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richardash1981

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    EA Technology
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  • Full Name
    Richard Ash

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  • Location
    Wirral
  • Interests
    Sound: both operating and audio electronics design.

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  1. The set of sand bags which weight the french braces (ish) for canvas flats (and some rather wobbly display boards) at church are getting increasingly prone to tear/leak sand. They are at least three decades old, so not a great surprise, but I would like to get the (dry) sand out into new bags before it goes everywhere! Apart from the Flints bags intended for hemp flying (which are listed as Canvas, and supply issues) the choice seems to be between woven Polypropylene bags (I think this is what the current ones are, and have gradually degraded) and hessian / burlap bags. (search result links, but Mudfords seem to be one of the ones that keeps coming up in the UK). Hessian latter are usually said to rot quicker, but hopefully won't do so in a dry environment! The UV stability ratings of polypropylene are quite limited, so presumably this is why some of the existing bags have torn. However I wonder if hessian will also be prone to loose more dry sand through the bag in use? Anyone with experience of either/both have views on which will be least hassle in use?
  2. Somewhere in the middle price wise, I have a pair of these: https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_sc140_stereoset.htm, which I have used as choir mics (for reinforcement) with OK results, as well as for recording as a crossed pair (they sell them as a box pair with a T-bar and shock mounts). As no-one else has said it, it's not clear to me quite why the "customer" is wanting to use more than two microphones for the recording - if the perception is that only the center of the choir gets picked up on recordings, then the mics are probably too close to the choir, other things being equal (whole different game for sound reinforcement!). More does not equal better in this game.
  3. Have to say I did a number of recordings (under the ageis of York Student TeleVision) for cast etc (and I still have them), but it's impossible to avoid it being labour intensive - either lots of people (and the kit) for a multi-camera rig being directed and mixed live, or one person spends a very long time syncing and editing on a computer. The latter is no fun so stands a large risk of never getting completed (which leaves no-one very happy).
  4. I don't think it's possible (or at least easily possible) to record from more than one of these at a time on the same computer, certainly not into the same recording. There are technical reasons for this (no common sample clock) but also consumer audio systems aren't set up for more than one source device at once. The mixer (USB interface) brings in the two mics as two synchronised sample streams on one audio device, which is much easier to deal with in the software. I would argue that metering in hardware is neither here nor there for recording, because you will get software meters at the recording point (ADC), which is pretty much all that matters. I've never found meters on audio interfaces to be more than a useful troubleshooter to indicate problems with no signal at all.
  5. Off topic, but as a former Audacity developer I have to dispute the idea you can't drag audio around, because you can (with the clip move tool, which isn't the default tool but is on the main toolbar). To give substance to Sandall's comment about cheaper mics, Thomann (as we are looking there) have these: https://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xm8500.htm I'm pretty sure they are what my church has had for speech PA and recording for the last decade plus. All the stand mic speech on here is from them: https://www.youtube.com/@StDavidsURC (music and the lapel radio mic are different), and I would regard as fine. The little mixer will let you pan Mic 1 hard left and Mic 2 hard right, so the two signals will come into Audacity as separate stereo channels - you won't want to leave them like that, but it will let you adjust relative levels afterwards, which is useful if you don't have a separate sound operator.
  6. Great Western do it in Cardiff (and from other accounts with considerable organisation set up) for Rugby Internationals, which shows it can be done - if the will is there. https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2023/08/great-western-railway-to-run-72-trains-for-cardiff-rugby-international.html
  7. In the end, I've now got the Sirus DI USB/BT from Thomann. Not used it properly yet, so no idea what the XLRs sound like, but the 3.5mm headphone jack is fine, drives some 140 ohm over-ear headphones. No trouble pairing to Windows or Android. Will update when I've got it connected to an actual mixer and run a few test tones.
  8. The most interesting thing about this news story (apart from the fact that Massive Attack are behind it - see kerry davies above) is that transport of the punters is included. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/05/massive-attack-plan-festival-powered-by-100-renewable-energy bus links to Bristol station won't fix everything, but at least they are starting to talk about it (hopefully to GWR and other operators to make sure there are trains to be caught!).
  9. Just to finish this off, the water pipe arrived. It won't go over the stand as-is because it's somewhat elliptical (from being coiled I think), but splitting it with a hacksaw made it slide on fine, and the 35mm cap fits over and clamps down. Slight wobble but no issue, I've now used it a couple of times and am happy. The Manfrotto adaptors also arrived and have worked fine, so two lightweight stands with battery LED lights on the top for outdoor jobs. Thanks again for the help getting this sorted.
  10. The pulsar (you know that's a hire listing, I doubt you'll find a new one for sale) is an analogue controller should connect over the existing analogue cable with the DIN connector, but may need an adaptor. The others are DMX digital controllers, and should connect to the 5-pin XLR connector which is visible, but you will need to run a new control cable up to the bar (and maybe a 3-pin to 5-pin adaptor). The Chauvet Dj Obey 10 is probably overly complicated for controlling 6 lights, I would stick with the SDC-6 type controller for a simple installation (loads of different re-badged versions of this available). If you can say where in the UK you are then there may be someone close by who can help test / troubleshoot on the ground.
  11. Here is what we ended up with: (Lots more pictures in the same album). As the deadline approached, the e-waste bin produced a 600mm square LED light panel (the sort which fit into a suspended ceiling), with external mains driver. I hope the driver was dead and the reason for it being binned, as the panel was fine and is now running at about 1/3 rated power for the main star, with a cut-out over it to make the shape. I was really surprised how even the light from the panel is, although the whole thing is only about 12mm thick! It must have lots of tiny LEDs or something ...
  12. An electric heater (one without a fan) will work as a non-glowing load - obviously, unless you choose a halogen type which glows! Harder to find a low wattage one however, and you still need to think about fire risk like you would with a spare lantern.
  13. A sheet (I went for a sheet rather than cut to size on the basis I'll probably do this sort of thing again in the future) has arrived from efoam, now I just need the time to unwrap it and stick it inside the box!
  14. Who knows what these direct-from-China products really do until they arrive. It claims to pass and capture 720x576 at 50p, I guess this is a mal-rendering of 50i (what PAL standard definition signals are) and so it should work. From memory, the Sony adaptor includes audio embedded in the SDI stream - the manual I linked to originally should say definitely what it sends.
  15. A couple of the Manfrotto adaptors are on their way from Thomann (I found something else to make the shipping seem more reasonable), but I'll bear in mind the various plumbing fitting suggestions (and look for a local plumbing supplier of the right sort). A piece of plastic water pipe is also on it's way, which should be the right size, I was wondering about splitting it to make it clamp more effectively so will probably go down that route, and see whether it needs a layer of tape to make it hold. Thanks again for all the help offered.
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