Best under $400 wired lav

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eco_bach

Well-known member
Considering in investing in a good wired lab.
The majority of the work I do right now involves sit down type interviews so don't really need the convenience of a wired setup.

I've rented high end Sony's, Sankens in the past.
Seem to recall that some lavs also work as both wired and wireless, so that versatility would be an added bonus.

My major priorities are in
1- fidelity of sound, low noise floor
2- durability
3- compact size, easy to conceal
 
I think you need to break your categories down a little more...

1- Fidelity of sound
2- Low noise floor
3- Immunity to ambient noise
4- Durability
5- Compact size

For me, my favorite lav is a Sanken COS-11D, which meets all the requirements on the five item list except for number 3 : Immunity to ambient noise, so I rarely use it because I'm often shooting in noisy environments and the Sanken picks up everything in the room. Most of the time I use a TRAM TR50 ( or an Oscar Sound Tech lav ) because I find it better at isolating my subject from the room noise.

I currently own four lav mics, and I think my next mic is going to be a cardioid lav to be used in very noisy environments. I know the problems associated with cardioid lavs, but there are times when I would rather deal with this than have a noisy recording.
 
Tram TR50 is my go to lav for most work. Though I have several other nice Sennheiser MKE2 and have a couple of Rode lavs (pin mic included) also have two Countryman but the Tram TR50 is a great mic and just works. I must say however that I don't often have an audio person with me and therefore not as much time to position and set up the lav so this could also account for my choice since the Tram with vampire and other accessories is such a quick install.
 
With the dual wireless/wired option, the $400 price range narrows your options somewhat.. For instance most XLR power adapters alone are more than $100 at the cheap end. RØDE makes a modular lav system with the MiCon connectors/adapters. Otherwise OST has an optional XLR plug power adapter that's 'affordable'.
 
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