Camera Mounted Wireless Lav Mics for HD100?

[Greg Miller]

Before you even buy the cable, just plug a set of headphones into the receiver's audio output jack. If you hear each transmitter on a separate channel at that point, then the receiver is truly stereo.

[Matt Sharp]

At NAB Sony quietly announced new dual receivers for their UWP-D line. List price is $999 for the receiver only. Not yet available, I'm hoping to the street price is less so I can add one to my kit.

Sony URX-P03D Two-Channel Portable Receiver URX-P03D B&H Photo

Sony Product Detail Page URXP03D/14

[Donald McPherson]

OK tried with headphones plugged into receiver. ( I normally plug into camera so I know its going there.) It's MONO. I suppose that's no surprise given the price of these things.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Donald

That is indeed very strange to combine the signals in the receiver .. I send my audio from my two receivers to an XLR adapter under the camera and it has a mono/stereo switch on it and can combine the two outputs or keep them split which is way more useful .. In an interview situation if one person has a much louder voice than the other how on earth are you supposed to adjust them? Probably the slight inconvenience of having to mount twin receivers on the camera is worth doing? I wonder if Rowa make a single transmitter receiver kit?

[Greg Miller]

Donald,

Thank you for performing that test. Although I'm disappointed at the result.

I can't help wondering whether they are combining the audio in the digital domain, then running it through a single D-to-A converter ... or whether each receiver section has its own D-to-A, and then they are combining the signals in the analog domain.

I don't think I'll tear one apart to find out.

Maybe someone should send them an EMail and tell them that their product is not stereo.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Greg

Unless you are capable of writing in Mandarin I certainly wouldn't bother .. I doubt whether they would do anything anyway! For interest the Boya WM-5 single units would do the same job if you bought two sets and that would also end up now that much more! EBay has the Rowa for $262 and the Boya for $94.00 but you might need to but XLR cables for the Boya as they don't seem to be supplied ... The Boya also has a talkback function so one could even prompt the talent if necessary!

[Lisa Bennett]

Sorry for the delay to chime in on all of the posts. Thanks for all for adding comments and input on equipment.

I have a shoot for a two person interview and last time I used handheld cabled mics. I need a good set of wireless lavs anyway for some upcoming work and will be good to use for the interview.

What about interference with wireless signals? One shoot is at a hotel and curious to hear about interference issues some of you may have had.

Keep the suggestions coming for which lavs to buy. The gyhd100 has XLR connetion for mic 1 and mic 2.

Thanks much.

[Don Bloom]

Lisa,
Using my AT system I can honestly say that the only time I had interference was when someone had a Blackberry type device near my kit and then only on 2 or 3 occasions. By and large when I was shooting in a hotel, I had no real issues. The bigger issue is the ringing of phones during an interview. I had many times I wanted to ring necks. During the interviews make sure you're in as quiet a spot as possible as far removed from all the hustle and bustle of turning the room and stragglers and ask the interviewer and interviewees to kindly turn their phones OFF or at last put them in airplane mode. Remember that it's when they hunt for the network that the noise, DITDITDITDITDIT, that you hear in your headphones can cause you to become a serial killer. ;-)

Again I love the AT system because it's only one receiver and by setting it up properly, you can run both mics on one channel so that can leave you and open input on the camera to run a shotgun or a 3rd mic. I've done that and while it may not leave you anytime to just stand around and not think, there are moments that it might be necessary.

With the HD100, like the HM700, set the camera audio block to Ch1/Ch2, plug the XLRs into the camera and off you go. Just run some checks and tests before you go out on the paying job.
HTHs

[Chris Harding]

Hey Don

Nice to see you still contributing!!

Most of the new systems nowdays are digital running in the 2.4GHz band as opposed to UHF system which are sadly being given less and less frequency allocations. Technically, despite the huge amount of devices running in the 2.4GHz spectrum are supposed to be totally interference free so getting something like the Rode or AT System 10 wireless kits should be fine. However I must admit I have yet to see a "dual" receiver system with these so one does need to be careful if you opt for a UHF dual system that the frequencies are actually legal otherwise you just might have EMT calls coming thru on your precious audio especially in built up or city locations. I wonder if there is a technical aspect on the 2.4Ghz band that forces you to have to use single receivers ?? Also if you go for the newer 2.4Ghz systems bear in mind that reliable range is usually 100' or less which is fine for interviews or weddings but could be a problem if your talent is a long way from the camera.

[Lisa Bennett]

Him,

Thanks again Don and all for the help.

This year the interviews are being done a little differently. Guests at the event liked watching the interviews being taped. So, we are part of the event schedule..in a room that holds 60 guests to see the celeb guests be interviewed.

Having them turn off the ringers is a big part of the plan. I agree.

The space is a bit tricky to light. Not a lot of space in this room at the front where we setup. So audio and lighting takes some good planning. Need to get another light or two for hair lights possibly and most definitely need some lavs. I have begun my search to get 2 for this shoot and do some run throughs to test.

[Lisa Bennett]

Still looking for lav mics. Lav will be best versus a boom since we have an audience and don't want to pick up all of the sounds in the room. Seems like everything is close to $1,000 and that is more than we want to spend for this. Any others you know about, feel free to suggest.

[Rick Reineke]

" Seems like everything5 is close to $1,000 and that is more than we want to spend for this. Any others you know about, feel free to suggest."
- I still think anything decent is gonna cost about $500 per channel. Another $100 (per system) should be factored in for a decent mic element, since most come bungled with a POS.(In the G2/3 case, the ME2)
This may still be pertinent:
The $500 Wireless Question, or, "What cheap system should I get?"

[Chris Harding]

Hi Lisa

Just a thought but the word "used" comes to mind. I bought my Azden set a long while back at a bargain price as it was used and not new out the box. It's still working well today so no complaints. Maybe take a look on eBay for used items ...The original L100 was pretty close to $800 new here but I found one on eBay USA and even with shipping it only cost me under $200!! Worth thinking about as the moment it's out the box it's used anyway!! A lot of people tend to buy to keep up with the latest and greatest and sell their "older" but still current system at a loss which could be your gain!!

[Lisa Bennett]

Yes, lots of good used equipment around. Will widen my search for used and see what I might find on ebay and amazon.. ;)

[Donald McPherson]

Last but best cheap option. Get a couple of audio recorders with lavs.