TyFord
Well-known member
My review showed that the 1800 deosn't like mics that aren'r very sensitive. When those are used, the noise floor was definitely higher. Lemme see if I can find it....brb.
Ah, here it is. BTW, for manufacturers who cruise this forum, if you have gear you'd like reviwed, please get in touch.
Audio-Technica 1800 Series Dual Channel Camera-mount UHF Wireless System
Ty Ford
Sticking one wireless receiver on the back of a camera is fairly common for run and
gun. If you need two, Audio-Technica’s new 1800 Series Dual Channel Camera mountable UHF wireless system deserves a look. Although single receivers are available in the series, the new ATW-R1820 dual channel receiver is a significant change in wireless receiver technology.
RECEIVER FEATURES
The ATW-R1820 dual channel receiver contains two separate full diversity receivers.
That’s a total of four RF front ends in one case, all using the same two BNC-mounted
stub antennae. It also has an auto-scanner and onboard audio mixing features.
The receiver kit includes a snug cloth holster with a metal clip that can be used to attach the receiver to a belt or to the back of a battery box. The bottom of the holster is open but fitted with straps to allow the short mini-XLR to XLR cables included with the kit to be attached to the receiver audio outputs. BEC group (www.thebecgroup.com) also makes a receiver box that locks onto various camera battery lugs into which the receiver fits.
The receiver weighs one pound six ounces when loaded with six AA batteries. While the receiver case is metal, the battery door is plastic and detaches completely from the body. That makes it one more thing to keep track of. Fortunately, six AA batteries provide nearly six hours in dual receiver mode and almost 10 hours in single receiver
mode, so battery changes shouldn’t be required as often. The receiver has a small, four bar battery life display in its LCD window. The receiver also has an external power jack to accept 12 V DC, 500 mA from a camera or other external source.
The top of the ATW-R1820 receiver hosts the two BNC antenna connections, power/
audio peak LEDs for each receiver, a power switch for internal/external power for one or both receivers, controls for changing frequency and operating the auto-scanner and antenna switching status lights.
The bottom of the two-channel receiver is relatively busy. There are two mini-XLR outputs, A and B and a switching matrix. You can send the output of receiver one to both outputs, so it feeds both A and B mini-XLR outputs. You can route receiver one to output A and receiver 2 to output B so each are on separate tracks for split track or stereo recordings.
You can route receiver one and two to MIX which makes a mono mix of both
channels available to both outputs. Two small pots on the bottom of the receiver are
used to adjust the levels of the individual outputs or create a two channel mono mix of the two mics.
MIXING RECEIVERS TO OUTPUTS.
The receiver’s mixer allows some interesting possibilities. If receiver one‘s is set to output A and receiver two is set to MIX, receiver one is audible on both outputs and receiver two is audible only on output B. If receiver one is set to Output A mix and receiver two is set to Output B 2, receiver one is only on the left channel and receiver two is on both A and B channels. Depending on how the receiver is mounted, you might want to tape over the mixer controls after setting them to prevent accidental changes.
One of the features I like best about some of the AT receivers is the stereo mini jack
right on the receiver that lets you listen to the audio before it gets to the mixer or camera. In this case, it let me sort out which mic was going to which output. There is also a monitor level control which has plenty of gain to feed a set of headphones. There was a difference in the audio between what my Sony MDR7506 heard from the stereo mini jack directly from the receiver and the audio passed from the receiver’s balanced outputs to my Sound Devices 442 mixer. The main outs were clearer, making the receiver mini jack output sound dull by comparison.
BODY-PACK TRANSMITTER FEATURES
The ATW-1801 body pack transmitter (and ATW-1802 plug on) each run on two AA batteries, a departure from 9 VDC operation. The transmitters, as with the receiver, may be ordered to operate on either of two frequency bands; 541.500 MHz-566.375 MHz or 655.500 MHz-680.375 MHz. There are a total of 996 frequencies per band in 25 kHz increments. The phase lock loop system uses FM modulation with +/- 10 kHz deviation.
Each transmitter can be adjusted for 10 mW or 30 mW output. RF output obviously determines battery life. Both transmitters have LEDs that show green when powered up and red when powered but muted. These LEDs blink to indicate low battery. There is also a small, four bar display in the LCD window of each transmitter that indicates battery life. The mute and power can be locked either on or off. There is no noise when switching from mute to on.
Powering down the transmitters, however, does generate a small click. I also found
some situations in which there was enough RF in the air to allow some unpleasant
noise to escape the receiver even after the transmitters were turned off.
A small but readable LCD screen and can be toggled to show the status of the features of each transmitter. When the transmitters’ SET buttons are pushed, the LCD becomes backlit; enough to see in the dark. When in MUTE, “mute” in very small letters appears on the transmitter’s LCD display. Both transmitters have sliding panels that cover the adjustment controls to prevent accidental status changes. The panel on the plug-on transmitter has a hole that allows you to turn the transmitter on and off, even when the panel is closed.
The ATW-T1801 body-pack transmitter is slightly smaller than a box of Marlboros and
chews up a pair of AA alkaline cells in eight hours at low power and six hours at high
power. That specs out to 160 mA and 180 mA current consumption, respectively. The body-pack has a switchable input with low-Z input for mic or high-Z musical instrument pickups and also makes available a small bias voltage, but not enough for Phantom Power. Input sensitivity is adjustable in four steps from -6 dB, 0 dB, + 6dB and +12 dB, with a default of + 6 dB.
The antenna on the body-pack transmitter unscrews. The microphone connector is
spring loaded, locking, four-pin Hirose-type connector. Pulling the sliding outer shell of
the connector releases the lock. The spring clip for hooking the transmitter on a waistband or pocket is designed so that it can be reversed; allowing the mic to be mounted in either of two vertical orientations. The transmitter case is made out of high impact plastic. The battery hinged door is a little hard to get open if there are no batteries to pop the lid.
PLUG-ON TRANSMITTER FEATURES
The ATW-T1802 plug-on transmitter duplicates the features of the body-pack transmitter with a few exceptions. It provides 12 V DC Phantom Power, but doesn’t have a high impedance instrument input option. The Audio-Technica AT 4073a worked very nicely with the plug on. It’s high sensitivity may not be what you want in extremely high SPL environments, but it feeds the plug on an impressive signal. A
Sennheiser 421 dynamic mic, while less sensitive, also worked well.
IN USE
The auto-scan feature on the receiver needs some work. Its first scan ended up in the middle of a used NTSC channel in town with a transmitter about six miles away. At that frequency, range was limited to about thirty feet. After checking a chart and choosing a more open frequency, I walk tested both transmitters running high power (30 mW) with the receiver in dual mode and got about 50 yards before taking soft hits on the plug-on and 70 yards with the body mic. I did have some unusual range reduction problems on a rainy day.
On subsequent days, I got more than 50 yards with the body mic and 30 yards with the plug on with my body between the mics and the receiver with both transmitters and receivers working; about ten more yards when the antennae were in the clear. The plug on, one day, went a good seventy yards when held vertically and in the clear. Using two antennae for two full diversity receivers in the same box can be expected to reduce range to some degree. It’s a simple trade off; some range for operational flexibility.
So while you may not break any long distance reception records with the Audio-
Technica 1800 Series, partnering two diversity receivers and a mixer in one box does
give you a lot of operational power.
SUMMARY
Navigating the menus to make changes was easy after I had used the system a day or so. For the ENG/EFP market, where having two channels of wireless strapped to the camera is increasingly useful, the Audio-Technica 1800 Series brings a lot to the table, especially at its price point of $1795. You may or may not want to use the mixer features on the receiver, but having them does provide options. Audio-Technica sells the 1800 Series in three different sets; a receiver and two body mics, two plug-ons or a body mic and a plug-on. The only things on my wish list would be a strapped pouch to hold everything and, of course, 48 V Phantom Power for the plug-on.
Ty Ford is on special assignment from Radio World and Pro Audio Review. He may be
reached at www.tyford.com.
FAST FACTS
Application: ENG/EFP production
Key Features: Two receivers in one box, 10mW and 30 mW transmit power, frequency
agile,
Price: The MSRP is the same for any of the three systems -- $1,795.00, as follows:
ATW-1821 -- ATW-R1820 dual-receiver, two ATW-T1801 body-pack transmitters and
two omnidirectional lavalier microphones.
ATW-1822 – ATW-R1820 dual-receiver and two ATW-T1802 plug-on transmitters.
ATW-1823 – ATW-R1820 dual-receiver, one ATW-T1802 plug-on transmitter, one ATWT1801
body-pack transmitter and one omnidirectional lavalier microphone.
The receivers and components are also available for sale separately.
Contact: Audio-Technica U.S., Inc., 1221 Commerce Drive, Stow, OH 44224. Tel: (330)
686-2600; Fax: (330) 688-3752; Web: www.audio-technica.com
© Copyright 2007 Technique, Inc. 8/07
