most used wireless lavalier system

[Benjamin Maas]

While most of the work I personally do on set is Pro tools playback work, I have also done a lot of music for picture work. By a pretty wide margin, I see Lectro stuff- 400 and higher- on set. I also will occasionally see Zaxcom and a few other similar products. To be honest, if I walk on a set and the production guy is using G2 or G3, I begin to worry. There are plenty of good engineers that use them, but they are definitely a pretty good step down.

When i'm doing music productions, it is high end Sennheiser (3000 and 5000) that I prefer, but I'm also fine with Shure ULX-D/UR/Axient and Audio Technica Artist.

The elements you put on the packs are also very important. My preference is Sanken and DPA, but I've had pretty good results from Tram as well. The Sanken seems to do the best at integrating with the sound from the boom...

--Ben

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I am happy with Sennheiser G3. My clients can't pay more for lectrosonics. :)

[Rick Reineke]

Same here.. some of my clients don't have the budget, so I leave the Lectros home and just take the G2/3s, same with the TC recorder. I'll take the 680 in place of the 744 and smart slate. I'll use the SD mixer/preamps and good mics in either case though..

[Marco Leavitt]

I've used the AT1800 system for years and love it. It's very reliable, nearly as reliable as the Lectros I've used, but of course it doesn't sound as good as those. As much as I love the AT system it wouldn't cut it on a feature with any kind of real budget. You sometimes see the Sennheiser G3s on indie features. It's a great sounding system, probably better than the AT, but with nowhere near the range. So it's a tradeoff. I will say that I worked on a feature a couple of years ago and one of the actresses flat out refused to wear the G3 transmitter because she thought it was too big. She had worked on bigger projects I guess, and had never seen transmitters that looked like that.

[Warren Kawamoto]

I had a chance to use 2 pairs of Senneheiser G3s, and 2 pairs of Sony UWP-V1s for a wedding promo several weeks ago. This was in Oakland, CA. I clear scanned and synched both sets, and everything was good to go. During the ceremony, however, the Sennheisers kept getting hits with hisses and pops. The antennas were all pointed up. At one point, the minister's channel cut out completely for several minutes! It seems like the Sony has a much better reflection rejection or something....my personal experience have shown that the V1s work much better in the city than the G3s. Can anyone else confirm this? I did find one youtube video where the Sony showed a longer usable range in a city of tall buildings.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

I had a chance to use 2 pairs of Senneheiser G3s, and 2 pairs of Sony UWP-V1s for a wedding promo several weeks ago. This was in Oakland, CA. I clear scanned and synched both sets, and everything was good to go. During the ceremony, however, the Sennheisers kept getting hits with hisses and pops. The antennas were all pointed up. At one point, the minister's channel cut out completely for several minutes! It seems like the Sony has a much better reflection rejection or something....my personal experience have shown that the V1s work much better in the city than the G3s. Can anyone else confirm this? I did find one youtube video where the Sony showed a longer usable range in a city of tall buildings.

It depends on your choice of frequencies.

If you had used the Sennheiser frequencies on the Sony and vice versa, it may well have been the Sony getting the hits.

You need to choose well separated and intermodulation-free frequencies that work for both brands.

Also - remember that a transmitter aerial touching the body can attenuate the signal by as much as 70dB and if the wearer is sweating it will attenuate the signal even more.

In a test in the UK, the G3 receiver came out the best for range without dropouts, beating many more expensive units.

[Rick Reineke]

I have found it best to use the Sennheiser 'Frequency Finder' site or other authoritative entity (or scanning device) and choose a channel that is vacant or has very low signal strength in a given area, Then manually check each receiver for RF at the shoot location. Using the above method, in my experience, has changed performance from 'OK' to outstanding.. The G2/3's receiver's 'scan' function is only good for 'significant' RF detection, but may be ok in a 'RF friendly' area..

[Marco Leavitt]

Interesting Rick. I have not had much luck with the Sennheisers myself, the G2s and the G3s. I'll try your suggestions next time. They are great sounding units. No question about that.

[Rick Reineke]

Marco,
TV Channel 27 (548–554 MHz) is vacant in ALB area.. at least for now. Lucky you.
And would be good for a frequency block A G2/3 system.

[Brian P. Reynolds]

Here is a RF scanner that works great for radio mic systems..... well worth the low cost.

RF Explorer model WSUB1G [TES82252P] - $129.00 : Seeed Studio Bazaar, Boost ideas, extend the reach

[Marco Leavitt]

@ Rick Thanks!

[Denis Danatzko]

I, too, use an audio-technica 1800 series. Not much of my work requires wireless, but I've had one for about 4-5 years and it still works fine. The dual channel receiver is real nice on those few occasions when I need it.

A growing problem for me is more the age and condition of my hearing, coupled with the annoyance of tinnitus. Certain frequencies just don't get through, and I realize I can't discern 'fair' audio from 'good' as well as I used to. Crisp music is what I miss the most. Take good care of your ears, and turn down the volume while you're young.

[Josh Bass]

Hey, how does that frequency finder site work? Some of those fields are obvious but I have no clue what some of those numbers mean. And what does the attenuation field mean?

I could have used this the other day. Had a rented Lectro set but also my G2, put both on a speaker for redundancy. Lectros were fine for the most part, G2 was pretty much constantly crap.

[Rick Reineke]

Attenuation means...well.. attenuation. More is better in our case. (80dBm is better than 70) A 'vacant' channel would be best. For instance, in Albany NY, Channel 27 is 'vacant', so choose a bank/channel(s) frequency within 548–554MHz. assuming one has the A frequency block. See the manual for bank/channel frequency allocations. To get optimum performance out of the G2/3s, due diligence is necessary.. that goes for the Lectros too.

[Josh Bass]

Ok thanks. What about those other numbers? The ones that have nothing but the number in their fields? They default to 14 and 69 or something