Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277927
30 S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y fascinating and thoroughly educating process. We tested each for sound quality, range, headroom at the transmitter, frequency coordination, battery life, transmitter size and weight, and sweatproof-ability (not a real word, but a real problem on this upcoming summer in NY dance production). We tested ease of use, coordinating 24 channels at one time, the ability to make adjustments to transmitters from the cart, how many receivers per rack, DC/ AC, power consumption, remote ability, and whatever else we could think of. What amazed me was the company I least expected is the one I chose. We've all known Shure as a high-end music company and a prosumer electronics brand. But what Shure has accomplished in the world of wireless is a game changer in our industry. Shure's Axient Digital system was our hands-down winner. The only catch; it had never been used on a feature film before. This scared the shit out of me. To go into battle on this of all films, with an system also allows the home base to talk to the transmitters to change frequencies and put them to sleep—and the battery level meter is accurate to the minute. No more touching actors or assaulting them with fax tones. YAY! Wirelesses were by far my deepest fear for this shoot, but throughout the entire 78-day shoot, we didn't experience one problem with the entire system. No exaggeration. Recorders OK, enough said there. For recorders, most things being equal (some Cantar fans may argue this), I went with two Sound Devices 970's. Part of that decision was the old school me that likes to see meters moving and the 970 has a nice big faceplate. They worked well apart from the software being a bit slow and clunky; I believe they've put most of that energy into the newer models. Mixer Choosing a mixing board wasn't quite as easy. We obviously needed a digital board because of the number of channels required, but again, which one? It seemed that most production mixers using digital boards or desks were primarily using a Yamaha or Zaxcom, Cantar, and Sound Devices. I had already maxed out my learning curve on this new cart but choosing the right mixing board is a huge decision for a mixer because it's where we spend most of our time. Thankfully at Gotham, one of Peter's clients had an Allen and Heath SQ-5 board in their shop. Peter liked it because its design and ease of use made it easier for analog mixers to switch to digital. "That sounds like me," I believe I said! After playing around with it and many others, I agreed with Peter; Allen and Heath it was. unproven system seemed nuts. But Peter and I stayed on it, continuing our testing and education about Shure and its Axient Digital system. Some quick research about the company calmed me a bit. Shure is a Chicago-based family company that's been around for 100 years. They were pioneers in early mic development and supplied most mics and headphone systems for WW2 (back when military standards really meant something). Shure has developed the most rigorous testing system I have ever heard of. Before any product is ever released to the public, that product is put through a year of hell. Thanks be to the sound gods, we chose correctly. The Shure system saved my ass! The transmitters are tiny, light, sweatproof, don't run hot, have no external antennas, and are ergonomically designed to work on actors. There's no transmitter volume control. There were times when I had to do 40 dB swings on my pre-fader gain to capture the lows and pad the volume and it never overloaded once throughout the entire shoot. With Axient Digital's integrated system of Wireless Workbench and Spectrum Manager, the system would pick out frequencies in overcrowded NYC RF zones. And with the push of a button, deploy those frequencies to all 24 transmitters with backup frequencies. The time savings were amazing. The Above: Peter Schneider of Gotham Sound wired with four units to do distance tests. Right: Just an average day in the NYC RF spectrum minefield.