Non-wireless lav mic and recorder advice for weddings?

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firehawk

Veteran
Thinking of getting a wired lav mic and portable audio recorder to place in the groom's pocket for weddings.
I know I will lose control of being able to hear what is happening but I also will lose the chance of wireless interference/dropouts.
Will you guys recommend a good configuration and then a couple cheaper ones also?
 
One configuration that's ultra-cheap and proven to work: AspenMics Lavs and Zoom H1 recorder, or alternatively, AspenMics Lavs and your iPhone or Android phone (after buying a cable and downloading appropriate apps). The process for connecting to the iPhone and recording is explained on Cheesycam here:

Affordable Quality Sound AspenMics Lavalier

The AspenMics are out of stock at the moment, but should be back in stock shortly. They are about $45-$55 each plus shipping, but they can run a sale where there is a slight discount for buying in quantity. I bought 4 of them and a couple of Zoom H1 recorders. One note - they sell a stereo version, but be aware it's not true stereo it's just two mono channels, so it might save you some work in post, but it may also make the need for gain on your recorder greater... personally I'd just get the mono versions.

That's the most economic version that has quite good quality. You may also try to get some small amount of control over the recorders through Wi-Fi by getting the Tascam DR-22WL or DR-44WL, you can stop and start remotely through WiFi, see levels and listen to already recorded stuff - and possibly in the future through a firmware upgrade there is talk of maybe being able to monitor through WiFi in real time. If the monitoring in real time comes to pass that would be a huge leap forward and might make it worth it. BUT. There is one major caveat - I listened to samples of the DR-22WL compared to the Zoom H1 and I vastly preferred the Zoom H1. Check out for yourself to see if you agree:

Tascam DR-22WL vs Zoom H1 Detailed Comparison and Test


The 22WL is quite affordable at $149, and the 44WL is $300. I have no idea what the quality of the 44WL is like, but that's a much, much bigger recorder, physically. Of those three (22WL, 44WL and the H1), the Zoom H1 is by far the smallest.

JuicedLink is supposed to be coming out with a small recorder for just such a job, at somewhere around $250, but so far they are late and nothing seems on the horizon. And as you saw just today, Tascams version of such a recorder was just pulled off the market in the U.S. for unknown reasons (possibly patent related).

For lavs that go up in price, the Rode SmartLav+ has a good reputation. Here is a blind comparison of several somewhat affordable lavs:

Blind Comparison of 6 Lavalier mics under $200

The guy from the blog in the link above does several other posts on various Lavs, so check out the blog.
 
Rode smart lav and an iPod touch.


firehawk said:
Thinking of getting a wired lav mic and portable audio recorder to place in the groom's pocket for weddings.
I know I will lose control of being able to hear what is happening but I also will lose the chance of wireless interference/dropouts.
Will you guys recommend a good configuration and then a couple cheaper ones also?
Click to expand...
 
The problems with going to portable recorder is that you can't hear anything. your levels can be extremely low and you wouldn't know. I'm guessing you were using Sennheiser g3. I switched to lectrosonics and never turn back. Gonna get some Zaxcom soon too.

I know budget is a concern but if you go cheap with anything, don't go cheap with your lav. get Cos 11d, Countryman b6, Tram TR 50 or at the very least, Oscar Sound Tech which are only $100
 
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