BDCorno Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 7 minutes ago, Cappybara said: On the contrary, I decided not to get a Flo subscription because of the fact that this was their first rodeo with DCI events. Looks like I made a smart decision. Im just defending Flo in the name of facts, nothing more, nothing less It's been wildly inconsistent on quality. Early shows were good video, substandard sound. I did register my concerns to DCI (which actually goes directly to Flo, which may be a problem if DCI isn't copied) at that time. The DeKalb/Denver shows were better (B+ video and B sound at DeKalb, B on both video and sound for Denver), but then the debacle at the TOC shows. The freezing problems seem as if they are at the user level...I have FIOS and 100 meg service and have experienced none of that. However, it's the utterly inexcusable lack of production quality, awareness of the focal points required of the subject matter, and rank incompetence that gets my hackles up. No sound, then flipped channels, no sound, lather, rinse, repeat. It just smack of a real lack of preparedness on the part of FloMarching and those who work for them. I'm hoping they recover and put on good shows tonight and this weekend. It's clear that they don't have the expertise and background with this type of broadcast, as the audio is a much higher priority than a sporting event. I'm really hoping that DCI will intervene, and maybe pay for some of Blair's guys to come in and teach these guys mike setup techniques so they can put on a consistent and high quality show. The cost would be small in relation to the lost revenue if this whole Flo thing falls on its face. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Just now, Cappybara said: He's just trolling/pushing your buttons and you're giving him the response he wants lol I know, but it is still fun to respond to the pokes with facts. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 2 minutes ago, BDCorno said: It's been wildly inconsistent on quality. Early shows were good video, substandard sound. I did register my concerns to DCI (which actually goes directly to Flo, which may be a problem if DCI isn't copied) at that time. The DeKalb/Denver shows were better (B+ video and B sound at DeKalb, B on both video and sound for Denver), but then the debacle at the TOC shows. The freezing problems seem as if they are at the user level...I have FIOS and 100 meg service and have experienced none of that. However, it's the utterly inexcusable lack of production quality, awareness of the focal points required of the subject matter, and rank incompetence that gets my hackles up. No sound, then flipped channels, no sound, lather, rinse, repeat. It just smack of a real lack of preparedness on the part of FloMarching and those who work for them. I'm hoping they recover and put on good shows tonight and this weekend. It's clear that they don't have the expertise and background with this type of broadcast, as the audio is a much higher priority than a sporting event. I'm really hoping that DCI will intervene, and maybe pay for some of Blair's guys to come in and teach these guys mike setup techniques so they can put on a consistent and high quality show. The cost would be small in relation to the lost revenue if this whole Flo thing falls on its face. Curious here: 1. Did you watch that free preview show that Flo offered at the beginning of the season that featured Blue Stars and Cavies? If so, how does the sound quality of the paid broadcasts compare to that of the free one? 2. I'm wondering if people are having some short term memory. DCI Live and TheFanNetwork had quite a few issues too, but I feel like Flo's already shaky reputation is leading to confirmation bias more than anything 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedEye Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 6 hours ago, jwillis35 said: This was part of what bothered me the other night. Often this could mean they've set compressors at the mixer level, which they should, but the input receive level is likely too low (meaning the compression begins acting at DB levels that should be left alone. In addition the actual compression could be real high, like 3:1 or higher. They are likely afraid of distortion. DCI LIVE was getting good at the sound. My preference for a long time, however, has been that they do not put mics in the pit area or anywhere near the field. Put a left and right pair in the center, either mid way up or all the way up (depending on stadium), then put an additional stereo pair mid way up on each the 30. Being somewhat further away will let the mics capture the full ensemble in its most pure form. If a pre-amp is needed to pull the sound better then do it. Additionally, I have often thought that instead of pulling that sound into a mixer, go straight to an Apogee Symphony I/O Mk II 8×8 Configuration. These things have the best AD/DA converters. They will let you take the sound straight into a Pro Tools rig. There the sound can be mixed and then synced to the video feed. The real problem is likely uploading the stream to the internet and having a fast enough server than can handle the traffic. This is way beyond my technical level, but I did also wonder if they put mics up near the press box, if it would be better. I'm glad you've confirmed that it wasn't just me imagining that the DCILive version didn't have the weird volume fluctuations. Since Aunt Flo has now said they hired an audio consultant, I hope it will be better. I was really enjoying the product last summer and this one has been highly frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Seems to me, if you purchase a one month subscription to FloMarching, you are entitled to ACCESS FloMarching broadcasts everyday, for about 30 days. Over that period your ACCESS is continuous. It contains more than one drum corps event, dozens and dozens of related videos, and a weekly panel discussion. Would not a 1/30th refund of your $49.95 be sufficient? That means $1.67, together with an immediate halt to ACCESSING every other broadcast effort made available daily during the remainder of those 30 days? I'm obviously disappointed by the last DCI broadcast. Refund . . . I'll pass. Cancelling the service . . . NO WAY! They'll figure this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E3D Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Working on a deal to get these copied shows out all the fans in Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia. I will let everyone know when it is live. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDCorno Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 1 minute ago, Cappybara said: Curious here: 1. Did you watch that free preview show that Flo offered at the beginning of the season that featured Blue Stars and Cavies? If so, how does the sound quality of the paid broadcasts compare to that of the free one? 2. I'm wondering if people are having some short term memory. DCI Live and TheFanNetwork had quite a few issues too, but I feel like Flo's already shaky reputation is leading to confirmation bias more than anything 1. I watched for a bit...there was a rain out too so not much of a sample to run with. It was okay, but limited on the coverage. Sound quality was mediocre at best. Very much in line with the paid broadcasts 2. I really don't think most of us had any preconceived notions about FloMarching, and I'm not interested in reading reviews...you know how online reviews can be. Not sure if too many people know, but the actual delivery platform is the Neulion system that Fan Network has been using for a few years now. I know they had some issues at certain sites due to bandwidth issues. For me, the major problems have been with FloMarching's production team. Amateurish miking of the corps, poor awareness of the subject material, apparent lack of preparedness for starters. I don't know if the DCI contract is on a shoestring or what, but if I was running FloMarching, I would have employed some of Blair's team as consultants to at least kick things off with some people that knew the lay of the land with corps and broadcasting them. Seems as if they saw an easy paycheck, figured it was a bunch of hillbillys wanting to watch their high school or small college band do their halftime, and didn't realize the technical expectations of the audience. Once again, amateurish and unprepared. Someone needs to step up, whether it's DCI talking to Flo, or Flo realizing that there is a problem and correcting it. I hope that many of the issues will be absent at San Antonio. Might have been their "third" crew doing the OK show, so perhaps the "A" team will put on a good show. It's unfortunate that they blew chunks at the first big meetup of the year, but that's done with now. Clearly, DCI needs to communicate which shows are of high importance, and participate in the process of improving production and delivery of product. I don't know who they might be using for finals and Bluray/DVD production, but if it's Flo, they got a ton of work to do in the next three weeks. SMH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDCorno Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 14 minutes ago, NakedEye said: This is way beyond my technical level, but I did also wonder if they put mics up near the press box, if it would be better. I'm glad you've confirmed that it wasn't just me imagining that the DCILive version didn't have the weird volume fluctuations. Since Aunt Flo has now said they hired an audio consultant, I hope it will be better. I was really enjoying the product last summer and this one has been highly frustrating. I think the answer is a wide variety of mikes at different vantage points...if nothing else, it gives some failover coverage in case of problems such as they had with the last broadcast. With the rapidly advancing amplification and miking of corps, sound techs need to rethink how shows are miked. I agree with you that mikes up at the focal point are a good idea, and probably need to be mixed with properly placed field mikes to assure the highest quality sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 1 minute ago, BDCorno said: 1. I watched for a bit...there was a rain out too so not much of a sample to run with. It was okay, but limited on the coverage. Sound quality was mediocre at best. Very much in line with the paid broadcasts 2. I really don't think most of us had any preconceived notions about FloMarching, and I'm not interested in reading reviews...you know how online reviews can be. Hmm see the interesting thing is that I found the free broadcast's sound quality to be absolutely outstanding. It almost sounded like uncompressed audio to my amateurly trained ears and way surpassed my expectations from a LIVE feed. The type of sound quality on that free broadcast, you typically don't get such good quality from something live like that. So when you say the quality of the free is about equal to the paid, I'm not really sure what to think. As for preconceived notions, I mentioned that because there was a large FloMarching DCP thread in the offseason that had quite a few negative discussions about the company's products Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E3D Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 2 minutes ago, Cappybara said: Hmm see the interesting thing is that I found the free broadcast's sound quality to be absolutely outstanding. It almost sounded like uncompressed audio to my amateurly trained ears and way surpassed my expectations from a LIVE feed. The type of sound quality on that free broadcast, you typically don't get such good quality from something live like that. So when you say the quality of the free is about equal to the paid, I'm not really sure what to think. As for preconceived notions, I mentioned that because there was a large FloMarching DCP thread in the offseason that had quite a few negative discussions about the company's products I have to agree with you. The sound on that free broadcast is done very well. It was the main reason I gave it a go. Well that reason and the fact I wanted to share my login info, copy the shows, and rebroadcast them to all the DCI fans in Japan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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