lavalier -- recommendations?

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
Any recommended lavalier systems? something that does require an electrical outlet to use (I have a cheap lavalier system i bought, low quality, but base unit mixer requires 120v AC outlet); would be nice to have a system completely battery powered so it could be used in the field where there is no electrical power.
 
Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Lectrosonics, Zaxcom, Sony all sell portable systems that are widely acepted. What are your specific needs and what are you using it with?
 
For mic'ing an actor e.g out in the woods, climbing a tree, or fly fishing in a stream, general situations like that where I might want dialog with a wider shot and no boompole in the frame and do not want to or can not do ADR in post.

Steve House said:
Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Lectrosonics, Zaxcom, Sony all sell portable systems that are widely acepted. What are your specific needs and what are you using it with?
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Really depends on what your budget is. The G2 is the minimum acceptable from a cost/quality standpoint. Really what you want is Lectrosonics or Zaxcom - but you're looking at around 5 times the cost of the G2. But, no matter what you buy, you really will want to upgrade the microphone - the Countryman EMW is a great low-budget option with the B6 or the COS-11 being the best choice (but about 3 times more expensive).

BTW, you're not looking for a lavaliere specifically, you're looking for a wireless system with lavaliere. You can buy wired lavalieres that won't do what you're looking for.

Phil
 
Echoing ptalsky, "lav" describes the type of miniature microphone that can be clipped on or otherwise hidden on the talent, a 'lavaliere' being a pendant. Lavs can either be hard-wired, using a cable back to the mixer/recorder, or wireless, using radio. There's an old mixer's adage that goes "Whenever you are able, always use the cable."
 
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RandomHero said:
...upgrading your lav mic to a higher end one, like the Countryman B6 http://www.dvcreators.net/countryman-b6-lavalier/ (Watch the video)
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Can the Senn G2 signal to noise ratio be improved over the stock mic? I mean if one exchanges the original to a EMW or to B6 will there be less noise in the recording? I feel it kind of disturbing that the Senn G2 wireless recordings of mine are noisier than with any other wired mic I use. I mean there is noticeable noise in G2 when compared to even $60 no-name Chinese mics. The transmitter's sensitivity is set to -20 for normal speech.

Maybe it's too much to ask for a $600 wireless to be on par with any wired mic in terms of signal to noise ratio.

T
 
Toenis said:
Can the Senn G2 signal to noise ratio be improved over the stock mic? I mean if one exchanges the original to a EMW or to B6 will there be less noise in the recording? I feel it kind of disturbing that the Senn G2 wireless recordings of mine are noisier than with any other wired mic I use. I mean there is noticeable noise in G2 when compared to even $60 no-name Chinese mics. The transmitter's sensitivity is set to -20 for normal speech.

Maybe it's too much to ask for a $600 wireless to be on par with any wired mic in terms of signal to noise ratio.

T
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That's exactly why wireless in general is the micing method of last resort. Even more expensive systems are inherently noisier than hard-wired. You'll get best results when the transmitter sensitivity is set so that the audio level meter on the transmitter reaches full deflection on normal speech peaks without the 'over' LED coming on.
 
Toenis said:
Can the Senn G2 signal to noise ratio be improved over the stock mic? I mean if one exchanges the original to a EMW or to B6 will there be less noise in the recording? I feel it kind of disturbing that the Senn G2 wireless recordings of mine are noisier than with any other wired mic I use. I mean there is noticeable noise in G2 when compared to even $60 no-name Chinese mics. The transmitter's sensitivity is set to -20 for normal speech.

Maybe it's too much to ask for a $600 wireless to be on par with any wired mic in terms of signal to noise ratio.
Click to expand...

Any wireless will always be worse that a wired mic - you have an FM radio transmitter and receiver in between.

The supplied mic. with the G2 is inexpensive to keep the system price down.

It will sound much better by swapping it for an MKE 2 or an MKE 1
 
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