Pro Location Sound LLC

This case was released about 6 months ago and I am thinking about buying one to better protect my windscreens and poles It will accept boom poles up to 28 inches and has space for head phones a microphone or two and a Zeppelin of any size. At a Price Point of $200.00 it is an affordable option. Below is what the manufacturer has to say:

The days of measuring the diagonal of a production case to see if your boom pole might just fit have finally ended. Alfa Case, makers of the Boom tube and Mictube, has introduced the Combo-Case which holds zeppelin-style windscreens with mic mounts, headphones, AND up to a 28-inch collapsed boom pole. Forget gun cases that can’t fit your Rycote, but hold your boom. And leave behind the flight case that only holds the mic/wind protection rig. Finally, this location-audio-specific case can do it all!The Alfa Combo-Case accommodates Rycote S-series wind systems, Rycote Modular Windshield Kits 1-7, 10, the Rode Blimp and K-Tek K-Zep systems. The Combo-Case also accepts the following fully collapsed boom poles: PSC Elite Small and Medium poles, K-Tek K-56, K-81, K-102, K-123 (CC only) KEG-60, KEG-88, KEG-100, KE-69, KE-79, KE-89, KE-110, VDB Baby, Small, and Medium boom poles.

A few months ago Remote Audio which makes alot of great products for the sound mixer or recordist released a version of there popular boom operator talk back system that works with the 442. This solves alot of problems for mixers like me that mostly do reality tv and news work but occasionally also do a commercial or film shoot. It isn’t cost effective or practice for me to have a desk style mixer but I need some of the features most have like talk back.  Belowo  is a what Remote Audio has to say about there system and how it works,

Sound Mixer talking privately to the Boom Operator

The SD-442 mixer has a user-settable option called “Comm Mic Function” that routes the internal slate mic privately to the right channel TA3 connector. When in this mode, the A/B return monitor toggle switch serves as a Push-To-Talk (PTT) button activating the PL mic, allowing the Sound Mixer at the SD-442 mixer to talk privately to the Boom Operator.

Boom Operator talking privately to the Sound Mixer

The Boom Operator wears the Remote Audio Boom Box, which, when the PTT button is pressed, amplifies the Boom Operator’s headphone talkback mic to line level. This signal is bridged into the SD-442 headphone signal, allowing the Sound Mixer to hear the Boom Operator privately. The Boom Box also feeds the talkback signal to the Boom Operator’s headphones so they can hear their own voice via “side tone” which makes it easier for them to speak softly and clearly.

Monitoring

The Boom Operator’s headphone signal is a sum of the SD-442 channel-1 mix (LEFT) and the PL mic. This signal is independent of the SD-442 headphone settings, and is not affected by the Sound Mixer’s monitoring choices such as PFL, stereo, left-only, right-only, etc.

Note

In this simple configuration, the Boom Operator’s headphone levels are not adjustable, and are instead dependent on the level of the left channel mix bus. Most will find the level to be adequate and comfortable. However, an additional small mixer may be used for more comprehensive monitor options.

The price of the system for everything you need including 50 feet of duplex cable and MDR 7506 headphones with talkback microphone is $745.00 which makes it fairly affordable If you already have the headphone with talkback microphone the system is only $495.00. Making is a cost effective addition to any kit. I know I’ll be buying one once I get another job that requires it.

In addition to the metal windscreen that comes with the Sanken Cos-11 there is an optional but less known Large windscreen that can be purchased seperately for about $25.00. This windscreen is outstanding it can withstand even beach force gusts without having wind noise problems. It is my first choice for high wind situation so order one it may save your day!!!! Thanks for all your great emails everyone. Visit the Link below to see the Windscreen:

http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=293&cat=34&page=3#detail

Everyone welcome to my Blog. I usually post a few times a week regarding equipment reviews or just general thoughts regarding the sound industry. I have been very busy working recently so I haven’t been able to post as often as I usually due but please subscribe to my RSS feed at the bottom of the page and starting next week I should be posting more often. Feel free to write me a comment or email if I can help you or any of your clients on projects especially in the Southeast.

Lectrosonics is a great american company that provides the sound industry with top notch wireless systems and solutions. That are built for abuse and rarely fail or have an issue but if they do there service department is top notch. One of my 211 units which I have owned for 4 years and used over 600 days on various demanding projects began experiencing issues with its pilot tone feature. So I sent it off to New Mexico for service and was quoted a very fair $300.00 to replace the pilot tone crystals, update the firmware, and a cleaning of the body pack with new on/off switch. Well upon receiving the unit lectrosonics quickly contacted me and informed me that the pilot tone crystal issue I was having would be corrected for free as part of the upgrades to the unit and the unit would be returned to be soon. The unit arrived today looking brand new including 3 9v batteries.

At $300.00 I felt like I was getting a good deal and had no problem knowing my unit would come back to me in like new condition. But free is even better, I would imagine that his unit will serve me for many more years to come