what's your favorite lav?

V

vonner

Member
So I've got my DR-10L and I'm ready to get into the world of wired audio. I was wondering what everyone's favorite lav mics are. I know there's like a million lav posts, but I just want to know what your go-to mics are or if you've had any bad experiences with other mics.

Personally, I don't like the sound of lavs. I'm a boom guy all the way. But I want to get into walk-and-talks, and lavs will become a necessity. Since it's narrative, I'll be 100% under clothes.

Right now I have a Voice Technology VT500 that I got on a DealZone sale for like $150, along with a Rode lav mic. I haven't run too many tests with either, but the one I did I liked the VT500 over the Rode by far.

What do you guys use? I know everyone loves the Sanken COS-11d. That's sort of my end-goal once I save enough money. I just heard about the Oscar SoundTech mics and would love to see (or hear?) how those compare to the VT500s.
 
The usual disclaimer: If you aren't listening to your audio while you're recording, you won't know what you're getting until it's too late.

This is especially important if you plan to bury the lav. You can monitor before you record, but buried lavs have habits of shifting around later if they aren't set properly, or if it's hot and humid and the person is sweating. You won't find that out until after the fact if you're recording straight to a DR-10L.

As for lavs, my lavaliere mics of choice are the Countryman B3 and B6 and the Sanken COS-11. The COS-11 has a richer sound, but the B3 and especially the B6 are easier to hide. The B6 can even be hidden in plain sight.
 
That's a great point about the DR-10L. Which brings up another great question. What have you found to be the most effective/efficient way(s) to secure a hidden mic? I'm really nervous about clothing rustle.
 
My go-to is the Sanken COS-11. Also have Tram's and Sony 77's, but the Sankens see the most action.
 
I love the sound characteristics of the ECM55 ('proximity design' according to Sony), it's omni directional, but ISOs the wearer like a cardioid w/o the typical cardioid drawbacks, unfortunately it's huge and next to impossible to hide. Even when worn externally, it looks huge by today's standards. The B6 is another favorite and great for hiding (even in plain site), but it's very susceptible to air turbulence... every mic has it's pros and cons. The OST mics get the bang-for-the-buck award.
 
vonner said:
Personally, I don't like the sound of lavs. I'm a boom guy all the way. But I want to get into walk-and-talks, and lavs will become a necessity. Since it's narrative, I'll be 100% under clothes.
...

I just heard about the Oscar SoundTech mics ...
Click to expand...

The OST lavs are excellent, for under clothes I think the one you want is the 801 (with the HF bump to compensate for sound having to travel through the clothes to get to the mic). I hear less good things about the tiny TL-40 so I don't really recommend that to you. OTOH, no one has gotten fired for specifying the COS-11D. :thumbsup:

Your biggest challenge isn't going to be the mic, it's going to be learning how to mount a lav onto an actor. It's often not nearly as straight forward as you'd hope. Takes all kinds of tricks, and working with the wardrobe people to avoid crinkly fabrics and making some access points when needed. Always explain to the actor what you have to do, and never touch an actor without permission.

So start climbing your learning curves, stock up on moleskin, 3M surgical tapes, etc. And you're going to want to learn how to mount those body pack transmitters also. The DR-10L is an interesting idea, but you're responsible for capturing good audio you're going to have to monitor the audio each and every take -- the chance of some kind of clothing noise, microphonics from cable rubbing, etc. are just too great. And if you come up with crappy sound because you weren't monitoring, you'll quickly find yourself on the street. Just sayin'.
 
I've tried a variety of lav's including the OST stuff & the COS11D is my favorite - it is the easiest to match to boom
 
"I hear less good things about the tiny TL-40 so I don't really recommend that to you"
- The TL40 has a flat frequency response, the 801/802 has the presence peak . One mic does not work on everyone. Pro sound folks will have a number of mics to choose from.
 
Dan's right: DPA lavs sure are nice. But they're kinda fussy (some cable noise in some models...apparently addressed in others) and really expensive. And I wonder if that DPA goodness will be somewhat lost on a (totally cool!) DR-10L. But for narrative fiction films where there's a little more time to dress things right, that might be a nice way to go. Though I usually buy lavs in twos so I have backup, can cover two people, etc. So a couple DPA 4071 lavs plus mounts will be about $1100. Yow.

Rick's right about a presence peak. You could get a Countryman EMW with a peaked response (they also offer shelved for all-around use, and flat that's often used for music) for $175-$200 or so (depending on connector, mounts, etc). Still a good-sounding lav that holds up well and cuts through clothing, imo. Company site (note that mics are available cheaper at dealers):
http://www.countryman.com/emw-omnidirectional-lavalier

And of course Sanken COS-11s are popular. That'll be about $350-$400.

Oscar SoundTech lavs are inexpensive and OK. But I'd think they might not be better than (though they might be close to) your Voice Tech lav; those are good. But if yours does have a flat response (I don't know tons about VT's line), and if you're going to bury the mic under clothing, then as Rick says a presence peak is a good idea.

Me, I'm mainly Countryman EMW & B6, Sanken COS-11, and a smattering of others. Had a DPA 4061, but for the doc stuff I mainly do, it had too much cable noise (at least the way I dressed it; that might have been user error), so I sold it. I might end up buying another couple of DPAs (perhaps one of the "slim" models) down the road. But you know, a decent mic well placed beats a great mic carelessly placed... And again as Rick says, I use different mics in different situations.

Vonner, if you can get to a good location-audio dealer, see if you can demo a few different lavs over and clothing. See what you think. Or if you're on a budget, maybe try an Oscar SoundTech 801 with a presence peak. That runs $150-$175 or so with mounting accessories.
http://www.oscarsoundtech.com/services.html
 
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