Ronnie Amighetti

On 15/5/2017 at 10:22 PM, Kisaha said:

@Ronnie Amighetti Why do you have 4 pairs of the same headphones? How many headphones do you own?!

I smirk every time I hear "it was very popular a ton of year ago", let's see a quote from a review: "Sony isn't telling, but my numbers confirm that Sony actually sells at least tens of thousands of these MDR-7506 every month!".

Sound ain't video, 0,001% of the population uses cameras from the 70's, but a great amount of professionals use sound designs (Sennheiser MKH416, Sony MDR-7506 and a lot more) from the 70's. I also here a lot of those about the 416, but when I go out it is my first choice in any weather and condition. 

Those two tools are responsible for maybe the most of the media you have ever heard in your life, they must be worth your pity at least..

Steinberg is great, I was also consider it, but I read a lot of reviews with drop sound and drivers issues back then, maybe now it is better.

Audio Technica ATH-M50 are industry standard too and probably better for indoors use. Sony is 2/3 of the price usually, but there are at least other 20 very interesting models (I used to love Koss and Beyern Dynamics back in the day).

I have quite a few headphones, 'cause audio is my day job. Sony 7506 for musicians when I track bands, now superseded by a cheap chinese knock-off (sorta), AKG K240 for my own pleasure, tha upmentioned Superlux models for mobile mixing, a few earbuds. You don't need more than a pair of headphones if you know them very well. To a newbie I still stand my case, one pair of open back, one pair of closed back. You get to listen to your mixes with two very different systems and once it sounds good on both of them you're golden.

Re the 7506, now that we have so many cheap models available I just can't justify spending that amount of money for a pair of headphones, considering how bad they sounds for sound fidelity listeting. That's of course my own personal opinion.

AT M50 are kinda good sounding, albeit a bit too "modern" for my taste, but much more balanced than 7506s.

Long time no checking the forum. My 2 cents:

Equator D5 MKII: https://www.thomann.de/it/equator_d5.htm?ref=search_rslt_equator_299268_0

Superlux HD660: https://www.thomann.de/it/superlux_hd660.htm?ref=search_rslt_superlux+660_243085_1

Superlux 662: https://www.thomann.de/it/superlux_hd662.htm

The Equators are very balanced (I used to own the MKI), of course they won't put out huge amount of bass frequencies (and neither volume) but they are respectable considering their size. Big point is the coaxial design, at least to my ears. I worked for many years in the studio with big Tannoys 15s with coaxial drivers and still love them. The Yamaha HS suggested by somebody else are much less forgiving with placements (due to the rear bass reflex port).

The two Superlux headphones are for referencing your mixes. They are two very different sounding headphones so you get two points of reference. They are very good sounding, don't be fooled by the price.

As soon as you get the monitors and the headphones, put in a ton of hours listening to music and/or movies you know very well. 

If you need an audio interface, this might be the ticket: Steinberg UR 22

https://www.thomann.de/it/steinberg_ur22_mk2.htm

You get separate monitor and headphones volume, USB connection, more than decent DA converters, MIDI I/O in case you wanna play with a midi keyboard and put down some scratch audio, two mic pres (always worthy) with combo connector for Hi-z inputs (again a plus) and lots other features (Cubase AI software in case you need it).

BTW, Sony MDR7506 are an old staple in audio (I still own 3 or 4) and were very popular a ton of years ago. I would never try and mix anything on them. They are one of the most unbalanced headphones ever made, to my ears at least.

If you wanna enter into this kind of budget, AKG K240 are a beautiful sounding open back headphone. But again I would buy an open back and a closed back to get the variety in reference.

13 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Bill Monroe is smiling from above on you. Well done.

I'll tell the guys! :-)

Thanks. 

Me and a friend started a series on YouTube. It's called HOMEWHERE.

See that we both come from the music world (I'm an audio engineer by day, my partner is a musician and a photographer) we decided to kick it off by asking friends to let us "invade" their homes and have some fun.

Of course we've got a lot of things still to learn but so far we had a lot of fun which was the driving force behind all of this.

Would like to get suggestions and whatnot. Thanks.

iPhone6 (via YouTube), iPad Retina (via YouTube), Apple TV to 50" plasma HDTV (again via YouTube).

Sometimes I Airplay directly from the iMac (running FCPX or Resolve) to the HDTV via AppleTV but it's kinda glitchy so I'd rather upload to YouTube and watch it from there.

I'd like to buy a BlackMagic Mini Monitor thunderbolt interface in the near future to connect my HDTV directly to the iMac and use that as a second monitor.

Having fun. Gettin' paid. Be proud.

4 hours ago, Thpriest said:

Doesn't Facebook 'own' the videos if you upload them directly to Facebook?

Yep. That's why I prefer to steer view to my YouTube channel.

32 minutes ago, rdouthit said:

You'll get more traction on FB if you upload directly there. However, since you can't currently monetize on FB, it will have to be for publicity only. I would recommend posting the full videos to YouTube and then post teasers, bts or highlights to Facebook. Facebook did just recently introduce mid-roll ads on videos and is starting to expand their revenue share ad program, but I think it's still a long time before independent producers will have access to that program.

 

Yep. Same here. I was thinking about a super short teaser (10 to 15 sec) to show what's goin' on with the YouTube-embedded right below it. Thanks for your inputs.

Hey guys, am looking for a bit of advice here.

Got a project coming up in the next few days. Me and a friend decided to do some field recordings with musicians we're friend with. Audio and video, as acoustic as possible. 

Anyway, we created a facebook page for the entire project (which is gonna be 10 episodes, to begin with). We're still debating wheter we should upload the videos to my Youtube channel (very much music related) and then embed it on our FB page, or directly to facebook. Or both. Or any other ideas?

Your suggestions? Very much appreciated. Thanks.

2 hours ago, Kisaha said:

Does anyone knows if it is the same as cinemartin?

Places to buy?

I got mine from a friend, he bought it on Amazon. Still haven't receive any reply from Cinemartin.

On 6/2/2017 at 1:37 PM, Kisaha said:

@Ronnie Amighetti 

http://www.cinemartin.com/monitors/7inch/loyal/lt/

Is this the similar to the feelworld?

I am really tempted by the Neway/Ikan monitor but noone owns it around here, I had some communication with Neway China, but the price to come to Europe was almost 300€, which it reaches the Lilliput territory, which is a full HD 5.5" monitor with great standards, new design, panel and all (yellow color a la Atomos included!).

From what I hear the Ikan/Neway is a very refined 5" monitor, that honestly fits better my mirrorless style and do 4K as well.

 

 

I sent an email to Cinemartin asking if they are the same monitor. The software interface looks identical that's where my suspects came from. Still haven't receive any reply.

SMALL UPDATE: Feelworld back to work after Chinese New Year. They sent me an email telling me they're gonna look at the issues I pointed out. Will keep you updated.

On 2/2/2017 at 7:06 PM, kattouf said:

I posted above.  fw 1.66.  I have the Sharpness setting being reset issue. Zebra setting works but it is reversed.  I have to set it to 10IRE for it to work like 90IRE . It's odd.

I wanted to ask you about the battery charger. Does the LED turn green when it finishes charging? I left mine for 2 hours and it was still red but battery was 100% charged. 

Sorry @kattouf, didn't see your previous post. I didn't get any charger with the monitor. I already had one lying around and use that. Sometimes I just use my Aputure 528 led panel to charge the batteries, it's kinda convenient and easy to remember where you left your batteries.

7 hours ago, kattouf said:

Do let us know what they say. I emailed them too about the sharpness setting.

Hey Kattouf, do you have a FW760? Same issues as mine? Would you please share your software version number? Thanks. 

On 30/1/2017 at 11:04 AM, Cubanito said:

For Ronnie:

If the input is 4k. What quality do you see when you zoom in, 4K or Full HD?

Zooming in doesn't look that great. I'm suing P2P (pixel to pixel) and it is really sharp and accurate. 

BTW, a brief update: I wrote to FeelWorld pointing out the flaws and they asked me for the monitor serial number. Have yet to hear back from them but I suspect because of Chinese New Year holidays.

I used the FW760 again during the weekend and have to say that it's growing on me. Framing with a 7" monitor, with proper framing mask is a pleasure. False color are invaluable. And I now managed to calibrate the monitor to my liking. If only they could get rid of the issues...

I also wrote to Cinemartin about their new cheap monitor but they didn't reply so far.

Will keep you informed if anyone's interested.

6 hours ago, Stanley said:

Hey Ronnie, what couldn't the 5 or 7" BM video assist, or an Atomos monitor offer you that won't be still relevant, and probably still working in 2 years time. By then your Feelworld will possibly be cactus, and you'll most likely be looking at a BMD or similar camera anyway. Ya get what you pay for I reckon. 

You're 117% right. There is one and one only issue: money. :-)

I've had a Video Assist in my favourites from a second hand website for weeks now. I just can't afford it. Plain and simple.

As I mentioned somewhere else I come from an audio background (I still record and tour as a day job) so I'm way too well aware about "the more you spend the less you spend". 

To be honest, the Video Assist 5" fits my needs and more, but it's about double the budget I have at the moment. Video is still a hobby, a very lovely one, but still...

A small update: I contacted both FeelWorld China & Germany (the latter seems to be their official representative in EU). Let's see if they give me a reply.

So far I've enjoyed the monitor. Slowly but steadily I0'm growing spoiled to the 7". It might be cumbersome in some situation but it's damn cool for framing and looking back at footage. The flaws I highlighted are still there, but I'm trying to work around them. So far I have the function menu mapped as: 1. Pixel to Pixel 2. False Colors 3. Histogram 4. Peaking

I try and not use the peaking because of that sharpening problem. The P2P function works great, as does False Colors. I was able to kinda match the colors to the on camera screen and so far so good.

I'll keep you updated.

BTW, I also wrote to Cinemartin asking specifically if their monitor shows the same flaws. As I noted above the Cinemartin and Feelwrold share the same exact software so I suspect they might be the same monitor in a different housing.

Let's see.

I noticed that the menu system is exactly the same as the FeelWorld FW760 I'm testing, so I guess it might be the very same panel just rehoused. Hopefully the Cinemartin will not have the same flaws.

2 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Get the 4k one!! Crazy cheap. http://nofilmschool.com/2017/01/cinemartin7-inch-hd-monitor-99-dollars 

Yes. I forgot about that. It's just a few days old isn't it?

I've done a bit of research lately and here are my findings:

FeelWorld FW760 (look at my small review here)

Neway CT500H0 (OEM version of Ikan DH5e, seems to be the best of the bunch as far as specs, you can buy it here)

Ikan VL35 + viewfinder (the best solution if you want a monitor AND a viewfinder)

They all accept 4K. That's all they got in common. Sizes from 3,5" (VL35) to 7" (FW760). False colors, peaking, framing guides and histogram on all of'em.

Right under 200€/$ up to 300something€/$.

If you go over 300€/$ you're getting into Blackmagic Video Assist 5" monitor/recorder territory (you can find it used for around 400€/$) which has all the features mentioned above + LUTs support (latest firmware) and you get a recorder for free in case you need to streamline your workflow and prefer to work with ProRes files (albeit @1080p resolution) instead of Sony's codec.

6 hours ago, Stephent said:

When you say the latency is bad, how bad are we talking? Half second, second, more?

Bad as in 200ms or more. Just a guess, but it's very noticeable. 

2 hours ago, Kisaha said:

I would consider this monitor too cheap for 4K use. I am eyeing for some months the new Ikan 5 inch, which seems as a much better construction, less features, better performance. Seeway makes an identical cheaper one, but can not find in Europe. 

If I can get by with a cheap Feelworld, or whatever, really, then I would be really happy to spend much less than the -almost- 500€ I need for an ok one. 

Also, in 500€, you are reaching BM videoassist territory, which is tempting, but I am not sold yet!

Same here. I was this close to buyin' the Neway OEM (or so it seems) of Ikan DH5e (via Personal View) but then a friend bought the FW760 and offered it to me for a test. Of course I was very interested considering the cost. So far the flaws make for a difficult decision. And most of all I was (and still am I guess) looking for a smaller monitor. Just like I suspected the 7" feels a bit too much for my setup and my taste.

On 21/1/2017 at 4:57 AM, dosdan said:

What is the Firmware version in your monitor, so we can see if later revisions appear?

Finally checked software version: 4K V1.62

16 hours ago, dosdan said:

Latency is important to me because I shoot soccer with a HC-750. I've tried to use a Lippitut 7" 5DII (480p) with this camera. It's OK for framing the action, but the res is too low to closely observe the action. (It works better for semi-static athletics like High-Jump  and it's nice to have in the field for review purposes when working with a coach.) Even with its supplied hood, the reflectivity of the Lilliput's screen is very high and wearing a cap only helps a little. Have you tried the FW-760 outside yet in bright sunshine?

Just a brief test yesterday before leaving home. Cranking backlight to max and using the sunhood helped. I'd call it usable but it is my first field monitor so I don't have any comparison to fall back to.

Uh BTW another small flaw I discovered today while shooting: the monitor show a No Signal sign and turns off if you frame something black. I guess it turns off automatically if the IRE levels goes below a certain threshold. Weird. Camera kept rolling and the image turns back to normal right after you put something in the frame.

I guess the intermittent signal I pointed out in my first post was due to this very same reason. I just wasn't smart enough to put two and two together while testing.

10 hours ago, elgabogomez said:

I have the 760 without the update so all it can ingest is 1080, and even in hd there is a latency issue where the image lags and you could see a kind of divided image where it resolves the top third of the frame then the middle then the bottom, sometimes it´s just half the frame...  I´ve learned to live with it since is the cheapest monitor with an anamorphic desqueeze mode. Do you know where can we get the firmware update? It would be helpful for focus.

I looked around but there seems to be no way to get any firmware update. I was cool with that, in fact I thought I would get the plain FW760 model and doublechecked that my GX80 would output a 1080p signal (which in fact it does, just automatically) but when I got the monitor I was surprised to see that it showed a 4K signal on input. I then saw the updated specs on FeelWorld website (don't remember if it was on the official one or the german one).

Thanks guys. As far as downscaling, unfortunately the GX80 doesn't have any option about it in that it does it automatically. The only option is a manual downscaling but in Play mode only. I'll test it out anyway cause I'm not that sure about the menu choices in camera. 

I'll also take a look at the P2P option and mess with it. 

Will let you know software version later. Just got home after two very looooong days. Still have to unpack my stuff. 

In case anyone's interested:

Got to play with a Feelworld FW760 7" field monitor, connected to my GX80. It came with the latest software review in which they bumped up the input formats to 4K.

The monitor in itself is quite nice, building is average but you totally get what you pay for. The kit came with a coldshoe ballhead support, sunhood mounting frame, sunhood, HDMI cable (mini to regular) and documents. Main features:

• 4K input support
• 4 assignable function button for direct access 
• Safe frames, aspect ratio masks
• Focus peaking
• Sony NP battery

It does what it is supposed to do except for a few quirks that I don't really like:

• Huge latency on the signal: annoying and very visible, I know it's the monitor beacuse the camera connected to my TV doesn' show the same behaviour. I guess that might be because of the 4K update, the few reviews I saw on the web didn't show any of this latency
• Signal is intermittent, don't know if it's a cable problem (only got one HDMI micro to regular to test with) or what, but right of the box the first 30 minutes or so it was quite a pain in the ass, then it started acting a bit smoother
• A few bugs in the software: powered up and the images was so oversharpened it was painful to look at. Dialed down to 20 (from stock 50) and all was good. Problem is as soon as you activate focus peaking and then deactivate it sharpness is back to stock value and you gotta dive into the menu once again. Very annoying. Zebra show some strange behaviour. You can dial them in from 0 to 100 but your changes take place only if you have them activated. If you have zebra off and set them to 70 and turn them on they'd be at their previous (random) value. Makes no sense at all.
• Feelworld website is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. There's no info on software or firmware or whatever. I looked at their Facebook page and it's worse.

I'll keep it for a few days and then make my mind up. It's a tad too big for my tastes, I was looking to build a small and easy to carry around rig so 5" was my choice but I couldn't find any cheap monitor that size. 

My 2 cents.

If you wanna create your own LUTs, either from scratch or starting off from something you find around, your best bet is DaVinci Resolve (free version). Import your log footage, grade till you like it, export the LUT and use it afterwards whenever you like. A very simple process. Takes seconds.