Sennheiser MKH 50 and SKP 100 Plug On Transmitter - Can wireless work?

B

Budgieboots

Well-known member
Hello, I was wanting to make my Sennheiser MKH 50 microphone become wireless with a SKP 100 G3 Plug-On transmitter.

When I went to try it out, I found nothing happened.

I had the MKH 50 plugged into the SKP 100 G3 Plug-On -- and the ew100 G3 receiver was plugged straight into a Sony FS100 video camera. I usually use my Plug-On with a Sennheiser e835 microphone, or to plug into sound systems.

Looking online at Sennheiser's website, it would appear that the SKP 100 G3 is not compatible with a MKH 50.

It seems I would need to invest in a higher end SKP 2000 or SKP 3000 plug-on + receiver package.

Is this the only option? Or is there some work-around? Like feeding it into a Tascam recorder instead?

Thanks,
 
The MKH 50 microphone does not have an internal battery or other power supply, and requires phantom power supplied through the XLR connector. The SKP 100 wireless transmitter does not supply phantom power for the attached mic, and can only be used with dynamic microphones, or condenser mics that have an internal battery.

Sennheiser makes a G3-series wireless transmitter, the SKP 300, that looks and operates much like the SKP 100 but can provide phantom power to a condenser microphone. Alas, it is quite expensive -- $529 versus $299 for the SKP 100 at B&H currently.

- Greg
 
The quality of the sound coming from the SKP2000 is incredibly quiet and accurate and works well with a G2 or G3. It of course does the phantom power you would require but the noise floor is low like the MKH 50. The sound from the SKP2000 rivals a Lectrosonics unit.

You are not doing justice to your microphone with your proposed solutions. The SKP2000 is what you should pair with your MKH 50 if you are going to use a G3 receiver. That microphone deserves it.
 
Surely it depends on the usage. Every day well funded work with the need for the 'best' without a link to cost might make this a sensible purchase, but I still have my old AT 815 that can take a battery for those very rare occasions when I need a shotgun on a radio. Spending the money even on a 300, rather than the 100 that I have is simply poor use of funds.

I'm not saying the product is bad, but sometimes, spending money is not a good move. An SKP100 here is about £220ish, but the 2000 is in the 500+ range. Individual circumstances set the answer - value for money, or simply value added features.
 
Work-around: A battery powered external Phantom Power supply, or preamp / mixer that has PP. For instance, an SD MM-1, MP-1, MicPre, 302, ect.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far!

So some quick follow-up questions.

a) What is the difference between something like the SKP 300 and the SKP 2000? Is it an improved feature set? More frequencies? Lower noise floor as mentioned above? I am just unsure of what's causing the price difference since when browsing Sennheiser's website -- the specs between the two units appear quite similar. Interestingly enough, on Sennheiser's website, they don't mention the MKH 50 as being compatible with the SKP 300, they only show the SKP 2000 and SKP 3000.

b) Double confirming, the SKP 300 would work with a ew100 receiver correct? I would just have to make sure I get a SKP 300 that is the same frequency range as the ew100 receiver I already own. Then it's just a matter of manually setting the SKP 300 frequency to match what's on the ew100 receiver?

Thanks again for all your assistance.
 
Indeed, I have kept my first shotgun, the AT897 for just this purpose since it has an internal battery. Coupled with a G2 transmitter, it gets it done. No doubt your Sennheiser mic would be entirely superior, but the phantom powered plug ons (never say butplug) , are pricey indeed.

Grant
 
Budgieboots said:
...on Sennheiser's website, they don't mention the MKH 50 as being compatible with the SKP 300, they only show the SKP 2000 and SKP 3000.
Click to expand...

That's because hardly anyone would want to use a hypercardioid mic with a plug-on transmitter. The use of a plug-on transmitter implies a reporter mic. The SKP 100 is really designed for use with a dynamic reporters' mic like the EV RE50N, or the Sennheiser MD 42. And my SKP 100 does a bang up job with my RE50N; excellent combination for reporting on noisy/busy trade show floors, etc.

The reason they show compatibility with the higher end plug-on transmitters is because those are what you'd typically use on the end of a boom pole, which is how an MKH 50 is normally used (just to be completely clear, the mic is on one end of the boom pole and the plug-on transmitter on the other end, with an XLR cable connecting the mic to the plug-on transmitter). A lot of production companies are apparently using "wireless booming" these days, probably just to cut down on yet another cable's worth of on-set clutter. The high end Sennheiser plug-on transmitters compete head to head with the Lectrosonics and Zaxcom units that are usually used for wireless booming. The SKP 300 isn't in that product class.

But the SKP 300 will certainly supply phantom power and so will work with a MKH 50 if that's what you want. And it will work for wireless booming too, but probably with some lesser level of reliability and range compared to the more expensive units.

Budgieboots said:
...the SKP 300 would work with a ew100 receiver correct?
Click to expand...

Yes. Either a G2 or a G3 receiver with the same frequencies. When in doubt, talk to your retailer and verify that what you want to use will in fact do the job you want done.
 
I have the SKP100 and 300 and they both work Ok with G2.

I bought them second hand but if all I needed was a shotgun mic wireless and already had the 100 with no phantom power I think I would be just buying a mic with an on board battery supply or as other have suggested add an external PSU if the mic was going to be used on a boom etc.
 
Budgieboots said:
Thanks for all the replies so far!

So some quick follow-up questions.

a) What is the difference between something like the SKP 300 and the SKP 2000? Is it an improved feature set? More frequencies? Lower noise floor as mentioned above? I am just unsure of what's causing the price difference since when browsing Sennheiser's website -- the specs between the two units appear quite similar. Interestingly enough, on Sennheiser's website, they don't mention the MKH 50 as being compatible with the SKP 300, they only show the SKP 2000 and SKP 3000.

b) Double confirming, the SKP 300 would work with a ew100 receiver correct? I would just have to make sure I get a SKP 300 that is the same frequency range as the ew100 receiver I already own. Then it's just a matter of manually setting the SKP 300 frequency to match what's on the ew100 receiver?

Thanks again for all your assistance.
Click to expand...

The ew2000 range is compatible with ew100/300/500 but is the high-end system with a far greater switching bandwidth.

The SKP 300 supplies phantoom power - the SKP 100 does not.

Yes - the SKP 300 is fully compatible with the ew100 series.

Yes - you need to get an SKP 300 with the same frequency band as your ew100 system - A, B, C, D, E, F, G, GB, etc. The SKP 300 should have the same stored memories as your ew100, so just choose teh same band and frequency.
 
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