Pearl MSH10 MS Stereo Microphone - Review

A couple of weeks ago I finally received the Pearl MSH10 MS stereo microphone. They are handmade, so the lead time on them can take a while.

The microphone came in a lovely wooden box engraved with the Pearl logo and the model. The mic was in a silk pouch and also in the box was a Rycote InVision shockmount, and a test sheet signed by an engineer. The Rycote was a great surprise, and will definitely be utilised.

I also ordered a Rycote Kit 2 windjammer system, ConBox and a Duo Lyre system (required as the mic is pretty thick). The fantastic guys at Pinknoise Systems put this all together for me so I didn’t even need to set anything up.

The build quality is excellent and really has a quality, handmade feel to it. The coating is black with silver mesh. It is slightly longer than my MKH-8060 but the diameter at 28mm is quite a bit larger and definitely warrants the Rycote Duo Lyre’s I ordered.

I wanted to do a sound test as soon as possible so got my Sound Devices 744 out and put the mic on the balcony of my apartment. The sound quality is fantastic, really gave me a good stereo image of the traffic outside and was picking up all sorts of subtle sounds, from car horns to babies crying in other apartments. I then took it back inside and was pleasantly surprised at the very low self-noise.

I arranged to meet another sound recordist and we took a trip to a local beach to test it out there. He was also very impressed with the mic. The sounds of the waves were really clear, but there was so much other sound around it was impossible to get a clean recording. We also tested it out on some trees with birds and the clarity was stunning.

I have since used the mic on a job that took me up into the mountains of Fujairah, in the north of the UAE. We were filming up a mountain at 5am, so managed to get some great early morning sounds, roosters were in abundance! I also managed to get some night time ambience, but as it’s the summer here now, it’s very warm so there are less creatures about. I’ll have to go back and try again when it’s cooler.

I’m incredibly happy with the Pearl and paired with my Sound Devices 744 it’s definitely my go-to stereo recording system.

Sennheiser AVX review for Broadcast Pro Middle East

I recently reviewed the new Sennheiser AVX system for Broadcast Pro Middle East magazine. It was the first time I had reviewed a product and also my first published article.

Click here for the full review.

Tentacle Sync Timecode System

While working on a recent project, a DIT I regularly work with showed me the Tentacle Sync devices he bought. I had heard about them and thought they were very interesting, so it was great to be able to test them out. Although it wasn't the best project to use them on I still managed to test out the functionality.

The units are incredibly small, about the size of a match box, and don't weigh much more! They have a built-in Velcro back so they are easily mountable, and as they are so light and small don't get in the way at all.

The TC output from the unit is via a 3.5mm jack connector and the cables that were supplied (none are included and each have to be ordered separately) were well made and worked perfectly. I was using the cable for RED which is a very small LEMO connector so it was good to have the cable already made up.

There is only one button on the unit, and this just turns it on and off. All the other functionality is programmed using either a PC or MAC via the USB cable or using IOS or Android (app coming soon) via a TRRS cable. The interface on PC, MAC and iOS is very simple and easy to use. Just set the frame rate and and you're ready to go. User Bits can be set as well as the MIC / LINE level settings, although I found it's best to leave the level setting on auto. The is also a timeout setting, I set it to 12 hours as this should last a whole day. The battery life is said to be 2 days, I have yet to test this.

Jamming is as simple as turning the unit on and plugging in the jack, and plugging the other end into the mixer. I use the LEMO as I have Sound Devices, but you can also sync via BNC with the correct cable. The light on the unit flashes red and then  fast flashing green when jamming and slow flashing green when jammed.

After using them for a few days I was thoroughly impressed and decided to make the DIT and offer for them. He agreed and i'm now a very happy owner of the system.

For more information check out www.tentaclesync.com

Wisycom UPK-Mini

I recently bought the new UPK-Mini programmer for my Wisycom radio kit. This allows me to keep all the devices' firmware up to date as well as programming various functionality into the devices.

I can choose the frequencies that I use regularly and remove the ones I don't, meaning it's quicker to switch frequencies if and when I need to. I'm also able to save different settings for the mics I regularly use, these are easily selected on the transmitters. 

The new firmware for the MCR42 receivers is excellent, another layer of menu has been included and different screens for frequency and audio levels. These screens are really useful if you want to see the information at a glance.

I highly recommend anyone with Wisycom radios to get the new programmer.

FYI. The software is  currently only available to Windows, but i've heard that they are working on a MAC version.