Audio Ltd. 1010 Digital Wireless Microphone

Audio Ltd. TX1010 xmitter

Some years back, as I was beginning to do more serious location audio work, I heard that Audio Ltd. made the best sounding analog wireless with the greatest range in the market; in particular their 2020 and then their 2040 series. I had been writing professional audio gear reviews for MIX, Radio World, Pro Audio Review, Pro Sound News and a few other trade magazines before the Internet caused the big trade magazine meltdown. What caused it? The immediacy of information and the loss of classified ads. I know, hard to believe, but those classified pages in the back of a magazine were solid gold. Anyway.......

I was very pleased by the 2040. Here's my 2040 review from back in 2007, they had the best sound and distance of any wireless I could find. Here are some 24-bit WAV files I recorded to a Sound Devices 744T.

The Audio Ltd. gear was not cheap; about $5K USD for a transmitter and receiver. They're made in the UK and had the reputation of needing a tweek now and then. That tweek usually meant a trip back to England; not all that convenient. By the time the Audio Ltd. slightly less expensive Envoy series was released they had redesigned the pieces so they could have circuit boards replaced here in the USA, and with minor adjustments, be returned to the owners a lot more quickly.

Audio Ltd. TX1010 xmitter with green slot for card.

Time passes and we find that the 

Audio Ltd. Skunk Works have been busy developing a new system. The Audio Ltd. 1010. The build on both transmitter and receiver are good. Solid metal - not plastic.

The Audio Ltd. 1010 is a digital wireless system, with an end-to-end latency of just two milliseconds. It covers 90 MHz of spectrum, from 470 MHz to 548 MHz or 518 MHz to 608 MHz, in banks, channels and fine tuned in 25 kHz steps to help you dodge the increasingly cluttered landscape, with a neat scanner in the receiver to help you find the empty spots. 

There is also a 594 MHz to 694 MHz range, but it will not be available in the US or Canada. One caution, a spot on a scanner may be empty one moment and quite busy the next. My only trivial complaint with the transmitter was that the battery clips are so "springy" that they would sometimes pop the batteries out when the door was open. 

Redding Audio's Scott Boland

When I mentioned that to Scott Boland at Redding Audio, distributors for Schoeps, Rycote, Voice Technologies, Cable Techniques, Peter Engh, Ambient Recording and Audio Ltd. in the USA, he reminded me that AA cells do vary in length, "Seems to be like the old 9V thing where Energizers and Duracell’s are a smidge different in length. I could get your alkalines that were left in the chamber when you returned the gear to pop out, but none of the other Lithium batteries I have here from all the pop brands did. It seemed that your battery + tip was a slice of a mm shorter."

The Audio Ltd. 1010 has been designed so that up to twenty systems can be operated within one TV channel. That, in itself, is somewhat remarkable. I was not sent enough systems to test this. Boland adds, "In the UK where their broadcast channels are 8 MHz wide, there's more room to fit more wireless. In the US we only have 6 MHz for a TV channel, so we can fit (15) 1010 systems in a US channel."

Audio Ltd. uses a proprietary codec to compress the audio and proprietary digital modulation scheme. It also provides selectable, four number encryption. Once the encryption is set at the transmitter, the receiver also needs to be manually set. The TX1010 transmitter, which comes with a snug neoprene case and mounting strap, runs on two AA batteries and can be set for 5 mW, 20 mW or 50 mW output. There's a ten step audio input gain control that ranges from 0 to -40dB. The high-pass filter can be set flat, 50Hz, 80Hz, 120Hz or 200Hz. Audio input is via a three-pin LEMO. I was told it's wired the same way as some Sennheiser three-pin LEMOS. The input will handle mic or line level signals and provides bias voltage for lavs and special bias for Schoeps CMR cables.

The data sheet says the transmitter can be operated up to five hours on two AA lithium batteries. I operated the transmitter at the highest output power, 50 mW, using Alkaline batteries and got two hours before the warning light began to blink and another twenty minutes before the transmitter shut down. Boland says, *Welcome to the world of digital wireless. Due to current drain, we don’t recommend Alkalines. When using any brand of digital wireless you must use NiMH as a minimum. Lithium are preferred. The reports back from the field so far is 4.5 hours with NiMH and anywhere from 5.5 to 7 hours with Lithium at 50 mW."

The OLEDs (Organic LED) are visible in the sun. The TX1010 display shows the block number and frequency simultaneously. You can easily switch between the US and EU block numbers.

The TX1010 has one feature guaranteed to catch the eye and ear of every sound location person. It records to a micro SD card in the transmitter, with "timecode capabilities", but I'm not exactly sure what those timecode capabilities are. If the signal doesn't make it to the receiver, you can pull the recording off the card in the transmitter. Brilliant! and a hat tip to Glenn Sanders at Zaxcom. (At present, there's a Zaxcom patent that may prevent the record feature from being enabled on any Audio Ltd. 1010 from sold in the USA.) That slot is also used for firmware updates.

No word yet on whether or not there are never-clip-like features in the wings for the 1010 although it does have a limiter, and the 1010 does not generate or transmit timecode. Engaging the limiter brought up the noise floor on the preproduction model I was sent, but I was also sent a - 9dB Sanken red band COS11 (for screaming opera singers and South American soccer announcers.) That meant I had to increase the sensitivity at the transmitter which brought up the noise floor. Enough so that when my soundie friend Bernie Ozol brought his bag out for a comparison, his Lectro Sm and SRb with a regular COS 11 were noticeably quieter. 

I reached out to Sanken, (Thanks, Sara at Plus24.net, actually) and she sent along another regular COS11 with a 3-pin Lemo to fit the Audio Ltd. 1010 transmitter. Once we got them lined up, the noise floor was identical in level. The spectra of the noise in the 1010 was a little higher in frequency; more of a "sssssss." The Lectro Sm was more "shhhhhh." Apart from that, both lavs were basically interchangeable for in terms of sound quality. 

DX1010 Receiver

Audio Ltd. DX101 Receiver

The DX1010 receiver is fully digital and is fully dual diversity with dual antennas and dual switching receivers. In addition, there is another layer of technology at work; Maximum Ratio Combining Diversity. So, in addition to choosing the stronger signal, the circuitry further amplifies the stronger signal and decreases gain on the weaker signal.

The Audio Ltd. DX1010 receiver also has digitally controlled front-end tracking filters. Its output can be switched from AES3 digital to line level analog. The analog output (+10 dBu max) can be reduced from 0 dB to -12dB, -24dB or -36dB as needed. 

Pressing and holding the outside two buttons flips the display which may be useful when bag mounting. The DX1010 receiver does not have a battery compartment. The receiver power spec is 6-18 V DC. Its outputs is a 25-pin D-sub Superset, Sound Devices, Panasonic/Ikegami adapter, with external DC input and audio output cables. 

The receiver displays the TX1010 transmitter battery status. You can scan the entire 100 MHz bandwidth of the unit or chop the scanner bandwidth into fourths to save time. The scanner continues to scan until you depress the central button on the three-button controls. There are a number of small LEDs on the DX1010 that must have something to do with the receiver; probably the dual diversity, but I didn't have documentation for them. 

IN USE

I had distance problems with reception at first with the 1010, but I write that off to how tricky the remaining spectrum can be in a metropolitan area; even in its suburbs. I remembered that a 300 kHz shift made all the difference when I was range testing the Audio Ltd. 2040. Eventually, my "standard walk test track", other wise known as a walk around the block in my neighborhood, equalled and exceeded the range I was getting with Bernie's 100mW Lectros, even though the 1010 transmitter was only putting out 50mW. As most experienced people will tell you, raw RF power may help you maintain a more solid workable RF field up close, but twice the power will not double your range. That's more the job of a well designed receiver and Audio Ltd. has a reputation for very well designed receivers.

Using the full 50 mW, I was able to get 130 yards in the clear, and with a hop over a neighbors solid wooden fence, out to 150 yards before the signal began breaking up.

I found one curiosity with the TX1010 transmitter. During my testing, we set it down on a folding chair and the audio began to misbehave. Under the padded seat of the chair was a sturdy metal pan bottom. It became apparent that the TX1010 transmitter does not like being placed on flat metal surfaces. Bernie's Lectrosonics SM worked fine on those same surfaces. 

REMOTE CONTROL
The TX1010 transmitter may be controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth, using the 1010TX app. I had problems at first with my iPad 3, but they were quickly solved with an update. After starting up the app, my iPad screen tells you its searching for transmitters. It will list them if Bluetooth is enabled in any TX1010 transmitters. You can name each transmitter with the app and that name is also transmitted to the receiver. You can put the transmitter in and out of standby to save battery power. You can also adjust transmitter input sensitivity and adjust the high-pass filter.

There were other icons in the menu bar of the 1010TX app. Some of them were active, but there was no explanation of their use or purpose. 

IN CONCLUSION
Audio Ltd. has been to enough rodeos with proven results. They understand how to make a product that is designed to work well. I think they've showed that with the 1010. It will be interesting to see how the firmware updates continue to evolve.

List price for the TX1010 transmitter is about $2,000 USD and $2,300 USD with the Voice Technologies VT500 omni wav. The DX1010 receiver is $2849 USD with adaptor.

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AES NYC 2015 A Journeyman's Wandering #04

This fourth report from AES/NYC 2015 moves on to cover more of the booth visits I made over a day and a half. I took a small Olympus Stylus TOUGH TG-4 Digital camera with me so I didn't have to take notes and because "reality video" catches a bit of what it feels like on the floor. It's has a 16MP BSI CMOS with a top sensitivity of ISO 6400 and a 5 fps shooting rate at full resolution. 

I got it over the hundreds of others on the market because it's built to withstand underwater dives to 50 feet, falls from as high as seven feet onto what I don't know), temperatures as low as 14 degrees fahrenheit and pressure up to 220 lbf. I wasn't expecting to operate the camera at any of those extremes, but thought being prepared might come in handy later.

I used it in auto mode most of the time and, while not perfect due to operator error and the whims of the camera itself, I was and remain happy with it. The "stereo mics" are mounted exactly where my left hand wants to hold the camera, so I had to learn to hold it somewhere else our all you could hear was mmmfmmmmfmfmmfmfmmff.

Zaxcom

Glenn Sanders is relentless in his efforts to improve location audio gear. First in many things, the Zaxcom "firsts" that stand out for me are a small, digital body pack transmitter that has a built in audio recorder and also records time code to a mini-SD card, NeverClip, a system that prevents overloading of the transmitter by unexpectedly loud sounds and the ZaxNet systematic approach that, among many other things, allows an operator to adjust the sensitivity of a transmitter from a Zaxcom console without ever touching the transmitter itself. Click on the Zaxnet link to find out more.

Join Glenn above as he talks about the new Nomad Touch Remote control. If you're doing location audio from a bag or on a cart, the Nomad Touch can let you take care of business very easily; metadata, changing output busses, record enable tracks. So it's a Deva-style touch screen for a Nomad recorder. Nice!

Rycote
Scott Boland was at the Redding audio stand and among other things was showing the new Rycote Cyclone windshield kit. The system is different in that the windscreen itself is attached via a suspension system to the base. That reduces vibrations from making their way to the microphone. Scott is showing a medium sized vernon in the video. It works with a Sennheiser 416, Schoeps CMIT, Rode NTG1, NTG2 or NTG4 or 4+. As of 12/7/15, the only size available in the USA is large. That would be the right size for long shotgun mics like a Sennheiser 816 (If you still have one), Audio-Technica 4071L, or a Rode NTG8. Shorter versions are expected in 2016. Check out Scott's demo below.

Earthworks 

Eric Blackmer was just across the aisle at Earthworks. It had been some time since I had talked to him and we did some catchup, especially on an ingenious invention called a KP1 KICKPAD, an inline device that allows almost any XLR terminated mic to be used as a kick drum mic. $99.

It comes with the Earthworks DK25/L Live Performance Drum Mics that also includes three SR25 cardioid mics and a windscreen for the kick drum for a simple but effective three mic drum PA setup. 

There is also the Earthworks DK25/R Recording kit that includes two TC25 omni mics for overhead, a SR25 cardioid for kick, a KP1 KICKPAD and a windscreen.

Finding solutions for situations is vitally important for any company. The Earthworks FW730 FlexWand mics and stands are good example of this approach. Preachers, drummer and choir directors take note as Blackmer details the applications and why the FW730 works so well. I like the fact that it has an XLR plug built-in to the stand itself and the cord runs internally all the way up to the microphone. And as Eric demonstrates below, it's very stable.

Finally, Blackmer showed me the Earthworks SR20 handheld cardioid condenser for live work that can withstand 145 dB SPL. I was struck by the ingenuity of Earthworks designers to come up with the screw on headgrille that allows one of his typical designs to be repurposed for a totally different application. Very cool! $599 is certainly out of the reach of anyone with an SM58 budget. It's up there past an Audio-Technica AE5400 and equal to a Neumann KMS 105, but mics are sometimes something you don't know you want until you hear what they do. Then you want one! See what Eric has to say about the Earthworks SR20 below.

Coming up in the next edition, the RME BabyFace Pro, a long list of Radial Engineering gear, a new Tascam plug on recorder plug on for dynamic mics, a Tascam 64 track recorder with removable hard drives, a new soft, silicon surfaced Roli music keyboard, a gaggle of Shure in ear monitors and more! Keep an eye out! Subscribe to the Blog!!!

Copyright © 2015 Technique, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More at www.tyford.com

Location Audio Rental Houses Speak Out About Gear And Changing Markets

Glen Trew

The relative health of the film and video production industry in the USA can be measured by the profusion of location audio rental houses. Glen Trew, owner of Trew Audio, with stores in Nashville, Toronto, Vancouver, LA and newest Atlanta location is the perfect model for this growth pattern. Trew says, “LA is #1. Atlanta is now considered #2. NY is #3. There are more feature films shot in Georgia now than LA, but a lot more TV series are shot in LA. New Orleans is a very close #4.”  

Rich Topham on the teaching circuit

Richard Topham of Professional Sound Services runs shops in NYC, Ft. Lauderdale and New Orleans. Topham notes the widespread growth and the tendency for it to follow the money. “Yes, they’re building studios in Atlanta, but they’re building everywhere; The Dominican Republic, Columbia, New York, New Mexico, Michigan. Wherever the incentives are, the production goes, but it changes depending on who’s lobbying the hardest and what else is happening.” It’s very clear that, at the moment, Georgia has one of the better incentive plans. These plans are typically adjusted annually. The hot state today may not be so hot tomorrow. 

While the big hubs keep the large projects turning, everyone I spoke with agreed that there is widespread growth. According to Trew, “The affordability of the new digital video gear has had a noticeable impact on audio rentals. Film has all but fallen off the face of the earth, and for every film camera not being used there seems to be five more affordable digital cameras that don’t require film stock. Lower cost camera equipment, and the lower cost and ease of editing has resulted in a lot more content but at reduced budgets and usually dramatically reduced quality in the final product.”

Guzzi and Schneider expand into Atlanta

Jim Guzzi and Peter Schneider own Gotham Sound. They follow suit, with offices in NYC and also in Atlanta. Schneider’s take is that Gotham is actually in the glue business. “We’re gluing manufacturers together, gluing products together, gluing customers together. We compete on the basis of knowledge and support and applying the technology in creative ways for both sales and rentals.” On the high end, that direction has led Gotham outside the box to invent new systems to handle the complexities of today’s production. 

IT’S IN THE MATRIX

Rentals for reality television, for example, have grown increasingly complex. Schneider says Sound Supervisors are often requested to make a mix for each camera. “The competition shows have relentless schedules and the technology, as the manufacturers sell it, doesn’t exist to route all of that audio in real time as quickly as they want. The new Dante platform prompted us to create a custom 32” touch screen surface for the control room with a 250 crosspoint matrix, for all of the audio sources and all of the audio destinations. 

Gotham Sound Switching Matrix

You have one operator routing audio. That person makes multiple mixes from wireless lavs and booms.” Schneider says the boom ops don’t wear bags. They use Sound Devices MixPres for headphone and level control and go wireless to the matrix. Levels are also controlled by the sound supervisor for the record/overall mix chain and for the touchscreen.

Schneider wrote code around a program originally written for interactive multimedia dance performances. Guzzi says it got a lot of interest from Sound Supervisors. “Some Sound Supervisors are true visionaries. They understood it and also saw how it would help them. So, yes, a bigger upfront cost, but it would give them the control they wanted at the speed they wanted.”

For less stratospheric work, Guzzi say their rental business echoes Trew’s ‘more projects, lower budgets’ business, “Maybe it’s just a Zoom, a Rode and a G3. In the middle are sound mixers that are augmenting their kit or renting additional pieces for a particular job. Then we have broadcasters and feature film rentals on the high end. Sometimes we have to put together 30 packages on a friday afternoon, but that keeps us from being worried about being dependent on one or two large clients.”

TOOL SCHOOL

All three companies practice educational outreach. Schneider says renters can come in and sit with the techs for as long as they need to to understand. “We had one customer that does a lot of hunting and outdoors shows where the producer does the sound. He really wanted to use a Sound Devices 633, but didn’t know if the crew could make it happen with two wireless and a shotgun. They brought in all of their producers and we had a free class for them for six to eight hours and now they’re all out in the field and doing pretty well.” 

Schneider says they typically don’t charge for education, because it usually results in more business. “We held a ‘Field 101’ class and charged $10 per person, just to get a handle on how many people would show up, but we gave it back as a $10 store credit.” 

SPECTRUM SQUEEZE

Topham says, with the 700 MHz band gone and the 600 MHz band on the way out, wireless manufacturers are going to have to work hard to meet the growing demand for wireless mics. “The Federal government only cares about the money they can get from telecom companies and Google and people like that. When you dangle a $27 billion dollar carrot in front of the government, who is not getting any income from the current end users, and you look at the sales differences between wireless mics and cell phones and iPads, consumer electronics win the day simply because of the numbers. The FCC is saying they won’t sell off the 600 MHz band until 2016 or 2017. That’s not really that far away. That may drive some to rent now rather than to buy now only to find they can’t use that gear as early as next year.”

Audio-Technica System 10

Topham points to the new less expensive digital wireless systems from Audio-Technica, Sennheiser and Rode operating at 2.4 GHz. “They work up to about 150 feet. Some people are trying them when range is not an issue. “If you need more distance than that, you need to buy or rent higher.”

Topham says there’s another RF gotcha. “If a mixer who already owns block 24 gear gets on a show and production says, ‘No, we’re using block 22’, then the mixer will come to me to rent block 22 because their 24 won’t match up. Especially in reality shows, because the crews switch in and out, they all need to have receivers in the same blocks as the transmitters on the actors; one transmitter, but multiple receivers. They want the sound to transmit to the cameras. They want those wireless on certain blocks so if they move camera with sound, everything works together.” Topham says that’s why wireless manufacturers are now putting out wireless mics that cover three blocks, or 12 UHF frequencies.

TIME CODE

Mozegear Tig Q28 Time Code Generator

Topham says time code slates and other boxes have become more important, especially with the newer cameras. “There just aren’t a lot of cameras out there with solid clocks. From an F300 to a Lexa to a RED, the time code is no good. The Ambient clocks inside the Sound Devices gear, Zaxcom, Denecke and Mozegear clocks are all very reliable. That’s why you have Lockit boxes on the side of all these cameras. Zaxcom makes an IFB that carries audio and time code, so you can feed both into a camera from the same box. Camera operators like this because it’s one less box hanging off of their cameras.”

Many of the new, less expensive digital cameras don’t even have time code connections, but Trew adds that while there used to be three types of time code connectors, “Now there are connectors that are sometimes unique to each camera. So we have to find out what devices are being used and what interface cables are needed, and then help people understand how to use them.”

Timecode Buddy :mini trx

In addition to Topham’s time code gear list, Trew adds Betso and Timecode Buddy. “Betso had some consistency problems when they first came out, but they seem to have fixed them. Timecode Buddy is a very nice system that incorporates metadata, slates, and script supervision. Mozegear is the newest, but seems spot on in quality and utility. Industry leaders Denecke and Ambient continue to be excellent.”

Sound Devices 633

The two major players for recorders and mixers are Sound Devices, who followed their 788 and 664 with the 633 and 688 compact mixer/recorders, and Zaxcom who recently introduced their own Nomad and Max compact mixer/recorders. Having said that, people coming in for rental appreciate the Zaxcom gear that uses their “NeverClip” circuitry that lets you scream into a mic without overloading it. Wireless systems suggested by the rental houses include Lectrosonics, Zaxcom, Sennheiser and Wisycom. Boom mic choices continue to be Schoeps CMC641 and CMIT, Sanken CS3e and Sennheiser MKH 50. Lavs mentioned range from DPA 4061 to Sennheiser ME2 and MKE-2, Sanken COS-11, Tram 50 and Countryman B6.

When renting from any shop, some price by three day weeks and some by four day weeks. For example, three day means, you pay for three days but get the gear for five days. Some shops have monthly rates, others just stack weeks to make a month. 

This story is a digital reprint from the June 2015 issue of Markee Magazine. You may read the entire June issue here.

Technique, Inc. Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved

Contact Ty Ford at www.tyford.com