I recently produced an interview for which I was both the one-man production team behind the camera and the interviewer in front of the camera. Because I knew this would be a high-stress situation, the number of things that could go wrong and the limited number of ways I might mitigate those risks while being in front of the camera in real time were daunting. I took a belt-and-braces approach to its planning and execution. First, I decided on a three-camera setup so that if anything went wrong with one, I'd still be able to work with footage from the other two, and of course, not for nothing, I also felt this would offer the highest production values. Second, I rented two camera lens kits identical to the kit we own and use every week here in the Batcave, a) to minimize time spent setting up, and b) to minimize time spent working in post trying to match colors, etc., etc. Third, I bought six new 64-gigabyte cards, formatted them, and tested them days before the shoot in each camera. Fourth, I set up each camera for

simultaneous recording. Fifth, I used two sets of lav mics: one Wireless System, one wired body pack system, so that if one failed or we got interference, we'd have backup. And sixth, yeah, I used two identical and powerful bi-color lights with battery backup, so that I could easily match ambient lighting, possibly could buy with one bounced into the ceiling if something went wrong with either one. You know where this is going, right? Hey, everybody, I'm Hugh Brownstone for Three Blind Men and an Elephant, and welcome to the first episode in a new occasional series I'm calling Used in Anger. Now, if you're not familiar with this British phrase, it means for real in the heat of battle. I think is where it came from originally, rather than in a drill, because as it turns out, which should surprise absolutely no one, working under deadline and deliverable pressure has a way of forcing issues to the surface rather quickly. In today's episode, I'm going to talk only about audio, and I'll just cut to the chase.

one my rode Wireless go twos might have seemed like the obvious choice for this interview. Tiny kit dual Channel receiver internal recording for backup and most importantly from my perspective the use of spread Spectrum frequency hopping technology obviating the need for me to constantly monitor audio for interference in real time. But I've been having reliability problems with this system for almost a year. When I'd first used it in Anger, a solid nine months after I'd done the first look video, one of the transmitters wasn't picked up by the Dual Channel receiver. I hadn't realized there was a problem during the shoot itself because Claudia and I were both miked up, and at soundcheck, both worked. I mean, I thought they did. It wasn't until I got home here in the bat cave that I could hear my mic was missing altogether. And because my previous experience with Road had always been excellent, I hadn't bothered turning on the built-in on-board backup recording feature, of course. Fortunately, we were both close enough the Claudia's mic picked me up as well.

it was a tolerable difference. I'll call it an audio quality that I hoped most people wouldn't notice. An unintended benefit of just the one mic was that we got zero cross bleep. The lesson at that time was to use the built-in backup recording, which I subsequently learned required me to use the Rode Central app because this was the only way to set it up. No physical controls, which did not make me happy. Fast forward another six months or so because I only use wireless labs when doing interviews or when on location, and suddenly the receiver, no matter how fully I charged it, would die within moments of being switched on. Could I have returned the kit under warranty? Maybe, probably. I'm not sure, but I didn't, and instead moved on because DJI had just announced their wireless mic, which on first blush looked like a major step forward. Not only did the DJI system offer superior industrial design and build quality compared to the Rode, but it didn't require me to go through an app to set up recording on the

transmitter. There's an actual record button right on the transmitter, and a bright LED to confirm recording. Beyond that, the DJI system addressed the other fundamental issue I'd had with the road system: quite independent of reliability, the need to charge each transmitter and the receiver separately. Which meant I'd have to charge them one after another, or in reality, have three power bricks and three USBC cables to accomplish this simultaneously. More schlepping, more way more things to plug and unplug, more things to forget to pack. No likey. The DJI, on the other hand, came in a single-powered case, much like Apple's AirPods, so that all three components would be charged via a single USBC port in the case itself with built-in battery backup. It also provided richer feedback via the receiver's touch screen. Thus, I decided the DJI system would be my primary audio kit, the road continuing to gather dust at home. Although I did take a pair of the road labs to plug into the DJI, but you know the old adage: one's bitten.

twice shy, so I also brought along a pair of Zoom F2BTS small body pack style recorders with wired labs and a Bluetooth app. Although I found it a bit short on feedback - no display, only a couple of LEDs - the F2's 32-bit float meant I didn't need to worry about setting levels or recording a second safety track. Each body pack comes with a headphone jack, meaning I could check levels easily. The Rode's don't have a headphone jack, and sound quality is really nice. Of course, fresh batteries and properly formatted micro SD cards were at the ready. I had this ha Fat Chance the very first thing that happened. Once I arrived on scene and began to slide the DJI receiver into my Sony A74's hot shoe, the Little Foot that is supposed to slide in the shoe snapped off, and then the screen suddenly started displaying Chinese letters. I ended up figuring I don't need to understand Chinese as long as I could hear the mics, so I gently placed the

receiver on top of the camera precariously enough connected to the camera only by a coiled TRS cable. Suddenly, I was really glad I had the pair of Zoom f2s as I sound-checked. The f2s, however, one of them refused to pick up the mic. I couldn't believe it. I'd of course put in fresh batteries, so still I put in another set of fresh batteries that I happened to have, and that didn't do it. But I also happened to have another wired lab, so I plug that in and hope against hope that did the trick. I managed to calm myself down. We got through the interview. Actually, hold that thought for future episodes. There's more to tell, and I think it came out well in spite of all the issues, but you can judge for yourself. I'll put a link to my interview with Leica's Director of Global Marketing and Communications, Andrea Pachella, on the announcement of Leica M6 reissue in the show more section below, but I've learned my lesson well.

another lesson the next time I have an interview. Like this, I'm going straight past the consumer prosumer gear I just mentioned to something like Sony's fourth generation professional. Four times the price twelve hundred dollar RF-based uwp d27 two-person dual Channel receiver Wireless lab kit. I've had it in-house for a few weeks, and it is an excellent, far more user-friendly, far less futsing update of Sony's last generation single Channel uwp lab system. I've had for years, which fussing aside has always been the most capable lab system I've ever used. Because when you have just one shot to get it right, the peace of mind that comes from bulletproof industrial-grade gear makes the price tag absolutely worth it. Even if there's still some fussing and potentially other trade-offs Beyond price involved. The uwp d27 consists of the urxp41d Dual Channel receiver and a pair of utxb40 transmitters with real wired labs and Via their smad P5 multi-interface adapter connects.

directly to my a74. No cable required, no worries about snapping off. It offers a more forgiving user-facing setup than before, quieter too, lower noise floor. Bravo Sony, yet like previous generations, is Uber reliable, robust, informative, rich sounding, with far better interference rejection and operating distance in our previous testing than any spread Spectrum system. I mean really completely different level, but even better than Sennheiser's also RF-based and excellent EW100. Now I'm not going to get into the details of how to set up the Sony or the engineering behind it. That is not the purpose of this video, and you can find all of that on Sony's own YouTube channel. Anyway, my friend there, Andy Minutes, does a great job of it, but I will tell you like anything else that there are pros and cons to each technical approach, that is spread Spectrum frequency hopping versus radio frequency, and the one thing the Sony doesn't do that the spread Spectrum frequency hopping systems do is automatically switch channels instantly, seamlessly, whenever interference is picked up.

which is somewhere between a really, really nice to have and an absolute necessity when you are the one-man band and on camera at the same time. So why would I use the Sony next time under similar circumstances when this is such a big issue for me? Well, one, I'm comfortable with the absence of automatic switching because I become comfortable with the way Sony has implemented automatic scanning and setup for a Clear Channel, especially when two, we are several floors away in an office park from the one source of interference I've experienced multiple times before while using RF-based systems poorly shielded electrical systems in cars and trucks, and three, because I will never do an interview like that again without Claudia. I'll wrap up this first episode of used in Anger this way. I chose the wrong audio gear for an important shoot because I hadn't truly used that gear sufficiently in Anger previously. This is the value of experience, what I call scar tissue, and then of recognizing that sometimes a challenge needs to be reframed differently than one imagined.

because in this case beyond having the right gear, I needed the right person. Claudia, as the dedicated shooter behind the camera, monitoring everything along the way, as she always is and does. We'd been unable to spring her from her other commitments, but that is indeed the other lesson: never schedule a shoot when I'm going to be in front of the camera without Claudia. Another lesson I'd burned into my brain previously and applied this time is the value of a hardcore pre-flight checklist. You might call it in writing, generated out of an abundance of caution. Finally, it is only when one uses gear in anger that the full measure of that gear and its fit for you and what you do become unequivocally clear. It is equally clear, cliche I know, although true nonetheless, that bargain gear isn't always a bargain or that the best gear isn't always the best. Hold that thought for a future episode. If you like what you've seen here today, please give a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, join

the conversation in the comment section below because this is an exceptional audience. If you'd like help with a portfolio review, gear selection, finding, or honing your artistic voice, sign up for a one-on-one mentoring video call via Zoom at 3bmep.com booking. Finally, please consider supporting our work by using the no-cost-to-you affiliate links down below, sending us coffee money via PayPal, or most especially joining us on Patreon. Links down below as well. However you choose to support us, as always, we thank you for it. [Music]

“Used in Anger” Episode 1: Lavalier Mics in 2022 (RODE vs.DJI vs. Zoom vs. Sony)

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