Right Angle Mini-XLR

[Ed Watkins]

Just a quick question, are people building a resistor into the audio pathways of these break out boxes, like REDs mini-XLR cables have?

If not, that could cause problems if phantom power is accidentally enabled. The RED inputs are hot, and I was told by a RED team member that the resistor is there to help stop the audio board from breaking if phantom power is enabled, and the line level in peaks too high from the source.
Although build 16 may or may not have solved this...

 

[Brian Timmons]

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mx2master.htm

Good point Glen.

I did take a look at the MixPre once before but I wasn't too convinced it could be mounted anywhere on the RED.

After thinking about it, a U grip fastening box (http://ugrip.bellcom.dk/catalog/fastening-box-c-2.html) might be a very nice way of adapting a MixPre to a RED.

Between the line out, pots, phantom power, test tone, meters, and limiter this may be a decent solution.

If this could be powered off the D-tap this might really work well.

Thanks again for the suggestion.
Brian

 

[Joe Bruncsak]

FYI, we've had success using the MixPre on our shoots. Fits the bill quite nicely. For the time being we're just gaff taping it to our cheese plate atop the cam, but we're working on a more elegant solution to mount it on the side of the cam.

Cheers,

--Joe

 

[Brian Timmons]

FYI, we've had success using the MixPre on our shoots. Fits the bill quite nicely. For the time being we're just gaff taping it to our cheese plate atop the cam, but we're working on a more elegant solution to mount it on the side of the cam.

Cheers,

--Joe

This is good to hear Joe. Have you done handheld work with it gaff taped like that? Also, how was it managing the cables in that setup?

Brian

 

[Joe Bruncsak]

Brian, we have not used it for hand held yet and the cabling is cumbersome, but manageable (usually we use just one channel from our mini-shotgun mic mounted on the cam, sometimes we augment that with a wireless receiver on Ch 2).

We are looking to devise a solution that will mount the MixPre alongside the right side of the cam where all the ports are, we're not really too concerned about blocking the USB ports (Why are they there anyway? What were they to be used for?). When we figure something out, we'll share our solution here on RedUser.

Anyway, that said, the MixPre has done very well giving us great sound and phantom power for our mics, providing confidence monitoring with it's bright LEDs and ability to monitor audio via the phones output of the RED and of course trim audio with the audio pots. Plus it's very solidly built. I think it's a great solution for audio and you won't regret the purchase.

Coming from the TV world, I now appreciate the built-in convenience that video cams offer. Don't get me wrong, I love the images from the RED, but once we load it up for EFP shooting, I'm always struck by how much stuff it attached to the outside of the cam, boxes attached, cables everywhere turning the compact little RED body into quite the beast!

Cheers,

--Joe

 

[Brian Timmons]

Brian, we have not used it for hand held yet and the cabling is cumbersome, but manageable (usually we use just one channel from our mini-shotgun mic mounted on the cam, sometimes we augment that with a wireless receiver on Ch 2).

We are looking to devise a solution that will mount the MixPre alongside the right side of the cam where all the ports are, we're not really too concerned about blocking the USB ports (Why are they there anyway? What were they to be used for?). When we figure something out, we'll share our solution here on RedUser.

Anyway, that said, the MixPre has done very well giving us great sound and phantom power for our mics, providing confidence monitoring with it's bright LEDs and ability to monitor audio via the phones output of the RED and of course trim audio with the audio pots. Plus it's very solidly built. I think it's a great solution for audio and you won't regret the purchase.

Coming from the TV world, I now appreciate the built-in convenience that video cams offer. Don't get me wrong, I love the images from the RED, but once we load it up for EFP shooting, I'm always struck by how much stuff it attached to the outside of the cam, boxes attached, cables everywhere turning the compact little RED body into quite the beast!

Cheers,

--Joe

Thanks again for the info Joe. Very useful. Nice to know that the cable situation is at least manageable. Once you have everything ready your camera resembles something different than what you see in the brochures. Of course that's the result of technology meeting the increasing demands of modern production.

I've been giving the MixPre another thought after You and Glen's quick mention of it.

I think I'm going to continue looking into something like the U-Grip to see if that may be an effective mount. The U-Grip model for the Firestore drive seems like it may be a good match. The Mix-Pre and the Firestore FS-4 are apparently quite similar in size and dimension. We'll see how it goes. Please share if you can come up with something. I think this is going to be a growing issue as more RED cameras are out in the world.

Brian

 

[zak forrest]

U GRIP or ABEL should really find out what works best with the mix pre and post it. U GRIP would make some money for sure from a lot of Redusers if they said what worked best with mix pre etc...

 

[Brian Timmons]

U GRIP or ABEL should really find out what works best with the mix pre and post it. U GRIP would make some money for sure from a lot of Redusers if they said what worked best with mix pre etc...

True, there input would be nice. The one potential problem with this U Grip setup is it may make access to the pots and other switches difficult.

Of course, the pots can be kept at a set level where the RED can be used to control audio levels. Not as intuitive though workable.

Brian

 

[Rich330]

Is this any use

Is this any use

I have posted these pics before. My brother built this box for us which is mounted on the side handle. I use a second side handle close to the mini XLR connections to protect the fragile mini XLR males. I'm not sure if he is interested in building more but can ask.

Richard

www.zigzagfilms.comView attachment 6312

View attachment 6313

 

[zak forrest]

I'll pay BIG BUCKS for a RIGHT ANGLE MINI XLR.

With my config, my right hand and arm is always CRUSHING the mini-xlr cable sticking out. It's uncomfortable, and it's going to break eventually.

I never do more than two channels so I don't care if it blocks the other mini-xlr inputs.

Someone come to my rescue :help:

 

[Joel Kaye]

I'll pay BIG BUCKS for a RIGHT ANGLE MINI XLR.

With my config, my right hand and arm is always CRUSHING the mini-xlr cable sticking out. It's uncomfortable, and it's going to break eventually.

I never do more than two channels so I don't care if it blocks the other mini-xlr inputs.

Someone come to my rescue :help:

You could take apart a standard mini xlr connector and just take the actual pin portion out, solder the wires at right angle, insert into RED and gaff tape over it. That probably the slimmest solution at the moment.

 

[Mike Prevette]

or just drill a hole in the side of the miniXLR cable, and grind off the excess.

 

[Wes Printz]

You could take apart a standard mini xlr connector and just take the actual pin portion out, solder the wires at right angle, insert into RED and gaff tape over it. That probably the slimmest solution at the moment.

Reminds me of a request I had one time from a Steadicam op... "Can you make a camera power cable, remove the outer sheath, and the shells of the LEMOs? I want this to be as light as possible".

Told him I would not make such an unreliable cable.

 

[Anthony S. Lenzo]

We've made them for our break-out panel along with a right angle 5 pin audio.