Wireless Lapel that produces clear rich sound?

[Candice Cunningham]

Hello I am a wedding photographer (I do not do video) I tried recording audio from the reception and wedding on a zoom H4, it worked TOO good I have every cough, every footstep etc. So I have decided I need a lapel mic. I want to attach it to the groom. What is a good lapel mic that produces clear rich sound?

[Jim Boda]

Originally Posted by Candice Cunningham

Hello I am a wedding photographer (I do not do video) I tried recording audio from the reception and wedding on a zoom H4, it worked TOO good I have every cough, every footstep etc. So I have decided I need a lapel mic. I want to attach it to the groom. What is a good lapel mic that produces clear rich sound?

I prefer the SANKEN Cos11. It is one of the few mics that you can feed down the knot of a tie (pointing downward) and does a good job at picking up both the bride and groom. The Countryman B6 is another option. I used both of those mics when I did sound for an episode of "Whose Wedding is It Anyway?"

[Dean Sensui]

Candice...

You might want to think of it as a system. Not only would you need a good mic like a Countryman or similar as suggested, but you'll also need a transmitter/receiver capable of getting that audio to your recorder.

I use an Audio Technica ATW-1800 and get very good results. While there is sometimes some compression/expansion effect if the volume isn't set properly, the overall performance is high for the price.

It's a dual-diversity system so at normal ranges there's seldom any dropouts. I have had situations where the mic is buried under a shirt and a windbreaker jacket, the subject is sitting in a boat and I'm about 40 feet away, and I'm getting some occasional clicking noises but it's nothing that can't be fixed with Apple's Soundtrack Pro.

With a better receiver antenna setup it would probably perform better at the longer distances.

There are other good wireless systems out there but this is the one I have any current experience with. My previous one was an old Lectrosonic that operated in the VHF range. Good audio quality but the radio signal itself was subject to dropouts.

[Stephen Eastwood]

I use a B6 countryman which works amazingly well, and sounds great, I have it both hardwired through an adapter and also running through a Sennheiser wireless setup

[Ty Ford]

b6 and cos-11 are good choices.

Actually the little paddle mic that AT sells is quite nice.
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wi...74a/index.html

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Jacques Mersereau]

Hey Ty,

The AT site redirects the posted URL to the top of their website.
Can you give us say a URL at B&H or other DVINFO sponsor that has information?

[Jack Walker]

Here is the AT830R (which includes the power supply for using as a hardwired mic). I believe the connector on this also works on the new 1800 series wireless systems:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...e_Clip_On.html

The mic with a pigtail end is here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...arch&Q=*&bhs=t
The power supply adds about a hundred dollars to the price.

This mic use to ship with the AT wireless systems (U100, some versions of the Pro88). I don't know if it ships with the new 1800 series.

This mic is much better than the basic Mic that Sennheiser includes.

This mic with a power supply gives good sound for considerably less money than a power supply together and a B6, Cos11, or Tram TR-50.

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Jacques Mersereau

Hey Ty,

The AT site redirects the posted URL to the top of their website.
Can you give us say a URL at B&H or other DVINFO sponsor that has information?

Weird.

Mine goes right to the AT830R page. I don't know how to do it any other way than copy/paste.

regards,

Ty Ford

[Jack Walker]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

Weird.

Mine goes right to the AT830R page. I don't know how to do it any other way than copy/paste.

regards,

Ty Ford

The Firefox Browser takes one to the correct page.

Internet Explorer redirects the link to the front page.

Can't tell you why.

[Ty Ford]

Last week I was made aware of some other IE issues with not displaying my iWeb site properly.

I think they may have some problems.

Ty

[Marco Leavitt]

That was an interesting mic Ty, (MT830R). It reminds me of a Tram. Are there instances where you would want to use that over the AT899?

[Mark Utley]

If it takes you to the top page (it did for me using Firefox) and asks you to specify what country you're in, select a country and click the link again.

[Jack Walker]

Originally Posted by Mark Utley

If it takes you to the top page (it did for me using Firefox) and asks you to specify what country you're in, select a country and click the link again.

Yes, that does it! Apparently it's not an IE problem. It seems the AT site requires you have a cookie set with the country and language or you go straight to the welcome page.

(The UPS site operates in a similar manner, I believe, except there you get to choose whether you want to save the language/country or not.)

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Marco Leavitt

That was an interesting mic Ty, (MT830R). It reminds me of a Tram. Are there instances where you would want to use that over the AT899?

Hi Marco,

I don't really have an answer for your question. The AT 899 should hide more easily. My comment comes from comparisons with Countryman B6 and EMW mics. I was told by a fairly reliable source that the MT830 is made by Voice Technologies, the company that makes the stock Lectrosonics lav.

Please let me make the specifics of my experience clear. ONLY with my tests with the Audio Technica U 100 body transmitters, the MT830 / U100 combo produces louder audio. I'm not surprised by the B6, it's diaphragm is obviously smaller. I'm assuming the EMW diaphragm may be smaller.

The issue is system noise. I evaluated a Zaxcom wireless lav recently. Out of curiosity, I fired up one of my U 100 with an EMW. It was slightly noisier.
I swapped mics to the MT830 and because it was more sensitive, I didn't hear as much system noise.

I do not recall the make and model number of the mic that shipped with the Zaxcom, but I would be surprised if the diaphragm was slightly smaller than the MT830.

I was not expecting the AT system to be as close as it was to the Zaxcom wireless.

This leaves me in the same place my previous inspections of wireless -- mildy conflicted.

While ambient noise covers up a lot of system noise, when you're in the quiet of a recording studio, you can hear that low level noise. Is that a fair test? I guess it depends on where you'll be recording and how sensitive you are to system noise.

The way a mic mates with the preamp in a wireless has a LOT to do with the overall sound. Recording studios go to great lengths to get the mic/preamp match right. There's not as much thought about this match in wireless body mics and certainly not as many options.

Then too, where and how the mic gets placed on a person also has a LOT to do with how it sounds.

The best wireless body mic I have heard, and this was last year during a review, was on an Audio Ltd. 2040. I have samples up on my site. Look in the Audio folder for the AudioLtd2040 folder. Absolutely stunning audio and more range than anything I have tested. At a price of $5K per set, they better be.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[John M. McCloskey]

Tram TR-50