Sennheiser EW wireless systems are rubbish - true or false?

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Jeffery Magat

I wonder how reliable Adaptive-Diversity is in comparison to the antenna diversity with a lectro or zaxcom.

Adaptive diversity is the same as antenna diversity.

IE: you switch between two antennas - one RF stage and one AF stage.


True diversity has two antennas - two RF stages and one AF stage.

IE: you switch between the outputs of the RF stages.

[Jack Walker]

... False.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I had one FAIL on the G2 system at a live event using a couple of rack mount receivers. Next time I'll put the receivers on the "stage" at the end of the snake. I had been running it inside a plywood rack case about 40 ft from the "talent".

It turns out that there was another wireless system in that space that has been left on 100% of the time. (Aside - at each corporate event, I've had a hell of a time fighting feedback. I finally found the problem - this other crap system was left on with hot wired mics feeding the ceiling speakers. No wonder our system was feeding back!)

I've recently done some audio tests with the Microtrack II, H4n, BeachTek DXA-5D into a Canon 5D Mark II and a juicedLink CX 231 into the same camera. The rack mount G2 receiver is HOT. The noise of the G2 dominates a bit on the Microtrack II, and dominates strongly on the H4n and juicedLink setup. The noise isn't bad, but it is loud enough to swamp the noise of the preamps/recorders.

The lessons?
1) If you want the lowest noise, use a wired mic,
2) Keep the receiver close to the transmitters to minimize risk,
3) Turn off anything that might be in the area that could interfere, and
4) Murphy's Law applies to everything - including audio.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

The lessons?
1) If you want the lowest noise, use a wired mic,
2) Keep the receiver close to the transmitters to minimize risk,
3) Turn off anything that might be in the area that could interfere, and
4) Murphy's Law applies to everything - including audio.

Plus - if you have more than one receiver use a proper splitter, preferably with external antennas.

[Rick Reineke]

" The noise of the G2 dominates a bit on the Microtrack II "
-- What kind of "noise". RF hits or electronic based hiss ect.???

[Shaun Roemich]

Well, I'll dissent with the very knowledgeable folks who have already added their learned wisdom here:

I have had very little luck with the Sennheiser G1 & G2 series systems, at least compared to my experience with Sony WRR800 series (at 5+ times the price, mind you) and my own UWP series Sony.

With the Sennheisers, I have had issues with audio just plain old dropping out for no reason. I can't explain it and don't know what causes it but every time I do work for my client that owns two of them, I DREAD the audio.

Again, just MY experience, in MY market (which SHOULDN'T be a high RF Interference market - we're a population of about 800,000, a far cry from a Los Angeles or New York or Toronto)

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Rick Reineke

" The noise of the G2 dominates a bit on the Microtrack II "
-- What kind of "noise". RF hits or electronic based hiss ect.???

It's a hiss. Fortunately, the hiss is at a low level, and is not unpleasant as far as hiss goes. The hiss is rolled off a bit at high frequencies.

However, it is definitely louder than the hiss from the H4n or the juicedLink into the 5D2/Magic Lantern.

The bottom line is that you don't need a 744T when recording a G2 system - at least not from a noise point of view. The G2 noise is the weak link in the chain, even with mid-level recorders. The signal from the G2's rack mount base station is hot enough that the preamp in the recorder is swamped.

Even my Microtrack II, which has a terribly noisy front end, does well with the hot signal from the G2 receiver, though it's still a bit noisier than the Zoom or juicedLink/5D-ML.

[Rick Reineke]

Thanks Jon, just curious.

[Dean Sensui]

I've used a Sennheiser system a few times. It belongs to another producer. There were several instances of dropouts at normal working distances. Could be due to reflections and phase canceling (known as multipath distortion) because of the steel frame construction of the house we were in.

On the other hand, the Audio Technica ATW-1800 diversity system I use has been pretty much rock-solid. It's not perfect, but for the price and reliability it's a good deal. I recently ran four channels of audio on 21-foot boat, recording constantly to an Edirol R-44. Despite the constant engine noise I got good audio the whole time.