does anyone else find the sennheiser 100 series wireless transmitters to be finicky?

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dv416

Well-known member
I use sennheiser wireless 100 series g2's for most of my location audio. they are great sometimes, and less so other times. I'm not sure if I just have a worn out unit, or if there's lots of interference in the area, or what, but it seems that often times, the transmitters are so sensitive to disruption, being bumped, placed too tightly in a pocket, etc, that it produces distortion. Often in closed, studio or studio-like environments too. in this case, the distortion I am talking about is like a light "fuzz" that fades in and out, as opposed to a hard "hit."

Whenever possible I have talent just place the pack on the ground, where it won't be touched at all. often this clears up the issue. btw, we're talking transmitting to the receiver which is mounted on the camera less than 10 feet away in most cases.

would a higher power transmitter like the 500 series overcome these issues? is it a question of plastic vs metal housing? rf interference?

anyone have any advice / ideas?

thanks!
 
A few thoughts:
What are the frequency block/range of your G2s?
Do you ever scan for clear frequencies in the location where you're recording?
 
dv416, I know exactly what you're talking about. I used to borrow a G2 set from a company I worked for, and I tried everything in my power to get rid of the symptom you just described.

A short time later, I was hired for a doc tv show and they sent us out some of their gear to use for the shoot. One of these items was the Sony UWP-V6. We used it that entire shoot with no interference problems. Liked it so much, we ended up buying one to own for our kit.

I haven't read about the same thing happening with the G3 series, so maybe they fixed it. But I've NEVER had interference with my Sony's.
 
Due diligence in frequency selection is the key. If other systems work significantly better, and everything else is set properly, you're just plain lucky..
The receiver's built in frequency scan is a good place to start, but it ain't perfect and many pro users have an external RF frequency scanner and/or check the Sennheiser online frequency finder for vacant channels or one with low power in a given area. In some instances, replacing /exchanging the system with a different frequency block is the only option... depends on your location(s). A more expensive system can help but they're not 100% trouble-free either and the same due diligence applies. If one is looking for a 'plug-it-in-and-shoot system', it ain't going to happen and should use a cable. Cables are a lot cheaper too.
Search and read my other posts about the G2/3.
 
Sennheiser G series (from the first to G3) are tried, tested and loved by many people. The video users do seem to kind of just expect them to perform - yet experienced radio microphone users, especially those who do multi-channel know that nothing is ever stable and constant. A perfect system can be made to perform very badly when in the presence of occupied channels on or close to the operating channel. Not every user will be transmitting with radio mics, so you cannot bank on hearing strange voices. A high power link nearby can make receivers behave as if they are very deaf. Some problems are simply down to the talent wearing them. Some of these people sweat like sill devils, and a small aerial, push up hard against a salty body by a tight costume is probably less efficient as an aerial than a chocolate bar! Bizarre things can happen where local electronic devices that should not contain any RF capabilities can wipe out a radio mic channel. A friend had real problems and tracked the fault down to an MP3 recorder that seemed to have huge amounts of RF coming from the display. You could hear them on an FM radio, and the harmonics extended into the radio mic band - a nasty digital type buzz.

Some systems seem almost immune to interference. Virtually all will be desensitised by a strong close local frequency in operation, and a few are truly dire, having no real failsafe side to their design. I have Sennheiser, Trantec, AKG and line 6 systems here, and use regularly Shure and JLS. None of these perform significantly differently audio wise - they all have different 'tone', but so do microphones. The Sennheisers are my choice for practically anything, although my colleagues would probably select the Shures - but for one job, we brought in some of the Trantecs because the transmitter is tiny - and it performed just as well.

Often having 12 or even more on the go means careful frequency selection, using Sennheiser's band planners. Swapping out one on a certain frequency for a different brand on the same channel is less likely to work well - maybe the new one works fine, but causes interference on others? That kind of thing.

I like to look at it from the West End/Broadway show point of view. Far too many users in too small an area, nowhere near enough channels - but with proper planning, careful aerial and system design it can work pretty reliably. Mind you, we often have an audio person, on stage who spends their time looking at screens and listening on headphones, looking for problems before they get nasty. My experience of video radio is that it expected that you can stick a set of batteries in and the channel you used last month in a different place MUST work, and if it doesn't, you blame the equipment. The professional theatre and music world buy far more radio systems than video users, and you never hear them blaming the kit, and suggesting alternatives costing 4 times the price. Sennheiser G3 price point is considered to NOT be budget by them, and their expectations of quality are met. Of course they cause trouble from time to time, but to avoid it, scrap radio and use a cable!
 
Thanks for the replies all,

I have g2's I believe in the A range. and yes, my typical MO is to use the sennheiser's channel scanner (with all other transmitters / receivers off) to find the best channel. My last shoot I know it was a tricky location, since only one channel was open according to the scan. Originally, I scanned and it found ZERO channels. But then I manually tuned the transmitter to some random frequency and rescanned and it found one channel - the random one I just entered. Which begs the question - when you do a scan like that, is the transmitter really scanning the entire RF spectrum? or is it just "checking" the 4 channels stored in the unit at that time? The fact that I tune it manually, and then it miraculously finds THAT channel to be clean makes me wonder...

Anyway, I just purchased a wired lav, to use in situations like this. I'd really just like to get my wireless straightened out as well.

Simply Cinema, do you have any ideas as to why the Sony UWP-V6 gives you no issues? is it the bandwidth / frequency range it covers? It looks like its a 30mw transmitter, and I think the sennheisers are 30 as well. Not sure if output power is even the magic number here, but I know lectrosonics and much more expensive systems go up to 250mw.
 
Unfortunately I don't have a magic answer for why they work better. It's just been my experience, and as paulears said: the G3's are loved by many people.

I have two of the UWP's, one is the v6, one is the v1. Neither have ever given me any sort of interference issues. And to be honest, I rarely scan for free channels on my lavs. A lot of time I just set them at the office, then they still work fine on location. I probably shouldn't do that, but that's what I do.
 
The EK 100 G2 only scans the selected bank. The G3 scans all the banks. I do not trust the internal scan function on either in a populated environment as it only detects significant RF.
In some environments, the Sony may very well perform (a little) better than the G2 due to it's diversity receiver. The G3 is diversity. The secondary antenna is the audio cable shield.
 
I had some early issues with some Sennheisers about 10 years ago. I am using the EK 100 G3 stuff now and have had no problems. They have been rock solid.
 
I have both, and the G2 regularly gets RF hits. Like a hisssssssss-thud sound. It never happens with the G3, which is passive diversity for a little better reception.
 
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