Countryman Lav questions

G

galt

Well-known member
I did the search thing, did the REsearch thing, and it looks like the Countryman B3 is a good general purpose wired lav for most purposes for use with my DVX. I considered the EMW, but the three frequency choices complicated things, whereas the B3 has three caps to adjust for different situations (albeit at more $$$).

Do the caps really work as they should?

Anyone use this mic that can share opinions?

Is the B6 essentially the same, just smaller and more dollars?

Since this is running on phantom power, what is the practical limit on cable length?
 
Hi Galt, I bought a couple of the B3's from a theatre production off of eBay for $110 quite used, but they still sound great. The Sennheiser tutorial we were discussing in this thread http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=27561 is shot with the Countryman B3 if you want to hear what it sounds like. Listen closely with some headphones about half-way through the QuickTime you actually hear some sea gulls squawking from above - pretty amazing they picked that up. I did apply some compression in post and recorded the sound with the BeachTek DXA-8 to take advantage of the limiters and noise-free preamps. I do really love the warmth of the sound of the B3, they are quite a bargain at this pricepoint as the Sennheiser platinums are $$$. They didn't come with the three caps so I couldn't tell you about those.

I do know that the B6 is much smaller and is used by a lot of pros, I haven't done the side by side. But personally, I would get two B3's over one B6. Or actually consider the AT 899 http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/102fa42601dd18dc/index.html
 
I got 4 B6 and LOVE them. I mean really love them. The B3 is the exact same mic only slightly bigger. The caps work great, but can be tricky to switch out.

They do not run off phantom power, you need a power module or wireless TX to power them.

Good luck.
 
The two B3's I currently have run off Phantom power. According to http://countryman.com/html_data_sheets/b3data.html there are two versions.

Do you have the Hardwired version or the Wireless version? I'm using hardwired. You can actually ship them back to these guys and they'll make 'em whatever you want. BTW, my two used B3's are up for sale if anyone is interested, PM me.
 
I got to use B6's on a feature at the begining of this year, and they are amazing. Tiny, can be hidden in plain site (several times I pushed them through a button hole, and hid them behind the button...no clothing noise and crystal clear dialogue). I have a B3 for my Shure wireless, and it too is great sounding...but still harder to hide than the B6. (BTW, one place I've also hidden B6's is taped to an actresses eye glass frame, just in front of her ear. Again, amazing pickup.)
 
They actually do run off of Phantom 48 if you are talking about the B-6.
The XLR Module that comes with it is actually just a connector and you must supply 48 to it.
 
Just to keep this misinformation down, I evidently read the website wrong. The B3 does NOT have the frequency caps, but the B6 does. I should have a B3 arriving tomorrow, and may add a B6 at some point when I have more money and need the extra features.
 
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