Topic: cell phones and their impact on taping

[sunjan]

I've had a hard time nailing the problems down to one particular piece of gear, one set of mics, one set of cables, or even one phone or service type.... I've observed the cell phone interference problem for quite a few years though across a myriad of gear types. I think it is generally just good policy to, at the VERY least, just turn your ringer off....

I think active cables though are more prone to interference than other types of cables, gear etc.... though ymmv.....

Cell phone interference is a b*tch... I recently upgraded from MD to JB3, and I noticed that the JB3 is much more sensitive.
Now, just switching on the phone (Ericsson T65) gives me 5 seconds of loud beeps recorded. I had it on my MD too, but it wasn't as earpiercing.

It's not safe to keep it on, even without ringtone. I believe it's the phone scanning the frequencies to connect with the nearest base station that JB3 records.

The only thing that helps is keep the phone off for the entire gig.

Jan

[kuba]

The only thing that helps is keep the phone off for the entire gig.

Seems like a great idea to me.

[macdaddy]

The only thing that helps is keep the phone off for the entire gig.

Seems like a great idea to me.

that's what i do...

[pfife]

Nextels are awful with sound gear, in my experience.

I concur about cell phones and stealthing.  In fact, I'll use the light from my cell phone to look at the levels on the NJB3, rather than turning on the light from the NJB3 - saves NJB3 batteries.

[zhianosatch]

i use my nokia as a flashlight too when i can't use the d8's backlight... works like a charm.

[macdaddy]

i have a stylus that has a flashligt as a tip...

[MoFo2]

Sorry to bump this, but is there some kind of protection for this, pouch of some sort? I remember someone mentioned covering the recorder in duct tape should work, but I don't know..

MoFo2

[geordy]

I just think cell phones should be forbidden at shows.

When I saw A Perfect Circle back in April of 2004, they were not allowing people to take camera phones in.  Of course, they were still relatively new and most people didn't have one then.  A friend just got back from seeing Porcupine Tree in Atlanta, GA and said that their security were grabbing people out of the crowd for using their camera phones as they apparently had a similar policy.  It seems like commonplace now a days to go to shows and see a sea of blue light from camera phones as everyone pulls them out to take crappy pictures with. 

When allowed, I completely agree that they facilitate in checking levels on a recorder and provide a nice scapegoat if someone were to spot you.  A lot better than using a lighter anyways.  I keep my phone on vibrate at all times anyways, opposite side that I usually clip the NJB3 to, can't say that I've ever noticed any problems from it, even if I do get/miss a call/txt msg. 

[Nick Graham]

I just think cell phones should be forbidden at shows.

When I saw A Perfect Circle back in April of 2004, they were not allowing people to take camera phones in.  Of course, they were still relatively new and most people didn't have one then.  A friend just got back from seeing Porcupine Tree in Atlanta, GA and said that their security were grabbing people out of the crowd for using their camera phones as they apparently had a similar policy.  It seems like commonplace now a days to go to shows and see a sea of blue light from camera phones as everyone pulls them out to take crappy pictures with. 

When allowed, I completely agree that they facilitate in checking levels on a recorder and provide a nice scapegoat if someone were to spot you.  A lot better than using a lighter anyways.  I keep my phone on vibrate at all times anyways, opposite side that I usually clip the NJB3 to, can't say that I've ever noticed any problems from it, even if I do get/miss a call/txt msg. 

To paraphrase Chris Robinson earlier this month:

"concerts used to be about sneaking in weed, getting high, and enjoying the music...now it's all people staring at their cell phones taking shitty pictures"

[robkismet]

I've just been listening over a lecture a friend recorded for me with my MD gear and there's phone click noises all over it.  This is weird, because I (surprisingly) have never suffered noise on any of my recordings.  Obviously I wasn't at this lecture, so I don't know how close any phones were to my stuff, but I can't remember ever seeing any of the people I sit with keeping a phone on the desk.  When I tape, I always have my phone in the other pocket to my MD, but it's often held closer than that while I'm sending a text or writing down bits of a setlist.  The only immediate difference I can think of is that the lecture tape was done with mic in rather than line in.  I might try some experiments sometime to investigate further.

[BayTaynt3d]

I do a lot of video shoots, and the cell phone problem has been getting worse year by year. Cell phones definately can cause interference in any audio setup, even completely balanced setups because the mic itself can be effected even before the signal starts going down the balanced pipes. Although unbalanced systems (like more stealth systems) are even more prone to it because the interference can be picked up anywhere in the chain, whereas a good balanced system will have some ability to cancel it if it tries to enter anywhere downstream from the mics themselves. Not 100% sure I've got that correct, but that has been my personal experience with audio capped during video shoots.

One thing I don't think I saw mentioned above is that the TYPE of cell phone really makes a HUGE difference. GSM phones are really, really bad because they "talk" to the system even when not making or receiving a call (or text message). If you have a GSM phone and leave it next to your speakers at work, it'll cause iterference even when absolutely NOTHING is happening re messages or calls. With my old-system TDMA phone, I only got that type of interference when actually getting a call or message. The REALLY BAD news is that everything in the states is moving towards GSM and away from TDMA, so when combined with the proliferation of cell phones in general, the use of GSM phones is growing even more than that. This is also part of the reason why this has been a much bigger problem in other countries who were using non-TDMA systems longer than us.

Note: I might have confused TDMA with CDMA, but the point is that cell phones definately cause interference, and some types of cell service are worse than others. It is a well-known fact in the video industry that plenty of recorded dialog for video and movies have been completely fucked up by this causing numberous hours of re-recording or touch-ups in post.

I would definately turn off your phone while taping as you are the most likely person to be the closest to your rig more than anyone else. Just my two cents...

[OFOTD]

I have had trouble with cell interference several times in the past.  A couple of months ago I was screwing around with my gear and decided to see where the phone would interfere with things.  I found that the biggest introduction of interference was when the phone was close to my mic cables.  Now mind you it would probably be rare in the field to have your phone on you mic cables but.....     I'm running a pair of Bumblebee's and the cell sounds only happened when the phone was resting on the wires and even then it was very sporadiac and didn't happen much.  When I put them next to some StarQuads I had on my playback system the noise was very noticable and happened quite often.

My guess is it depends mostly on how well your cable is shielded among other things.   I also picked up some tones on my D8.  Faint but there from time to time.  My D10 was not so lucky.  Lots of interference.   

My solution now is just to keep my phone in my pocket (I don't stealth anymore).  The ohone does not get mixed in with my gear ever anymore.

 

[hzgone]

never had one problem with cell phone interference.  Guess i should cross my fingers

[kskreider]

I do a lot of video shoots, and the cell phone problem has been getting worse year by year. Cell phones definately can cause interference in any audio setup, even completely balanced setups because the mic itself can be effected even before the signal starts going down the balanced pipes. Although unbalanced systems (like more stealth systems) are even more prone to it because the interference can be picked up anywhere in the chain, whereas a good balanced system will have some ability to cancel it if it tries to enter anywhere downstream from the mics themselves. Not 100% sure I've got that correct, but that has been my personal experience with audio capped during video shoots.

One thing I don't think I saw mentioned above is that the TYPE of cell phone really makes a HUGE difference. GSM phones are really, really bad because they "talk" to the system even when not making or receiving a call (or text message). If you have a GSM phone and leave it next to your speakers at work, it'll cause iterference even when absolutely NOTHING is happening re messages or calls. With my old-system TDMA phone, I only got that type of interference when actually getting a call or message. The REALLY BAD news is that everything in the states is moving towards GSM and away from TDMA, so when combined with the proliferation of cell phones in general, the use of GSM phones is growing even more than that. This is also part of the reason why this has been a much bigger problem in other countries who were using non-TDMA systems longer than us.

Note: I might have confused TDMA with CDMA, but the point is that cell phones definately cause interference, and some types of cell service are worse than others. It is a well-known fact in the video industry that plenty of recorded dialog for video and movies have been completely fucked up by this causing numberous hours of re-recording or touch-ups in post.

I would definately turn off your phone while taping as you are the most likely person to be the closest to your rig more than anyone else. Just my two cents...

I cannot be within 10 feet of a pair of speaker without my GSM phone (Motorola V3) causing noise.  So, in response, I NEVER go near a recorder with it on whether I need a clock or not.  Odd thing is that my wife has the same identical phone with the same carrier and says she never notices it.  I think that it may happen and she is just less sensitive to audio anomolies.

[svenkid]

that's it! no more letting strangers stash their jacket etc. in the taper area for convenience