Advice on radio lapel mic upgrade

7 replies [Last post]
billtekker
Offline
Joined: Jan 5 2008

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade from my sennheiser ew 112-p G2 radio lapel mic kit. Was wondering if anyone had any recommendations in the £500 to £1000 mark? Those of you that have the same as me will know that there is a fair amount of noise; I want something clearer, more professional basically. Which kit would television broadcasters use for instance?

Thanks very much.

paulears
paulears's picture
Offline
Joined: Jul 8 2008

I've got over a dozen of these, and have no issues with noise at all. I'm not sure if you mean noise as in hiss, or interference, or something else - but I don't have any of these problems at all. The only thing I don't like are the lav mics supplied with them - both the omni and cardioid are pretty average. Swapping to better ones from Sennheiser, Countryman and DPA (my 3 favourites) does produce much cleaner audio.

G2 kit is quite common, and although you see broadcasters using 2000/3000/5000 series, it's also quite common to see G2 and G3 kit in use too.

There's no doubt the 5000 series would be on my list if I could afford them, but the only thing I have against the 100/300/500 series is the very heavy and chunky handhelds. I really like the transmitter packs. Audio quality has never been an issue for me, or any of the names I've used them on.

mooblie
mooblie's picture
Offline
Joined: Apr 27 2001

Noise? You must be using it wrong! (With respect! :) ) Unless you mean handling/wind/nose-blast noise, in which case you need to look at how/where you mount it.

You can get a better sound from the more expensive MKE-2-Gold attached to the same transmitter/receiver packs.

Those packs might need changing anyway soon, if you want to operate in the uncrowded/licenced frequency space of Channel.38 after 2012. They will only be legal in the crowded/unlicensed Channel.70 then.

Martin - DVdoctor in moderation. Everyone is entitled to my opinion.

billtekker
Offline
Joined: Jan 5 2008

Thanks for the responses, sorry for the late reply. The sound quality of mine isn't great and it occasionally sort of 'spits' at you (best way I can describe it). Thanks for the advice. So it's more the actual mic that makes the difference than the transmitters and receivers? I'll have to look around and see what I can find at a good price.

Cheers.

paulears
paulears's picture
Offline
Joined: Jul 8 2008

If the mics are 'spitting', then the wearer is directing their 'wind', for want of a better word, straight into the mic. You didn't say if you're using the cardioid or omni mic available as the packaged microphone with these, but if it's the cardioid, like most, they're not great sounding very close in. If it's the omni, then wind blast effects can be vastly reduced by clipping them on facing downwards, not up.

If you're really having trouble with the supplied mic in terms of noise, it could just be wrong placement. A better capsule produces cleaner, more natural sounding audio - they're just as prone to wind borne noise - so plosive breath sounds and pops and bangs are still common if you get placement wrong. I've had perfectly clean sound from really, really cheap mics when I've been forced to use them - the actual sound quality is a bit 'thin' - but that's the main issue, not noise.

billtekker
Offline
Joined: Jan 5 2008

Hi Paul. Yes, it's not a wind issue, I use them mainly indoors. It's an issue that's only recently developed and unfortunately I'm out of guarantee. I think my best bet is to look at getting a different capsule (mine's the omni version). Cheers.

paulears
paulears's picture
Offline
Joined: Jul 8 2008

Before you spend huge amounts, buy a dirt cheap one and see if the problem improves.
http://cpc.farnell.com/pulse/mic-500lj-black/microphone-lavalier-lock-jack/dp/MP34153?crosssellid=MP34153&crosssell=true&in_merch=true&
£20, and a real get-out-of-trouble spare to keep just in case. I always keep half a dozen of these for use when it's likely they'll get damaged - either through rough treatment (students and children) or when there's a possibility of mechanical damage and I don't want to wreck an expensive one!

These are actually surprisingly good considering the price - so before spending out on a quality branded mic (my personal favourite being the MKE2) give one of these a spin and see if the problem goes away.