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[Tim McCulloch]

The problem is that I can set the levels for the announcer but he is not a pro and tends to yell into the mic from time to time. He is only on for a bit at the intro and then for the decision so we try to watch the levels but on my last show they got away a bit on us. Not bad but to me it was a warning that I have to find a better solution. We have it set pretty close so I figure if I throw a Peak Limiter in there to protect me in those moments when he suddenly gets too loud and were a little late on turning him down.

I think the solution of the lav is very similar if not exact to what I'm doing except that I'm using the same handheld mic. Am I correct in thinking that? Or is the lav still a better idea for a reason I'm not catching?

John, it's still not clear to me where the distortion is coming from, but we have a limited set of choices:

At the transmitter... overload of the transmitters AF input or any audio circuity between the mic element and the transmitter.

At the mixer... the input gain control is set for a more typical speaking voice and the yelling then clips the input.

The solution to both is "turn it down."

Now you should have clean audio going to the recording guys, but if there is still an issue with dynamic range and don't want to address it in post, you can insert a compressor/limiter in the announcer's channel on your mixer (or any number of other places in the signal chain).

The reason I suggest your own lav or similar mic setup is because you maintain control over it.  Setting up a mic on the announcer's jacket will pick up him and any other talent that is near him.  While not 100% ideal, you have a back up.  When the other source turns to shit for whatever reason (RF problem, bad interconnect cable... all the Murphy's Law stuff), you have another track to turn to.

[Mark McFarlane]

John, it's still not clear to me where the distortion is coming from, but we have a limited set of choices:

At the transmitter... overload of the transmitters AF input or any audio circuity between the mic element and the transmitter.

At the mixer... the input gain control is set for a more typical speaking voice and the yelling then clips the input.

The solution to both is "turn it down."

Now you should have clean audio going to the recording guys, but if there is still an issue with dynamic range and don't want to address it in post, you can insert a compressor/limiter in the announcer's channel on your mixer (or any number of other places in the signal chain).

The reason I suggest your own lav or similar mic setup is because you maintain control over it.  Setting up a mic on the announcer's jacket will pick up him and any other talent that is near him.  While not 100% ideal, you have a back up.  When the other source turns to shit for whatever reason (RF problem, bad interconnect cable... all the Murphy's Law stuff), you have another track to turn to.

To add a little to Tim's post...

1) If the announcer is (physically) distorting the capsule itself because he is screaming, you are SOL unless you get him a different mic that can take more SPL or get him to back off the mic.  You can try to train the guy, let him listen to your video and audio problem and the stroke his ego, "I'm sure you don't want to sound like this on broadcast, if you could move the mic away when you get louder both teh TV and live audiences would better understand your insightful and energizing commentary,...".

2) If he is distorting at the transmitter there is usually a sensitivity setting on the handheld mic that you can adjust.  You need to agree to this change with the live sound guys. 

A lav mic can help with both 1 & 2, the element is further away from the mouth and less likely to mechanically clip, and since you 'own' the mic you can adjust the sensitivity to whatever you want.

3) Compression/Expansion can then be added at the console but make sure it happens in the analog domain before the signal is digitized.  Once a 'too hot' signal is clipped by the AD conversion you are in a new world of hurt.  Compression can help, but if the signal is coming too hot to the preamp the preamp may muck things up before your compressor even sees the signal.  How much the preamp can be safely overdriven depends on the preamp.

4) If you get stuck with a clipped (and therefore distorted) digital signal in post, I've had fairly good luck repairing momentary clips using Izotope RX's 2's declipper/declick modules in post.  RX2 can do many other wonderful things like removing the AC noise,...  Probably the best $350 I have spent for audio post processing, RX2 can fix a multitude of sins.
 

[John Alves]

The announcer is clipping at my mixer. It is as easy as turning him down. The problem is that he will talk at one level and then suddenly spike. Since in a 3 hour show he's only on for total of a couple of minutes I don't have dedicated person to ride those levels. We try to stay on top of it but it got away a bit from us on the last one so I want to add something to the chain so that I have a buffer for when he peaks.

Thanks for the Izotope RX link though. that could come in very helpful if I do have issues in the future.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Thanks for the Izotope RX link though. that could come in very helpful if I do have issues in the future.

That thing is a nice band-aid, alright.  But the proper way to address the problem is to keep it from happening in the first place.  The same amount of money spent on fixing the problem at the source will be better spent.

Tim has given you the correct answers.  Take heed and implement his plan.  Everything else is just "working down-stream".  Get it right at the source if you want to be/sound professional.

[Mark McFarlane]

The announcer is clipping at my mixer. It is as easy as turning him down...

Tim/Dick, if the transmitter isn't clipping (i.e. sensitivity and SPL are adequate), then I don't see how using a lav mic would 'effectively' be any different than just turning down the broadcast/record mixer preamp on the current handheld mic. If you have a clean signal coming out of the receiver it seems you just have to set the preamp gain to keep the loud parts from clipping and it shouldn't matter whether the mic is on the guys shirt or in his hands.

An exception, perhaps, is if the announcer is 'leaning into the handheld mic' when he gets loud, further exacerbating the loud parts. Then the 'fixed distance to the lav mic could help reduce the 'move in close and make it even louder' effect..

What am I missing?

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Tim/Dick, if the transmitter isn't clipping (i.e. sensitivity and SPL are adequate), then I don't see how using a lav mic would 'effectively' be any different than just turning down the broadcast/record mixer preamp on the current handheld mic. If you have a clean signal coming out of the receiver it seems you just have to set the preamp gain to keep the loud parts from clipping and it shouldn't matter whether the mic is on the guys shirt or in his hands.

An exception, perhaps, is if the announcer is 'leaning into the handheld mic' when he gets loud, further exacerbating the loud parts. Then the 'fixed distance to the lav mic could help reduce the 'move in close and make it even louder' effect..

What am I missing?

Mark....

1.  An omni lav will pick up more usable and balanced input given the "point the hand-held mic at the interviewee" scenario. 

2.  .....will be less susceptible to clipping/distortion at the source due to distance from source.

3.  Offer redundancy when coupled with the hand-held wireless of the emcee/announcer.

That's three good reasons, all of which have been mentioned by Tim (and me) in his posts on this topic.

There are many good reasons to go with the lav.  There are no good reasons not to.

[Mark McFarlane]

Mark....

1.  An omni lav will pick up more usable and balanced input given the "point the hand-held mic at the interviewee" scenario. 

2.  .....will be less susceptible to clipping/distortion at the source due to distance from source.

3.  Offer redundancy when coupled with the hand-held wireless of the emcee/announcer.

That's three good reasons, all of which have been mentioned by Tim (and me) in his posts on this topic.

There are many good reasons to go with the lav.  There are no good reasons not to.

Thanks Dick. From what I read in the posts 1 & 2 aren't a problem for the OP, although I don't think he explicitly mentioned if the interview quality was adequate.

[Mark McFarlane]

Thanks for the Izotope RX link though. that could come in very helpful if I do have issues in the future.

Like Dick said, it's a band aid, but a really good one. Free 30 day demo.  Comes with a standalone interface and various plug in formats which may be helpful depending on what your post environment is.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Thanks Dick. From what I read in the posts 1 & 2 aren't a problem for the OP, although I don't think he explicitly mentioned if the interview quality was adequate.

Item 1 is part of his problem....a large part, given that the basic problem is too broad a dynamic range, from faint to clip.

Item 2 (redundancy) is something that professionals do not overlook.  How many times have you heard it said that for every wireless mic onstage there should be a wired backup ready?

[ProSoundWeb Community]