Audio for a documentary -- wireless microphones?

[Ryan Mueller]

Hey Jonathan,

I think you're thinking of the ME4. I can definitely see how the ME4 would be a pain in the butt to work with being that it is an ugly big ball! The ME2 has a clip that attaches to the mic itself and it looks like a standard lav. I have never had a problem with wind on the ME2, then again I haven't used it outdoors a whole lot. One thing about the ME2 that I do love is that even though it is omnidirectional, it still only picks up the voice of my subject. It does a great job of blocking unwanted room sounds when adjusted properly.

Ryan

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Mike Teutsch

My suggestion would be to at least stick with UHF, unless of course you shoot only out in the country side, away from all civilization. And, are real close to your subject.

Since I'm "stuck" with a low budget for this documentary, but yet need a dual channel setup, I wonder if anyone is familiar with the Azden 200ULT UHF: http://tinyurl.com/63mnac that sells for $560 on Amazon, or perhaps any other humanely priced 2-channel UHF..?

-- peer

[Jonathan Kirsch]

Ryan...

You're right...I was thinking of the ME4. See it here:


I don't have the ME2 either...The one I have is about 1 1/2 cm long and 1/2 cm diameter and looks like a small cylinder with a flat top...like a regular lav mic. I can see where the ME2 is better than the ME4, though.

Thanks for straightening me out.

[Ryan Mueller]

Hey Jonathan,

The lav you describe sounds exactly like the ones that I have. It's funny though, I did a search on the Sennheiser website for ME2 and came up with this ME2 mic:
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/media/h.../ME2_hires.jpg

However, I found the kits that I have that supposedly include the ME2 and it shows the mic that I have, and the one that you describe:
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/media/h...G-G2_hires.jpg

It's odd! The ME2 that I have matches the description of what you have to a "T" and it has a little wire-mesh wind screen on the top of it.

Weird!

[Michael Nistler]

Yes, while the ME2 is small, it just doesn't have much frequency response: see TEST #2:

http://www.bridgehands.com/audio

BTW, it seems that this thread should be in the AUDIO forum:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=53


Good luck, Michael

[Brian Leahy]

BHphoto sells wireless kits with an option for deluxe kits which they say include "broadcast-quality lavalier mics that are significantly better than the standard mics included with the wireless system" BH include the Voice Technologies VT500 Lavaliers with their deluxe sennheiser kits, example of such kit below.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=421965&is=REG

[Jonathan Kirsch]

Originally Posted by Ryan Mueller

Hey Jonathan,

The lav you describe sounds exactly like the ones that I have. It's funny though, I did a search on the Sennheiser website for ME2 and came up with this ME2 mic:
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/media/h.../ME2_hires.jpg

However, I found the kits that I have that supposedly include the ME2 and it shows the mic that I have, and the one that you describe:
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/media/h...G-G2_hires.jpg

It's odd! The ME2 that I have matches the description of what you have to a "T" and it has a little wire-mesh wind screen on the top of it.

Weird!

OK, I'm an idiot...I have the same ME2 you have...just without the wire-mesh windscreen. It's easier to see with the enlarged picture from your link. From the smaller pics it just looked like the windscreen was the mic (like the ME4). Doh!

Jonathan

[Ryan Mueller]

Jonathan,

You're not an idiot, that's not at all what I was trying to imply! I think that your were looking at a different picture of the Sennheiser ME2. In some pictures they show a mic similar to the ME4, while in others they show the ones that we have. It appears as if Sennheiser has two completely different versions of the ME2.

Bottom line is that I love the ones that we have.

Ryan

[Peter Wiley]

The first basic question to ask is: what will these two people be doing while I am trying to shoot them and where will they be doing it? This will answer a large part of your question.

Will they be in very noisy environments? Even with a body mic, you can get a lot of the ambient sound depending on the environment and the mic.

Will they be wearing lots of clothes? Clothing noise is another potential source of distracting sound.

Will they be wearing few clothes? Is it important that the mic not be seen? It can be hard to hide a body mic on someone wearing t-shirt and shorts.

Will these circumstances change over the course of production? How will they affect audio continuity?

Etc.

It's answers to these kinds of questions that should drive your mic choices.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Peter Wiley

The first basic question to ask is: what will these two people be doing while I am trying to shoot them and where will they be doing it?

Those two people are professional billiards players, so I plan to do most of the shooting while they are playing, including the "interviews". Again, I wonder if anyone would know if the Azden 200ULT UHF (http://tinyurl.com/63mnac) are up to snuff for such a job?

-- peer

[Jay Gladwell]

So, Peer, tell us... What did you wind up with?

Is the doc finished?

[Terwingen Niels]

a question: I own a G2 100 sen lav and a NTG 3 for a doc I am going to do soon. should I invest in a second pair or will the boommic be sufficant if another person would mix in? ...