Shock Mounts for SDC stereo pair? DIY / OTS / OL?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shadow_7
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I used low ISO settings, which is why it's dark. I was trying to lower the noise / grain. Auto white balance in gimp wasn't enough. +40 on contrast and brightness too. Yeah, a bad shot. I'll take the lamp shade off next time. Or maybe I've been watching too much syfy rewind. I've got to double the gamma on my video card to watch those shows. No other shows or youtube clips, just those. And their hulu versions.

I've actually rewired the elastics so that's the old version anyway. I found a neat way to figure 8 one band per segment, versus stretching them all the way across two segments. Once that's in place I loop a couple more bands over just the mic to crunch that ball of elastic in place. Much more sane about it being secure now. And aim-able. Lights were actually on my shopping list for this afternoon. DIY green screen is too yellow which hoses the paper edges and shadows. And mixes too well with content (teeth / eyes / shiny bald head).

Plus I need a metal drill bit (step up) to rig up two L joints as the make shift mic clip. The hole on them is too small. And the dremmel sanding bit isn't going to last through 4x holes. Once done I should be able to center mass it and aim them better.

I'm liking the current rigging pretty good. Like two wheels from a mars rover. Probably tomorrow morning for the final (or near final) version and pic. I'm also thinking about 3.0 with five segments, and the cut depth to 1/3rd, not 1/4th. Perhaps not until I revisit the fake fur socks to better match the current clip. Fortunately 4" couplings are a $1.27 each. The 3" ones were like $5+.
 
Yup it does look like this new version will better suit your needs.







:cool:
 
Something like this, but with tilting mic clips. As opposed to being suspended by big hair braids. Still a bad pic, but I haven't been shopping yet.

DIY_shockmount4.gif
 
I caved and used the flash this time.

DIY_shockmount5.gif


I put some spacer braids on the mic. I took out the figure 8's to de-tension the braids. But still looped extra braids across the mic to hold it all together. It's sunday so no hardware store today. But it was cold enough to brave the snake infested shed to rummage for suitable drill bits. No step up bit, but several multi-set ones that made relatively quick work of it. Versus trying to dremmel / sand 4x holes to the right size. I guess I can put this project behind me for now. A bit tedious, but still simple stuff with the right tools. Probably out $40 in parts for the pair. $20 of which is the mic clip part from two OSP stereo bars. Although technically it's the two that were already in use on said rig.

Now to find some sort of 8" coupling for the camcorder. To make the whole rig look like a mickey mouse head.
 
Oh yeah looks good! Just need to paint it up now.

No home depots near ya?








:cool:
 
moresound said:
Oh yeah looks good! Just need to paint it up now.

No home depots near ya?
Click to expand...

None worth driving 25 miles round trip for. Although that is where I got most of the parts from. I just wasn't much down with the ideal of spending $20-ish on a single drill bit. At least not from the big franchise versus the mom and pop less than 5 miles out, 8-ish round trip. I still need some lights, but all in due time.

As I contemplate putting some baffling between the shock mounts to pseudo a stereo image out of the rig. Just about the right size for a car sponge. $5-ish for one pack of hair braids is just about enough to make 4 of these things. With spacers. As I try to come up with counters to questions regarding why the bald guy has hair braids in his room.
 
HA HA HA .... well tell them it's for hair that they can't see! :D

Now did you sand the edges really good so as the PVC won't cut into the hair ties?







:cool:
 
I pre-drilled the holes where the hair ties rest. And the sanding wheel for the dremmel was used to make the cuts. And I de-burred with a wood chisel. There's still a few rough areas, but not where the hair ties rest.

More of a cutting disc than a sanding wheel. The black discs that you use to cut through metal.
 
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I guess a parts list for parts actually used in the result.

Guitar Center - OSP microphone bar - MY500 (or something like it)
$8.99 (or < $10 at guitar center)
x2 = $17.98

Home Depot - 4" PVC coupling hub x hub
$1.27
x2 = $ 2.54

Home Depot - 4x L joints
< $2

Home Depot - Pack of matching screws with bolts
< $2

WalMart - Ouchless hairties (goody brand)
$3.27

Some scraps from that foam stuff you put in kitchen drawers to keep things from sliding. Filler for between the L joints. I was just going to use scraps from an old bicycle inner tube, but I misplaced it.
$1

So roughly.
$20
$3
$2
$2
$4
$1
-----
$32 for parts actually used for 2x shockmounts. $16 each

Other household goods / tools:
- drill
- drill bits (metal)
- dremmel tool
- cutting wheels for dremmel tool
- wood chisel
- vise grips
- hammer
- scissors
- sharpie
- calculator
- ruler
- paper
- two flat head screwdrivers
- can of air

A bit of work, but basically half price of most of the commercial options. And should I break the coupling part, $1.27 each to replace. When the elastic gets worn, $3.27 to replace. And for < $3 I can reshape the couplings to many variations and color schemes. Extra for paint. Company logo, event logo, whatever. I'm with the band see the logo?

I guess if I didn't have the household items already, that these would be some mighty expensive shock mounts. I almost bought the step up drill bit which would have added $10 per mount $20 total. And there's probably cheaper mic clip options. I tried to include everything short of mentioning the dust pan and broom to clean up the mess. Plus the safety googles, I wear glasses already.
 
I added two work lights to the kit. So one 60W ceiling light, and 3x other lights at 75W each now (285W total). Apparently I need to up the wattage or get white bed sheets. The red tinge of my bed spread appears to be tainting the coloration of things after the sun sets. i.e. There's no way this yellow green is mostly red (granted that I am a little red/green deficient). anyway a little green screen fun. I guess I need white sheets even if I don't use them on the bed. And I need at least one more light. Fortunately they're fairly cheap. $22-ish for 2x clamp style lights rated up to 150W. Without bulbs.

Better lit, not to imply great light on the current version. I went ahead and dawned the remaining hair ties to the shock mounts. I guess I'm holding out hope that some super model will walk up and ask if I had any hair ties she could have. Or not.

DIY_shockmount6.gif
 
Now that looks cool! Like right out of a photo shoot in a magazine.
I'll place an order of 25,000. Can you deliver the product before Thanksgiving?
Good job shadow.







:cool:
 
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Version 3.0 I guess. The local HW store had some slightly smaller and thick hubs. I thought that they were 3" hubs, but it turns out that they're 4" exactly on the outside. And 2/5" thick. So I slimmed down a bit. And since they're thicker I went with thinner stubs. The other ones are like 4.25" outside and 1/8" thick. I feel comfortable that these (4" x 3.3" and 0.4" thick) could take a stand dive and survive. Not that I intend to test that theory. I did have to add a loop on the stub to take up the slack. But nice to know that I wont have to remake these anytime soon.
 
Version 4.0 I guess. Video pending. 6x 40W equivalent LED bulbs - ecosmart A19 - And why does it feel like I've spent more on video this past year than anything else? Not that it shows much in the picture. But having a green screen that actual records as green (not yellow like with incandescent bulbs) is a sanity saver.

DIY_shockmount_v4p0.gif


Stub width increased to 1" aka the width of the mic. It just looks cleaner that way IMO. Ring width increased to 1.5" because that's what is needed to have the hair braids over it without being slack. Not that they're actually needed in that configuration. Version 3.0 to shock mount the cables. It's there why not? Although with the added heft, I need to come up with some better rigging. In it's current configuration, it's almost better suited for being suspended, than on a stand plus boom arm.
 
Shadow_7 said:
Version 4.0 I guess. Video pending. 6x 40W equivalent LED bulbs - ecosmart A19 - And why does it feel like I've spent more on video this past year than anything else? Not that it shows much in the picture. But having a green screen that actual records as green (not yellow like with incandescent bulbs) is a sanity saver.

DIY_shockmount_v4p0.gif



Stub width increased to 1" aka the width of the mic. It just looks cleaner that way IMO. Ring width increased to 1.5" because that's what is needed to have the hair braids over it without being slack. Not that they're actually needed in that configuration. Version 3.0 to shock mount the cables. It's there why not? Although with the added heft, I need to come up with some better rigging. In it's current configuration, it's almost better suited for being suspended, than on a stand plus boom arm.
Click to expand...


The biggest problem with the rig pictured will be vibration being transmitted up the stiff cable to the microphone.

I now always use thin flexible XLR tails to decouple the mic. from the main cable (Rycote S-series XLR tails in my case at £15 each - but you can easily make your own).
 
I'm hoping that the cable shock mounts will at a minimum dampen some of that. Which isn't that much of an issue for these mics IMO. At least not for the sources I typically record. And the intent of the usage for the rig pictured is probably more towards aiming the mics and cables than the shock mount affect for the cables.

Now for the audio magic cables that I recently got(used), I could see your point. That cable is thicker than the business end of these mics. These mogami cables are thin cables in comparison. Like 25% the thickness. But one of the pair doesn't look all that great so I'll probably stick with the mogami ones for now. Even though the audio magic ones seem to do something good relative to the noise floor of my gear. They both work, I just like pairs that match, if only in looks.

Now to actually test the rig on something.
 
I changed the hair braid orientation on the cables. The odd thing is that with the cables mounted like this the mics shock mount area is almost rigid. Where part of the reason behind having a thicker (deeper) ring was to give a bit more aim-ability. I know the braids are almost slack near the mics, yet with the cables rigged, it seems rigid. Good for my uses I guess, I don't want to be flopping around in the wind. But just how much shock is absorbed? Tests with 3.0 were promising outdoors. Dropping the stand from a few inches only had fake fur rubbing issues. I'm not sure I'd want to drop test these in it's current configuration. Too heavy and not quite the frame work I'd like to be working with.
 
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