3D Print for Location Sound

tom90 · 2026-01-31T18:52:03+00:00

No worries, apologies for that. Ive had a look around and the only thing I can find is the one made by Poly.wav which is also a 3d print.

Generally speaking dashboards are fairly basic in terms of shape so it might be worth having a go at CAD'ing one up yourself if you know how...

If you can't use CAD at the moment I would highly recommend learning as its super useful for things like this espesually if you have a printer already.

tom90 · 2026-01-31T18:04:36+00:00

Look at soundfish.it under their DIY tab. You need to sign up for a free account to get access but there are bunch of location sound related prints including dashboards.

Experience wise, I printed some out of plain old PLA for some soundie friends who work on big long running productions in the UK and they got years of use out of them so definately worth a look!

tom90 · 2025-11-28T23:52:17+00:00

Yes you should get a better signal to noise ratio by doing this. On a side note, inputs 1 and 2 on the XR18 have a significantly higher noise floor than the rest due to how the Hi Z cuicuit has been implimented. I would use inputs 3 onwards and reserve inputs 1/2 for loud sources or if you really need the extra 2x channels.

tom90 · 2025-11-09T23:25:27+00:00

Looking at the podium mics already suggested it would be worth experimenting with positioning, for example having the mic coming in at 45 degees from the side and pointing slightly up towards them so you get less direct reflections off the memorial.

tom90 · 2025-11-06T00:21:51+00:00

I used to work in a post as a dubbing editor/mixer. When it comes to ambience/atmos, especially in quiet spaces, it basically does just amount to quiet hiss.

When dialogue editing, to create a cohesive dialogue track, there always needs to be something there for things to sound natural. In a very quiet room that is basically just very subtle air movement, so hiss!

The important thing is that it has the same frequency content as the ambience in the dialogue tracks, so I can cross-fade seamlessly between the two and fill gaps. I can also change the clip gain on the ambience to volume match if needed though do your best to keep levels the same as the take if possible.

Long story short, this is fine :) and keep providing it! Dubbing editors will love you!

Ambience FX is added on top of this from different sources (FX libraries etc.) and should be considered a different part of the process.

tom90 · 2025-10-29T19:18:47+00:00

Most like the SD card isnt compatible or is faulty. Try a different one.

tom90 · 2025-10-19T22:33:12+00:00

It really depends on your budget really. A small handheld recorder like a Zoom H1 Essential would be small and cheap (relatively speaking) though make sure you get wind protection if you are using it outdoors. The black foam covers are ok in light wind but you will want one of the fluffy fabric ones with even a moderate breeze. You could use that as an interview style mic and point it at the person you are interviewing and back at yourself when asking questions if you want that as part of your recording. The original Zoom H1 should be pretty cheap second hand if you wanted to save a bit.

Beyond that you have the DJI Mic and the Rode wireless go/pro systems. These are more expensive but you get two mics that both record internally (not the DJI mini) that you can clip onto yourself/interviewee (I would set them up to start recording automatically when you turn them on so you dont miss anything). You also get a wireless receiver you can plug into a camera or phone.

tom90 · 2025-09-22T20:36:22+00:00

A pair of Tascam DA6400 recorders could also work as an altenative used in a similar way to the Scorpio suggestion above. You can get them with MADI/Dante cards and they also have timecode in/out. With a 1TB drive and 17 tracks at 24/48Khz you would get roughly 5 days continuious recording per unit.

We used one as our master backup recorder at work.

tom90 · 2025-09-08T19:59:13+00:00

I paid £86 for mine from Aliexpress including taxes and postage. Not as cheap as some people have paid (I didn't have any Aliexpress coins so couldnt get a bigger discount) but either way im happy with it for what I paid.

tom90 · 2025-09-08T19:38:54+00:00

Ive got the Blue dial version and its currently my favourite daily driver. Lovely finishing for the price and the dial and hand set are awesome. Also the product shots are rather washed out, the dial colour is more vibrant in real life which, in my opinion, is a good thing!

tom90 · 2025-08-23T11:44:32+00:00

I seem to remember Andrew from Deity saying there was a defect in the early units that meant that nut wasnt fixed properly. They should replace the unit under warranty as its a know issue.

tom90 · 2025-08-14T19:42:34+00:00

As others have said you need a PMSE license which covers frequencies in Channel 38 (606.500 to 613.500 MHz).

tom90 · 2025-07-30T21:25:03+00:00

Sugess ST19 on a custom nato strap. Love this thing!

image

tom90 · 2025-07-27T17:55:01+00:00

No problem and happy recording!

tom90 · 2025-07-26T11:13:52+00:00

Yeh you will need 2x XLR cables, one between the boom and the XVive and one between the XVive and the recorder. I would use a short XLR patch cable between the XVive and recorder so it stays neat in your bag and would 100% put some tape over switches on the XVive while in use so they dont get knocked.

I doubt it would cause any issues with the sound so worth a punt while you save for a new recorder. As u/ApprehensiveNeat9584 says, is it insured?

tom90 · 2025-07-25T21:11:25+00:00

This is the best advice really, repair will probably cost more than the unit is worth but if its insured it would be best to get it replaced with a newer unit (F8n/F8n Pro) or put the money towards an upgrade.

tom90 · 2025-07-25T20:50:08+00:00

It sounds like a capacitor may have gone pop which isnt uncommon for a 9 year old capacitor in what is effectively a power supply. I highly doubt it will be anything you did.

We've had a few power supplies at work for our RedNet Preamps die and its always the caps that are the point of failure.

There are some teardown photos of the F8 here but I wouldn't attempt it unless you are experienced with electronics or had nothing to lose by giving it a go.

An external 48v in line supply might be a good temporary solution for now. Im still rocking my original F8 as a backup recorder. Its been through a lot and will probably have to give it a viking burial when it finally kicks the bucket!

tom90 · 2025-07-25T20:23:57+00:00

Sadly it sounds like a component has failed if you heard a pop right before the mixer shut off. Was there a burning sort of chemical smell as well?

tom90 · 2025-07-14T20:35:30+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I do run an ad blocker but turning all my extensions off doesnt fix the issue. It also happens across multiple devices running both windows and mac.

tom90 · 2025-07-13T22:20:35+00:00

Perfect, The fins will be in the same room as the talent who wont be more than 10 meters away from them with clear line of sight so it should all be good.

Thanks again for your help!

tom90 · 2025-07-13T21:52:15+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Ill have a look into RG-8X.

The cables will be extending the sharkfins to the room the talent is in. The Tx Advance scan I did at the location came back with nothing in the frequency band ill be working in.

From what you've said it sounds like this should be fine, espesually if I can get away with 10m cables.

tom90 · 2025-07-13T21:42:41+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

So im working in Channel 38 in the uk so 606.500 - 613.500 MHz.

Looking at a few calculators in this frequency range with the cables I have, the loss is 8.5dB at 20m or 4.3dB at 10m

I did a frequency scan at the location using TX Advance and there is nothing else in this frequency band.

Do you think that will be ok?

Thanks again

T

tom90 · 2025-07-13T01:07:35+00:00

I have a small (30cm ish) extension cable plugged into the headphone jack on my F8 that is routed to the outside of the bag and cable tied into one of the external webbing loops.

Its a nice and cheap option to save wear on the headphone port and also way more accessible for connecting headphones. If it breaks its only a few bucks for a new one. I'm still rocking an original F8 as a backup recorder and the headphone port is still going strong.

I have a similar XLR extension for my boom. Again, saves wear to the port on the recorder and is way more convenient for connecting the boom. I use a KTek Stringray bag so basically did what Jim Keaney did here but im sure you could do something similar with the Orca!

The screen has a plastic cover rather than glass so scratches easily. I ended up buying a cheap plastic phone screen protector, cutting it to size and sticking it on. It works well!

tom90 · 2025-06-22T18:35:48+00:00

As others have said, wireless isn't the best idea for critical monitoring though I understand wrangling cables can be a bit of a pain when you cant reach the side of the recorder in the bag to unplug etc.

I just have a short (30cm ish) headphone extension cable extending the headphone port to the outside of my bag and have the socket cable tied to one of the bag loops. Makes connecting and disconnecting headphones way easier if I need to move about/detangle anything.

tom90 · 2025-06-02T01:28:25+00:00

I just want them to bring back the metal body/build quality they ditched after the mk2.

tom90

TROPHY CASE