Lectrosonic 100 or 400 series?

C

Carlos Corral

Well-known member
I'm definitely going to make Lectrosonic my Wireless Lav of choice with my new gear, however, I'm torn between the 100 and 400 series. While I would love to get 2 of the 400 series, it really tears into my budget and I'd hate to cut back on my sound devices mixer and 4-ch recorder. 2 lavs of the 100 series helps me out alot and I even have room for a sync slate. Has anyone compared these two? Is the quality worth the extra $1200? Thanks!
 
Carlos Corral said:
Is the quality worth the extra $1200? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I want to buy a house. Is it worth the extra $20K to get the one with
the nicer kitchen?
Point being, how could we possibly tell you if something is worth a $1200
difference to YOU. It's about as subjective as you can get.

My answer? Yes it is worth it.
The answer from a person just starting out and working on personal or low
budget projects? Maybe its not worth it.


- 2nd subject. What timecode audio recorder do you have that you
need to spend $1000 (give or take) on a time code slate?
What projects do you work on that requires you to have one?

Is the audio equipment you're wanting to buy going to be used with your HPX170?
What's the reason you're not recording straight to camera?
 
I'm looking at getting the Sound Devices 744T. My budget for audio gear is about $10k right now. Believe it or not, I'm very big on sound. Sure recording audio to the hpx170 is good, but its only 16-bit at 48khz and I can only record two channels, which means I would have to mix the lavs into one channel while the boom is on channel two. Can't do anything about 3 and 4 except use them as reference audio.

With this kit, I'm able to record sound at higher resolution and dedicate up to 3 lavs, one per channel, plus use the Boom Mic on the 4th channel for the recorder.

Plus not to mention that I work with a buddy of mine who has a RED camera but he doesn't have a sound package. I figure I can tag along as his sound guy or rent out this equipment to other sound guys to use on larger budget productions.

Hence my question. If I buy 2 400s, I'm going over my budget by $2400. How are the 100s compared to the 400s? If I'm paying $1200 more for say a 10-15% better mic, then I don't mind sticking with the 100s for now.
 
Carlos Corral said:
Hence my question. If I buy 2 400s, I'm going over my budget by $2400. How are the 100s compared to the 400s? If I'm paying $1200 more for say a 10-15% better mic, then I don't mind sticking with the 100s for now.
Click to expand...

You're not buying a mic, you're buying transmitters and receivers. Tack on a few hundred more $ each for decent lav mics.
 
Carlos Corral said:
Hence my question. If I buy 2 400s, I'm going over my budget by $2400. How are the 100s compared to the 400s? If I'm paying $1200 more for say a 10-15% better mic, then I don't mind sticking with the 100s for now.
Click to expand...

The 411's will have a much better resale value than the 100's.
The quality to my ears is substantial.
The range will be much better with the 411's.
the reliability will be better with the 411's.


This assuming you're even talking about 411's.
You might be talking about 401's.

There are other options as well.
The Lectro SRa duel receiver.


MY opinion since that's all I can give.
 
Rippie hit all the right points.

You will not be disappointed with the 411's or even the 401's.

I am very confident with my 411a's in heavy RF environments (Times Square, NYC for example). Spend the extra money now. My feeling is to do it once and do it right.

There are 401/411a listings on eBay. Maybe save money buying used instead of new?

Good luck with the new gear.
 
Carlos, how often are you getting work? This is probably your number one factor before you buy anything, even for the Lectro 100 series.

Next, do you have enough sources to record requiring a 4-track recorder? Maybe buy a used 2-track like the HDP2, saves you about $2k. If you're scrapped on cash and you're mentioning about recording 3 lavs and a boom, I'm assuming you already have 1 wireless/wired lav in your kit?

If buying used 411 systems is still beyond your budget, look into the 211. A used 211 set is much better than a new 100 set, comes out almost about the same price.
 
Hey Alan, thanks for the sugesstion. Gigs are starting to pick up alot lately but since I live in El Paso, TX, there isn't really a rental place around here. There are two people whom I've worked with for doing sound work. One owns his own equipment but he is always out of town and hardly rents out (and sometimes hard to get ahold of) and another friend of mine who is amazing at sound but lacks the funds to buy his own gear.

The equipment will be used on various productions from commercials, corporate videos, interviews, to narrative & doc work. Sound is something I value highly, hence why I budgeted about $10k for it. For now, I can purchase 2 401s and a sound devices 3 channel picture. I've already got a boom kit and another wired lav.

The recorder is great is I work with RED alot and it would be easier to rent my buddy at a cheaper rate to use my sound equipment or I can use the equipment myself to do sound.
 
Then I suggest stretching a few dollars and go for it! Look at used 411's, SD302, SD744T. Ballpark of all these equipment used would be around $8k if looked hard. The extra $1.5k-$2k for misc. items/accessories.
 
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