Which wireless lav system?

[Frank_L]

Would you go with an omni-directional wireless Sennheiser G3 or a cardioid wireless G3 system if you needed to mic up individual talent? Thanks.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

It depends on the amount of ambient noise where you are shooting. An omni lav will pick up a lot more of the ambience; a cardioid, being more directional will tend to minimize ambient noise. In general, I would use omni mics wherever possible to give a more realistic capture of the environment. Cardioids are most often used for live event PA situations where feedback is a potential problem or as a problem solver when omni mics are just too noisy.

 

[Elsie N]

It depends on the amount of ambient noise where you are shooting. An omni lav will pick up a lot more of the ambience; a cardioid, being more directional will tend to minimize ambient noise. In general, I would use omni mics wherever possible to give a more realistic capture of the environment. Cardioids are most often used for live event PA situations where feedback is a potential problem or as a problem solver when omni mics are just too noisy.

Tom or anybody,

Are the wireless senders and receivers pretty much the same? That is to say, if I have an audio technica unit and want to upgrade the mic only, will I get the max benefit of the new mic?

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

While there is a huge difference in the quality of various transmitter and receiver units, getting a great lav will make a big difference in the quality of the recorded signal, and do so rather inexpensively. The COS-11, the Sonotrim, and the Countryman B-6 are all top-of-the-line lavs, but each has it strengths and weaknesses.

Also consider that you can buy most lavalier microphones with self-powering XLR connectors which bypass the whole radio thing altogether, and as long as your actors aren't moving around, this can work superbly well. In a noisy environment where you can't effectively use a boom, a lav will almost always give you better-sounding audio since a lav can be placed so close to the performer's mouth and the inverse square law is your friend.

Stephen

 

[Elsie N]

While there is a huge difference in the quality of various transmitter and receiver units, getting a great lav will make a big difference in the quality of the recorded signal, and do so rather inexpensively. The COS-11, the Sonotrim, and the Countryman B-6 are all top-of-the-line lavs, but each has it strengths and weaknesses.

Also consider that you can buy most lavalier microphones with self-powering XLR connectors which bypass the whole radio thing altogether, and as long as your actors aren't moving around, this can work superbly well. In a noisy environment where you can't effectively use a boom, a lav will almost always give you better-sounding audio since a lav can be placed so close to the performer's mouth and the inverse square law is your friend.

Stephen

Thanks Stephen,

Very interesting about the self-powering XLR connections. I'll look in to that.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

As Stephen says, you are always better off to use a hard-wired lavalier mic (no wireless transmitter/receiver) when possible. It eliminates the chance of radio interference, battery failures, and signal dropouts. The tradeoff is mobility - with a hard-wired mic, your talent has to be fairly stationary.

There are huge differences in wireless transmitter/receiver combos. While a low-cost unit like an Audio-Technica or Sennheiser can do the job, especially when distances between transmitter and receiver are short, there is a reason why people pay the big bucks for Lectrosonics...they are worth it! Changing your lav mic to something better, like a Sanken, Countryman, TRAM, etc., will certainly help a low cost unit sound better, but it still won't give you the performance of a high-end unit.

For the cost of one decent still lens like a Canon f2.8 70-200, you can buy a set of Lectrosonics UCR401/UMA400A wirelesses that will make every single job you do sound better.

 

[Elsie N]

As Stephen says, you are always better off to use a hard-wired lavalier mic (no wireless transmitter/receiver) when possible. It eliminates the chance of radio interference, battery failures, and signal dropouts. The tradeoff is mobility - with a hard-wired mic, your talent has to be fairly stationary.

Yeah Tom, ... I will be shooting a feature and I can see where there are some shots that could be done with a hard wired lavalier. I had always associated lavalier with wireless, but if I can hide the wire, I may just try and do the (main) scene using the self-powering XLR option. I'll just have to set up the scene beforehand and see what I can get by with.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Dave Blackham]

Take a look at Tram mics. Our standard here.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

The Sonotrim mic is a reworked version of the Tram. They are essentially identical in appearance. They are both very nice lavs, but we went with the Sonotrim.

I second Tom's comment about the quality of Lectrosonics. We have four LMa transmitters and a VR Field receiver, and like it very, very much. It's almost like a wire if you stay reasonably close.

Finally, the self-powered XLR connectors are usually about a $100 upgrade over the base level lavs.

If you are looking for a very small lav, go with the Countryman B6. That thing is so small we actually hide it effortlessly (and completely!) in our actors' hair!

Stephen

 

[soren k jensen]

DPA 4071

DPA 4071

Take a listen to the DPA4071 omnis! I use them wired and wireless and they sound great. I still prefer the sound of a DPA4017 or Sennheiser MKH416, but the DPA's sound good and have as smooth presence boost that helps a lot. I use the 4071 on Sennheiser wireless, and a version of it on my Zaxcom. The Zaxcom system is great, because you can record the signal in the transmitter!

 

[Mike Yonts]

Elsie:

You can get the lav with a connector that will go to the wireless transmitter you want, and also get your power supply/XLR connector so that it can plug into the same lav. You may need to investigate the different types of connections--there's negative and positive bias, and if you mix them up it won't work.

You may already know this, but lavs can have their challenges when you're recording dialog in a narrative format. Unlike in an interview where you don't mind seeing the lav clipped on the person, in a drama you obviously need to hide it. And then you discover how much noise clothing can make! There are things you can do--wardrobe choices, for instance--that can improve it, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Mike speaketh the truth. Lav placement to minimize clothing noise is not an art easily conquered.

Stephen

 

[Elsie N]

Elsie:

You can get the lav with a connector that will go to the wireless transmitter you want, and also get your power supply/XLR connector so that it can plug into the same lav. You may need to investigate the different types of connections--there's negative and positive bias, and if you mix them up it won't work.

You may already know this, but lavs can have their challenges when you're recording dialog in a narrative format. Unlike in an interview where you don't mind seeing the lav clipped on the person, in a drama you obviously need to hide it. And then you discover how much noise clothing can make! There are things you can do--wardrobe choices, for instance--that can improve it, but it's something to keep in mind.

Mike speaketh the truth. Lav placement to minimize clothing noise is not an art easily conquered.

Stephen

Very good points. Something to work out ahead of time. Thanks.