I was hired to work as the sound mixer on a popular TV series called, “Treehouse Masters” on Animal Planet. My Nomad was the perfect tool for the job since I needed a machine that could handle extremely dynamic situations and on the fly changes. One minute I would be climbing up a tree with the Nomad recording dialog, the next minute I would record an impact driver producing over 100 dB! The Nomad can handle anything! I couldn’t believe what I could throw at the preamps without any distortion, it’s very insane what can be done in the field with this machine. Thanks to Neverclip and the smooth compressors I knew that I could ride my levels as hot I wanted without any problems.
One thing that really stands out with the Nomad that can’t be done with other machines is the flexible routing, organization and control. While working on one episode of Treehouse masters, we were caving in a deep, dark and dangerous environment. With my Nomad I was able to maintain complete control over the 7 wireless mics I had recording, as well as the comtek system and wireless connection to the camera, with one hand! In a reality TV setup, the built in timecode slate saved us when it was too difficult to bring a full sized slate. The super efficient power consumption of the Nomad allowed me to carry less weight in batteries, making me even more mobile. The overall size, weight, technological wizardry and sound quality of the Nomad has made me a Zaxcom customer for life. I will be using Zaxcom products the next time I’m called for a serious TV show of movie.
Joe Pfeil is a NYC based sound mixer who specializes in highly technical and difficult shooting locations. He was born and raised in Alaska where he worked for eight years as a commercial fisherman.
