What Are IFB, Comteks And Camera Hops?

Plus, Taking A Look At The Zoom F4 Mixer/Recorder

Dan Brockett

Lectrosonics provides some of the most popular wireless systems. Communication on a set is a big deal. If you haven’t worked in larger productions, you should know the most common audio concern besides miking and recording talent for the production is on-set communication. In my experience, this type of communication can be divided into two main categories,... Read more

Røde VideoMic Me-L Microphone System For iPhone And The Wisdom Of The Safety Channel

A look at this small microphone that's designed specifically to plug into the Lightning port on iPhone 6 and later models, as well as using the safety channel

Dan Brockett

The Røde VideoMic Me-L connects to your iPhone’s Lightning port and can dramatically improve sound recording quality. Røde VideoMic Me-L Microphone System For iPhone I’ve been a fan of Australian sound company Røde for many years. They offer quite a few microphones, wireless microphone systems and other ancillary sound products that, when added... Read more

Aputure Deity Shotgun Condenser Microphone And Rycote’s Overcover System

A review of an affordable shotgun condenser mic from Aputure and solving lavalier noise issues in one fell swoop with Rycote’s Overcover System

By Daniel Brockett

Stumbling Across The Aputure Deity Introduced to the U.S. market in January of 2017, the Aputure Deity is a condenser shotgun microphone that has been on the market for over a year now. I didn’t set out to review the Deity; I thought I knew what it was. I own two Aputure lights, the excellent-value-for-the-money Light Storm LS-1s LED panels. As far... Read more

A Supercardioid Short Shotgun Microphone From Sanken Plus Aputure’s New A.lav

If you’re not familiar with Sanken Microphones, you can be forgiven— in a world of Sennheiser and Audio- Technica, Sanken isn’t a household name

Daniel Brockett

If you’re not familiar with Sanken Microphones, you can be forgiven—in a world of Sennheiser and Audio-Technica, Sanken isn’t a household name. Sanken has been around since 1925, so they must be doing some things very well to survive 93 years on the market. Sanken microphones have robust construction, an excellent reputation for clear and detailed... Read more

Affordable VR Audio Recording And Noise-Reducing Headphones For Professional Use

A look at the Tascam DR-701D and Sennheiser Ambeo Package and the Remote Audio HN-7506 Noise-Reducing Headphone System

Text and Photos by Daniel Brockett

Tascam DR-701D and Sennheiser Ambeo Package If you’ve jumped into the confusing “Wild West”-like atmosphere of VR content creation, you may know that VR cameras seem to have exploded in popularity with dozens of both consumer and professional grades available, with new models hitting the market almost weekly. Audio for VR, on the other hand, is... Read more

Hands-On Review: AVID ProTools

The powerful stand-alone editor takes your audio to new levels

Dan Brockett

With our Audio Assist column, we typically focus primarily on sound for picture production tools, with occasional side trips into plug-ins and audio postproduction tools. I was recently invited to AVID Technology’s West Coast HQ in Burbank, California, to get some hands-on time with ProTools 12.8.2, AVID’s latest version of the industry-standard... Read more

Lectrosonics Portable Digital Recorder (PDR)

With an intuitive and well-crafted design, the recorder offers a high level of sound quality with time-code recording at a nice price

Dan Brockett

It’s 2017, and there are new realities to face when it comes to utilizing wireless microphone systems for video and sound professionals. In the U.S., the Federal Communication Commission has been engaged in an ongoing mission to auction off most or eventually the wireless UHF spectrum to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, for us, the UHF spectrum... Read more

Lowering The Boom

Recording with boom microphones and building the audio chain

Dan Brockett

It’s almost a visual cliché, the image of a boom operator holding a 12-foot boom pole above his or her head, dangling a large, fur-covered boom microphone a foot over the heads of a pair of actors, recording intimate dialogue for in an intense scene. For once, this visual cliché is actually accurate; this is precisely how a large portion of the... Read more

Choosing Audio Gear For Any Budget

Three packages to satisfy the bottom line when you can’t hire a professional sound mixer

Dan Brockett

RØDE Wireless Filmmaker Kit One of the most commonly asked questions by video and digital cinema shooters is, “Which audio gear should I buy?” It’s not an easy question to answer because there’s no single answer that applies to everyone’s situation. If you have the budget and resources, always hire a professional sound mixer. Capturing crystal-clear... Read more

Lavalier Microphone Guide

The care, feeding and use of lavs

Dan Brockett

What is a lavalier? lav·a·liere [lav-uh-leer, lah-vuh-] – noun An ornamental pendant, usually jeweled, worn on a chain around the neck Lavalier microphone Also, lav·a·lier, la·val·lière [Origin: 1915-20; after the Duchesse de La Vallière (1644-1710), one of the mistresses of Louis XIV] — Random House Unabridged Dictionary “A lavalier... Read more

Audio Solutions For DSLRs And Mirrorless Cameras

Tools for capturing high-quality professional-level sound with these cameras

Dan Brockett

Sound Devices MixPre-3 and MixPre-6 Audio Recorders We’re almost a decade past the entrance of DSLR cameras into the professional video and cinema production space. The video-capable Nikon D90 hit the market in August 2008, quickly followed by the game-changing Canon EOS 5D Mark II a month later. While the images produced by large-sensor cameras were... Read more

The Wireless Microphone Crisis

Alternative strategies for sound professionals using wireless mics today and in the future

Dan Brockett

My production company recently created a corporate video for a client, shooting the project at a golf resort. While shooting skits with the talent out on the golf course, we had to use wireless microphones, as our talent was moving around a lot in each scene. After carefully miking our talent, both my fellow camera operator and I were rewarded with... Read more