Production sound mixer Alex Haralson, who heads up Sono Locus, a location sound company in Knoxville, TN with recent credits that include the competition series Master Distiller and films Secret City and A Hard Problem, has incorporated Lectrosonics wireless gear in his workflow for more than 25 years, including SRc and DCR822 receivers accompanied by SMDWB and HMa transmitters plus SMV and SMQV transmitters feeding R1b bodypacks for communications.
“When I rebuilt my system a few years ago, I landed on the SRc in particular because for a lot of the projects I was working on, my gear had to be compatible with other mixers’ packages and other wireless gear manufacturers,” Haralson explains. “I knew that on the road, I would run into Lectrosonics more often than not.”
His relationship with Lectrosonics far predates the SRc, however: “When I got my first job for Gannett at the local NBC affiliate, the wireless setups in the studio were Lectrosonics. For anyone who had to move around the studio, we had the UCR211 [receivers]. When I moved over to Scripps, each field package had a couple of Lectro UHF packages with an older VHF system as a backup. So yeah, I’ve been with them awhile!”
Haralson points to Lectrosonics’ reception and range in overcoming challenges such as radio carrier frequencies being directional by nature and the surprises reality TV can throw at any production. “I worked on a barbecue show a couple of years ago,” he notes. “Sometimes we would be set up on this large field and one of the pitmasters would be clear on the other side. We’d pop an antenna mast up and depending on how far away they were, up the transmitter to 100 milliwatts output. We got great range and coverage.
“On Master Distiller, our bags contained the newer Lectro DCR822 receivers,” he continues. “We were shooting in a converted warehouse, basically a big metal box, so RF bounced around,” explains Haralson. “We had two identical sets side by side as we worked on multiple shows at the same time. The studio could get hot, with southern summers and the stills running on propane. In the summer, you can just see the distillers dripping with sweat. So, I love that the SMWB and SMDWB are well sealed against this kind of thing. They just keep on truckin’!
“All wireless has to fit a wider dynamic range down a narrow pipeline, and in many of the cheaper systems you can hear the pumping effect of companding,” Haralson concludes. “Lectrosonics is transparent and frequency response is also excellent. The microphone itself is the most important part of any signal chain, so the idea is that wireless transmission doesn’t take away any information you started with. Lectrosonics performs very well here. Start with a good mic, and Lectro is not going to chew it up.”
