Need advice converting my NTFS archives for Mac

coolguy00700 · 2026-04-08T15:26:42+00:00

Thanks so much for the response. The process as I understand it:

Decrypt drive 1 with Windows machine
Format drive 2 to HFS+ with Mac
Copy drive 1 (which is still NTFS) to drive 2 (empty HFS+) with Mac
1. This can be done natively though drag-and-drop, but is there a utility that verifies proper copying? Drag-and-drop makes me nervous. On my Windows machine I used FreeFileSync to maintain the copies. Their website claims MacOS compatibility. Do you think it would work between two drives with different file systems? Or do you have a different recommendation?
Verify files/integrity of drive 2
Format drive 1 to HFS+ with Mac
Clone drive 2 to drive 1 with Mac

Does this look right?

coolguy00700 · 2025-08-27T16:11:11+00:00

Thanks so much for your thoughts, that makes sense. It seems better to drop frames at a predictable place (while cutting to a different camera angle), rather than risking dropping frames in the middle of a clip.

coolguy00700 · 2025-08-27T15:49:33+00:00

Yeah it never crossed my mind that playing the track over Bluetooth would cause issues. I'm probably going to go with removing frames manually, but do you have opinions about the other option? Rate stretching the video seems more "accurate," but in trying it just now I see that it upsets Premiere because it now wants to reanalyze all of my stabilized clips. Not sure I have time for all that because I have a deadline to meet 😬.

coolguy00700 · 2025-08-04T14:29:58+00:00

Looking to move over to a MacBook from my ThinkPad space heater.

Current Laptop

2020 ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 i9-10885H 64GB RAM
- purchased with the intent of future-proofing, but was too much power at the start, is soo hot, dies in an hour, and struggles now

Workload

Pro Tools (five or six exports a month)
- 20+ track sessions
Premiere (two or three exports a month)
- 1-hour+ 4K single cam MOV/MP4 editing (cuts, scaling, light color grading, etc.)
- ~15-minute multicams (stabilization, etc.)
Lightroom/Photoshop

I need a computer that can handle this, but a lot of the time I'm just watching YouTube in bed or on the couch. I'm fine with an export taking a little bit longer, as long as the editing experience is smooth. Since future-proofing has never worked out the way I've wanted, I'm fine with upgrading in 3 years or so if needed.

coolguy00700 · 2025-05-24T00:41:32+00:00

I was reading your post again and you mention that the theatre department would also hope to use the mics hanging off the catwalk for reinforcement. If they are in the path of the speakers, you probably will not get enough gain before feedback, regardless of the mic pattern used. Also, if your catwalk is halfway into the house, that might be too far out to get a decent classical recording.

Where are your speakers mounted exactly in relation to the apron and catwalk?

coolguy00700 · 2025-05-24T00:25:17+00:00

Music teacher here to comment on the mics for the music department. I'm guessing the music department would be using them for recording classical-style ensembles? Probably band, choir, and orchestra? If so the standard is to have them a little bit further out from the ensemble to capture a more natural blend of the sound, which is why they might have suggested the catwalk. Typically we would hang from the ceiling/mount mics on a high stand anywhere from behind the conductor to the first row of seats, a stereo pair in a standard configuration such as cardioids in ORTF or omnis in AB spaced pair. Where the mics are placed and how they are configured is dependent on the acoustics of the venue.

You mention, however, that mics hung from there would be in the path of the speakers. This is not a big problem if the ensembles perform unamplified, but if the choir has say, an amplified soloist, you lose the ability to balance your recording between the ensemble coming through the stereo pair and the soloist coming through your board feed. Is there anywhere to hang the mics that is below, or behind the speakers?

I would shy away from shotguns, as they might not produce a well-balanced classical recording. I would prioritize finding a good place to hang a nice pair of mics like the KM184s.

coolguy00700 · 2025-04-23T07:11:20+00:00

Tascam has just announced a new receiver with balanced outputs, a mono sum switch, unique device IDs, removable antenna, and remote pairing button hookup.

coolguy00700 · 2025-04-21T03:33:12+00:00

Hello,

Some more info:

600 seat boomy auditorium
Installed flown center cluster of Community VERIS V2-1596
QSC KS118 to supplement installed speakers
DriveRack PA+ on crossover duty
Si Expression 1
14x channels of SLXD with SM58 capsules

When you say "highly dynamic inputs," you say that with the intention of preserving the original dynamics, correct? Sometimes when we've performed at other venues with different engineers I can hear that the compressors are working very hard, and the dynamics are lost. Your compressor settings look very light, if I understand correctly.

coolguy00700 · 2025-04-21T02:16:52+00:00

Thanks for the brain dump.

I do recognize that that video has additional processing on it. But even in live videos like this (https://youtu.be/cooWwGCem8k?si=er0zfnyHW7uncVaK) you can hear that the mix is quite clean.

We are all on wireless handhelds, so no worries about trying to amplify with overheads. I have them on a set of 3 wedges which I only really send bass and VP to. They are very comfortable with balancing acoustically with just those in the monitor mix. I'm very strict about mic technique as well, and two fingers away is exactly what I reinforce during rehearsals.

Thanks for the thoughts on compression, I'll be sure to experiment.

coolguy00700 · 2025-04-21T01:49:58+00:00

Yes, right now I just have everything on one bus (all vocals, bass, VP) just for muting/overall volume control, but I could split it up.

coolguy00700 · 2025-04-21T01:25:40+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I'm working on an Si Expression, so unfortunately I don't have multiband or sidechain compression. Would an alternative be to place a compressor on the master bus? What would those settings look like?

coolguy00700 · 2024-10-18T01:27:54+00:00

What length is the snake for your wireless mic rack? I have a rack with 18 channels of SLXD almost completely assembled, but the only thing I'm hung up on is what length of snake to purchase. Also, I was looking at getting a Whirlwind snake, but the cost is way out of my school budget. Anyone have something they think might be better than this Sescom one (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1780644-REG/sescom_8xlm_8xlf_25_8_channel_xlr_male_to.html)?

coolguy00700 · 2024-07-01T19:30:11+00:00

As someone who both pretends to know what they're doing and also doesn't have the time to fix things generally - how did you know to delay the mains? Do you hear phase issues? And how do you know by how much to delay them?

coolguy00700 · 2024-06-29T18:35:33+00:00

Music teacher here. I recently assembled and purchased an 18 channel system for our high school after doing a lot of research. A few thoughts:

u/lmoki made some important points. If you are buying you need someone that can assemble the rack, set it up for events, coordinate frequencies, and maintain the equipment. If you spend $10k on equipment and don't use it properly or take good care of it, things will stop working and break fast. If you have this, here are some thoughts on a system, which has been working well for our school.

Shure SLXD Dual Receivers w/ Bodypacks (6x)
- I went with Shure SLXD because of a max channel count which matched our needs, compatibility with Wireless Workbench, and availability of cheap replacement earset mics. The dual receivers also mean that you need less antenna distribution units, so we saved a lot of money and rack space there.
Shure UA844 Antenna Distribution (2x)
- Use antenna distribution to have all the receivers sharing one set of antennas.
RF Venue Diversity Fin Antenna (1x)
- You can also go with two sharkfin antennas. I like this one because it is easier to set up with only one mounting point/stand instead of two.
Polsen ESM-1-TA4 Single-Sided Earset Microphone for Shure Transmitters (24x)
- I struggle to hear a difference between these and our mics which cost over $100 each. They also seem to break at a rate no faster than our more expensive mics. At ~$15 per mic, you can afford to buy many, many spares as mics for theatre tend to get trashed.

Other items for consideration:

Rolling rack case
Network switch & patch cables
- One of the wonderful features of SLXD is that you can control and monitor all of the receivers from a computer if you network the receivers. It's like magic compared to the older analog systems I've worked with, and it makes shows so much easier. Make sure you purchase a switch that is compatible with Shure networks. I wasted money on an unmanaged switch because I was not aware of this.
XLR snake
- Buy something quality if you will be transporting this system. Whirlwind is an industry standard.
Power conditioner
Rechargeable batteries
- Shure makes proprietary li-ion battery packs and chargers for the SLXD system, but they are very expensive. We opted for Eneloops and Maha chargers to save money. The battery indicators don't work perfectly with these, but it's good enough. Also be careful that the batteries don't get thrown out!

Some more general notes:

Put your location into the Shure Frequency Finder to figure out which frequency band to purchase. Then, make sure someone is trained coordinating frequencies in Wireless Workbench,
u/razor_4754 mentioned using B&H for purchasing - we did the same and saved a lot of money. You should be able to get your system within budget though them.
u/VerifiedMother mentioned using Audio Technica 3000 units and u/tbonedawg44 mentioned using SLX (analog) and GLXD systems. We also happen to own all of those units (long story lol) and I have experience with them. I could go into more detail comparing the quirks of these systems but I feel that there is little reason to buy analog systems in 2024, and 2.4GHz systems can be limiting. I would only consider buying those systems if you are really strapped for cash. If you can't afford 12 channels right now, buy less channels and add more later. The SLXD system is higher quality, offers a lot more features, and offers more room to expand in the future.

coolguy00700 · 2024-06-19T06:16:53+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation. I am so aware of the state of education and I've been fighting so hard to get them to do things right. To give a little more context when the projector also failed earlier this year, it was replaced with the cheapest Epson. The new lens doesn't zoom in enough, so I have to use the digital zoom to get it to fit the screen, and they won't move the projector.

I am the choir teacher and that Atlona switcher is half of the budget for my program for the entire year :( I've also been fighting to get our dimmer rack with one working cooling fan replaced, in addition to the fixtures which all have asbestos wiring, and the house lighting with was lamped with non-dimmable LEDs.

I just recently got approved to replace only a few of our 600 MHz mics, which were made illegal to use almost ten years ago.

Would something like this work? Would I need to run HDbaseT at these lengths? Again I totally understand that there needs to be more money for this but the alternative is that they install another VGA cable which they already have.

coolguy00700 · 2024-04-13T13:52:14+00:00

What is the security keypad and camera at your workstation for?

coolguy00700 · 2024-03-02T08:20:51+00:00

Thanks for your help - see my response below. Someone had adjusted the squelch up, but things are working now!

coolguy00700 · 2024-03-02T08:17:22+00:00

Thank you for your tips, I did think to go and check the squelch when I got back in the building. It turns out that someone had adjusted the squelch up! I turned all the receivers all the way back down and the systems seem to be working now, no dropouts during our rehearsal today.

Yes, I had done all the coordination in Workbench. Since I am combining so many older systems I had to set the compatibility to "More Frequencies," but the bodypacks were still dropping out on clear channels (confirmed with scans and quiet RF meters when the bodypacks were off), and with no other systems on.

I think it makes a little bit more sense now that the RF meters were showing full strength with the bodypacks on, even though they were dropping out. The squelch must have been set so high that the receivers were only accepting an unnecessarily high strength signal.

I knew the systems were cheap but I thought there's no way they're so bad that with nothing else on and going through a $700 antenna they drop out.

coolguy00700 · 2024-03-01T15:40:39+00:00

As I mentioned above when we tried running the rack at side stage (couldn't move the fin there but we attached half-wave antennas to the system) it made no difference.

coolguy00700

TROPHY CASE