was about £3100 for the Nomad and about £400 for the ERX2s last time I checked about 18 months ago.
Click to expand...
Hi, that would be great Tom. Nottingham is not so far away. Lets see if we can find a place in our schedule, would be great to meet! :D
Cheers!
 
Peter Stelzhammer said:
Slightly offtopic and only concerning the timecode-part -> in my opinion and experience a small and very nifty solution, especially for gear without TC options (most DSLR's / B-Cams) are the tentacle-sync boxes; http://tentaclesync.com The size makes them perfect for most of my use-scenarios (which are more on the budget side, without 'time' and money for real TC handling) - can be easily velcro'd to gear and is not too much in the way. And works like a charm (for my workflows)... Only TC as said, but very helpful to jam-sync stuff.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips Peter. They look really nice. Cheap and light weight. So can I use the Sound Devices or Zaxcom as a master and sync the time to the little tentacle beasts?
Cheers
/Andreas
 
you can output sound devices 744T TC out and feed it to tentacle, then unhook the tentacle box from the sound devices and connect it to the EPIC / DRAGON TC In. If you have two tentacles (or more) you can sync them and than each one of them will feed one device (sound device / camera) etc.

best wishes and kind regards,
martin
 
AndreasOberg said:
Thanks for the tips Peter. They look really nice. Cheap and light weight. So can I use the Sound Devices or Zaxcom as a master and sync the time to the little tentacle beasts?
Cheers
/Andreas
Click to expand...
Yes - there's a bit more to it tho (for RED you need the 4-Pin lemo-Adapter cable for example), just take a quick look at their manuals/guides for better understanding what it's capable of and what it exactly does -> they can be found here; http://tentaclesync.com/#download. It's a very nice little tool - used it with a 744T (for master) and FS7 a few weeks ago and it worked perfectly (I use the metadata for TC burn-ins to use on my dailies usually, as I'm often doing data wrangling / basic DIT-stuff), our audio-guys there are working with it on regular basis and helped with development/feedback, that's how I found out about it. For more specific questions just write their support - I'm sure they are happy to answer questions - I'm not an expert, just stumbled upon this myself and haven't heard of it before...

EDIT: too late - but it's always a good idea to check out the whitepapers/manuals/guides anyways ;)
 
Last edited:
Thanks Martin. The little tentacles does indeed sound like a nice solution. The Zaxcom sounds maybe even cooler since you can send scratch audio to every camera. Even a little gopro could get time code and scratch audio!
 
Wondering if anyone has tips for lavaliers. Talked to Pink Noise and they didnt sound overly impressed with Sennheiser so I'm thinking maybe I should go up in price.

Cheers
/Andreas
 
What's your budget? One of the coolest things about Zaxnet with Nomad is the ability to remotely trim the gain and trigger internal, time code jammed audio on Zaxcom wireless transmitters whenever you start recording on Nomad.

We're talking $3700-$4K per channel, though, and additional for the lav mic and battery distro to power the receiver.

Bang for the buck, G3 is hard to beat and you will always find uses for it if you outgrow them. Just swap out the included ME-2 mic with an Oscar Sound Tech 801 or TL40 and you'll be fine.
 
Doug Beatty said:
What's your budget? One of the coolest things about Zaxnet with Nomad is the ability to remotely trim the gain and trigger internal, time code jammed audio on Zaxcom wireless transmitters whenever you start recording on Nomad.

We're talking $3700-$4K per channel, though, and additional for the lav mic and battery distro to power the receiver.

Bang for the buck, G3 is hard to beat and you will always find uses for it if you outgrow them. Just swap out the included ME-2 mic with an Oscar Sound Tech 801 or TL40 and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

Hi Doug. Our budget can handle the Zaxcom, but of course it may mean we have to cut down a bit on some lenses. I must say that it sounds like the Zaxcom lavaliers could be very useful because if we are a small crew, sometimes just me, its of course better if we dont have to worry as much with the sound mixing because we are recording with never clip.
In some cases it will just be me and Natalie and she may be interviewing the subject so I would handle both camera and sound recorder.

How do you power the reciever by the way?
What would be my other options, I read a bit about Lectronics and Explorer, sounds both very good.

Best
/Andreas
 
Something I feel you may overlook is this package's potential to earn the same day rate as your camera. In my market (Atlanta GA, in the SE USA) a Nomad package with 4 lavs and 2 hops, plus TC lock boxes for cameras would bill for $500/day, if not more. And that's as a line item from an owner operator. An audio rental house would charge more. An Epic owner operator in this market will feel intense pressure to charge the same. Again, a rental house will charge more.
 
That is an interesting point Christopher. I haven't really rented out much before. Thought it was hard to rent out in Stockholm. Now we are in UK so it seems to be easier here.
Its funny I see that productions look so much for recorders, ironically it looks like one would almost get more "action" recording than filming. Fine by me I guess as long as we are working on cool movies and learning in both vision and sound :)

We haven't decided yet, but I think its leaning towards the full Zaxcom solution. Should land at around 8k pounds +vat.
Cheers!
/Andreas
 
Bring out your dead!!

Ok a bit of Monty there :)

Looking at the Maxx vs 744T.

My colleagues are debating the whole 4 analog vs 2/2 on the 744t.

I dont have much experience with digital recording other than Pro Tools HDX systems so please be kind :)

what are the advantages to having 2 analog and 2 digital?

wouldn't we need a mixer of some sort if we wanted to set-up a 2 mic plus 2 lav shoot with the 744T?

Plus, would an Ambient lock-it slate be enough for timecode gen between the RED and Maxx/744T?

I have a 5pin to 4pin Lemo for the 744T and have had some decent sync with my RED.

Used without a sync box during an indie.
 
This is not my area of expertise but since I started the thread a few years ago I have learned a few things;-)

Don't buy the 744t unless it is very cheap ...if you want to go SD they have better (for our purpose) combined mixer recorders..

Re slate: you might find a small lockit box and a dumb slate more generally useful (unless you are doing a lot of music promos)..

If dual system sound is important (drama etc) I would be much happier with a small lockit permantly on the camera than jamming a smart slate now and then...

Zaxcom stuff (which we have) is slightly more complicated to understand than SD kit.. we don't regret buying zaxcom until one of us has to show sombody how to use our mixer for some small sound baby sitting task..

Eric Santiago said:
Bring out your dead!!

Ok a bit of Monty there :)

Looking at the Maxx vs 744T.

My colleagues are debating the whole 4 analog vs 2/2 on the 744t.

I dont have much experience with digital recording other than Pro Tools HDX systems so please be kind :)

what are the advantages to having 2 analog and 2 digital?

wouldn't we need a mixer of some sort if we wanted to set-up a 2 mic plus 2 lav shoot with the 744T?

Plus, would an Ambient lock-it slate be enough for timecode gen between the RED and Maxx/744T?

I have a 5pin to 4pin Lemo for the 744T and have had some decent sync with my RED.

Used without a sync box during an indie.
Click to expand...
 
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