Sony UWP wireless unit...

C

custerc

Well-known member
Has anyone used these or have thoughts on it? As previous posts have indicated, I'm in China and looking for a wireless lav system. Based on everything I've read, it seems like the Sennheisers (G2 or G3) are the best option, but I am getting quoted ridiculous prices for them here and I don't know why.

Online, possibly bogus retailers are charging 6000+ RMB ($900+ US) for ONE set, and the only connection I've found (though DVX user, actually) to a "reputable dealer" gave me a quoted price of 9,500 RMB (i.e., $1500 US) for the same thing that costs $599 on B&H.

Now, I would prefer not to buy gear abroad and have it shipped here, as that is a pain in the ass. And I've found a place that sells the Sony UWPs for a non-crazy price. How much of a downgrade is that in terms of quality? Is it worth it to deal with the hassle, wait, and import taxes associated with international shipping just to get the Sennheisers, or is the UWP a viable alternative? Note that I will probably be using the stock lavs, at least for the moment.

(I have googled this but haven't found a ton of helpful info aside from this thread at DV Info, which makes the UWPs sound OK, but still leaves me wishing for a G2 or G3...on the other hand, the UWPs seem to have great reviews on B&H....)
 
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Personally, I don't like them.

The one that I tested when I was in the market for new wireless kits was plagued with noise and a really obvious compander artifact (breathing/pumping). I traded it in for a Sennheiser.
 
Sorry to make you so upset with the quote man. I must say IT IS RIDICULOUS. Can't believe I still passed the quote to you haha, bring your gear into Beijing is a really good idea.
Good luck for finding a good wireless kit man.

Cheers

Hiro
 
Hiro Nakamura said:
Sorry to make you so upset with the quote man. I must say IT IS RIDICULOUS. Can't believe I still passed the quote to you haha, bring your gear into Beijing is a really good idea.
Good luck for finding a good wireless kit man.

Cheers

Hiro
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No worries, it was his price, not yours! I will probably still call him and ask about it, at this point just because I'm curious as to why they cost more. Even the ones on Taobao don't match up at all with overseas prices, so I assume there is a reason for it. It's just frustrating because I have every aspect of the gear we need worked out pretty well except this.

On the upside though, we went over to check out the place in 五棵松 today and that was great, thanks for letting me know about that. Picked up a vest today, but will probably head back with a bigger wad of cash next weekend to pick up a tripod, hard shell case for the camera, maybe a little lighting gear or even a lens if 锐意 doesn't have the one I'm looking for in stock (we bought both our cameras through them and so far, knock on wood, have found them to be super helpful and reliable. They're not the cheapest in town, but I'm willing to pay for that degree of reliability...)
 
FWIW, we ran some early versions of the Sony UWP rig and the immediate problems were the terrible supplied mics, and there were no model nos on them. We replaced ém with Sony ECM-77BMP lavs .. much better. So we had to add another $300 to get them to work.

Next was the RF traffic .. anywhere where you could throw a piece of white bread up in the air and it came down toast .. also likely stuffed up our UWPs.

The Senns are better, but whatever you get make sure it matches the freq. range in your location.

Cheers.
 
Raster said:
FWIW, we ran some early versions of the Sony UWP rig and the immediate problems were the terrible supplied mics, and there were no model nos on them. We replaced ém with Sony ECM-77BMP lavs .. much better. So we had to add another $300 to get them to work.

Next was the RF traffic .. anywhere where you could throw a piece of white bread up in the air and it came down toast .. also likely stuffed up our UWPs.

The Senns are better, but whatever you get make sure it matches the freq. range in your location.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Which versions? The ones I'm looking at are the UWP-V2s, but before that there was V1 (which also seems to get decent reviews) and the C1, which I only find mentioned in reviews for the newer ones, but a bunch of reviews say "these are good, especially compared to the C1s..."

so do you remember which ones you were running?
 
I love Sony anything really, but the mics I think are one thing they failed on. When they're working they sound great. When I did pro audio, I used Sony almost exclusively until there would be days that we literally could not get them to work right at all, from distances of 10 feet! We ultimately made the switch to Sennheiser and had very very few issues with them. Personally, I would go Sennheiser if possible, but if you're in a pinch, I would say that the Sonys are ok. Theres also Lectrosonics if that is available to you, they make really nice stuff.
 
Kit Hannah said:
I love Sony anything really, but the mics I think are one thing they failed on. When they're working they sound great. When I did pro audio, I used Sony almost exclusively until there would be days that we literally could not get them to work right at all, from distances of 10 feet! We ultimately made the switch to Sennheiser and had very very few issues with them. Personally, I would go Sennheiser if possible, but if you're in a pinch, I would say that the Sonys are ok. Theres also Lectrosonics if that is available to you, they make really nice stuff.
Click to expand...
I think I know of a dealer that carries lectrosonics, what of their gear have you used? any recs?
 
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