Craig Anderton's Sound, Studio, and Stage

[Anderton]

Wireless speakers, wireless controllers, wireless everything. Cool, right?

Well, unless you were shooting videos, and had a wireless mic going back to the camcorder. Going through the footage, there were a few videos I had to scrap due to interference so bad it basically killed the audio in sections.

Although the vast majority of the videos were okay, I decided to play it safe and in a lot of cases, had people record into a handheld recorder, and flew the narration in separately. Even then, if they were recording too close to something wireless, sometimes there was interference in the camcorder audio (which I could tell was there when I tried to sync the handheld to it).

Okay, NAMM videos...big deal. But does anyone think this proliferation of wireless signals zipping through our bodies 24/7 may adhere to the law of unintended consequences?

[MikeRivers]

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Going through the footage, there were a few videos I had to scrap due to interference so bad it basically killed the audio in sections.

Although the vast majority of the videos were okay, I decided to play it safe and in a lot of cases, had people record into a handheld recorder, and flew the narration in separately. Even then, if they were recording too close to something wireless, sometimes there was interference in the camcorder audio (which I could tell was there when I tried to sync the handheld to it).

EMI is more and more prevalent with "progress." One of the biggest problems is from cell phones. Not only is there more EMI floating around, but much of the audio equipment that we're able to buy today isn't nearly as EMI proof as gear was back before we had an EMI problem. Your handheld recorder probably has a plastic case and the wiring between the mic and the inputs stage is unbalanced (we call this an "antenna"). Your typical external mic for a handheld recorder or small video camera is connected with an unbalanced cable. 

The fact thta it's too easy to do what you're doing at trade shows is what's causing the problems you're having. You'd be fine if you slung a Nagra over your shoulder and plugged an SM58 into it with a real XLR cable. 

My talk at PreSonuSphere was about exactly this kind of thing. Too bad they didn't include it in the video package. Probably not enough about their products.

[blue2blue]

Happiness is a warm brain...

And few things heat up a brain so much as holding a microwave generator up alongside your skull.

[MrKnobs]

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Anderton wrote:

But does anyone think this proliferation of wireless signals zipping through our bodies 24/7 may adhere to the law of unintended consequences?

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I'm quite soured on wireless after losing the use of several thousand dollars of wireless IEM systems to the FCC's redistribution of frequencies (partly) because people wanted to watch TV on their cellphones.  A wire may be inconvenient but it's massively more reliable and hi-fi than a wireless connection and very unlikely to be legislated into worthlessness by a corrupt government agency.

Not to mention any long term health consequences.

Terry D.

[Lee Knight]

[blue2blue]

And an analog signal over a wire (or over the air, for that matter) has the potential for truly minimal signal latency. Unlike the laggy, delayed signal that comes over digital wireless systems.

(It drove me crazy when a theatre where my mom and her friends have had season tickets for many years switched to digital wireless mics. I was sitting in the same spot in the front row but the delay in the dialog audio was now painfully noticeable. It really threw me off.)

[learjeff]

Mobile phones are an issue because they're held so close to the noggin. As for the other stuff, I suspect it's dwarfed by the sea of 60-Hz we're swimming in. Fortunately, no studies have shown much harm from that.