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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ captures audio with Sennheiser

Dec 1, 2008 11:28 AM

To record Donald Trump in the field, Ronnie Ali outfitted a special ENG bag with a Sound Devices 442 mixer, Sound Devices 744T recorder, and the Sennheiser EK-3041 receivers.

“The Apprentice” reality show, now in its seventh season, will present a new version called “The Celebrity Apprentice” to raise money and awareness for important causes. Audio Specialties Group (ASG), a rental and pro audio sales company, has been using Sennheiser wired and wireless equipment for the show from its inception. The current season uses 70 Sennheiser wireless channels inside the Trump Tower and throughout the RF jungle of New York City.

Ronnie Ali, the show’s audio supervisor, has employed 26 MKE 2 Gold lavalier mics, 26 SK 50 body-pack transmitters, 88 EK 3041 portable receivers (four each for 20 ENG bags with eight spare), and 10 rack-mounted EM 3532 dual-channel receivers. In addition, the show will use Sennheiser antenna systems including four A 2003 and four A 1031 U antennas and an ASA 3000 wideband active antenna splitter. Two Sennheiser NET 1 wireless channel monitoring systems simplify the management of the numerous audio channels.

For “The Celebrity Apprentice,” ASG provided a custom MAS 101 antenna combiner/splitter system that ensures proper coverage across the many floors of Trump Tower used by the show. Ali will also use a number of wired surveillance mics throughout the building, including Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun mics. As in previous years, he’s using three eight-channel TRUE Systems Precision 8 mic preamps. The Aphex 454 head pod headphone amp and the Fostex DV-824 recorders are also used in the control room for signal monitoring.

For breakout groups in which contestants head out into the city to complete assignments, each of the 20 ENG audio bags is outfitted with either a Wendt X5 mixer, Sennheiser EK 3041 receivers and wireless camera transmissions, or a Sound Devices 442 mixer, Sound Devices 744T recorder, and the EK-3041 receivers, which Ali uses to record Trump in the field as well as the show’s judges.

Gary Vahling, rental manager at ASG, said the NET 1 systems allow for complete real-time analysis of the entire wireless system and guarantee that things run smoothly and predictably at Trump Tower. The overall flexibility in finding open channels and the robustness of those channels once they’re found makes travel throughout New York City possible.

For more information, visit www.sennheiserusa.com.