UWP-D11 or ECM-W1M

[David Wibowo]

Does anyone uses/or have tried any of the above with their EA50?

Supposedly the multi interface shoe allows is to work without xlr cables at all and also can take power from camera battery.

Originally I was pretty set on sennheiser set because of my experience with them, but if the Sony have good sound quality and the added bonus of nir cable compatibly while drawing power from the camera it will be a plus.

From time to time I also have to shoot with the FS700 & a7S and supposedly the multi interface shoe work with it as well.

I'm going to have to replace my wireless mics because in Australia they have sold off the wireless frequency to the phone company and by the beginning of the 2015 year it will be illegal to operate in certain frequencies.

So if anyone have any experience with them or have suggestion for wireless mic please chime in.

[David Dixon]

The $500 Wireless Question, or, "What cheap system should I get?" - Page 8

I think the link will take you to page 8, but go there manually if not.

--an extensive test I helped a local audio pro conduct with the new Sony UWP. (he's worked for local TV plus HGTV network, etc. and is an audio forum moderator at dvxuser.com)

[Chris Harding]

Hey David

I think I will be going for the D11's next year...the W1M is a little amateurish and although convenient the audio quality isn't that good either. I would put it in the "enthusiast amateur" category. I cannot see where I would put the transmitter body on the groom. It's way too bulky.

Now I don't know that frequencies your current units have but my old Azdens go up to 801mhz and there is talk that the frequencies between 700 and 800 MHz will have a guard band at 800 MHz and those will be neat clear bands so people have been advised NOT to throw out their transmitters yet. Our tiny outputs won't be any issues in the guard band and of course you won't have any issues of phone or digital radio transmissions inside the guard band.

I will replace I reckon with the d11's but I will still keep my old units!

Chris

[David Dixon]

I think you'll find the Sony wireless much better than the Azden. However, the Sony unit is still not as good as the very similarly priced Sennheiser G3 - see that review I linked to for details. I know the Sony works without cables for some of their camera models, but I'd have to weigh that carefully with the better performance of the G3.

[David Wibowo]

Thanks David and Chris,

I've decided to get the W1M, to use primarily to on the a7s since we use for long distance stuff and more as a reference audio recorder.

and for the actual wireless on the camera, I am borrowing the Sennheiser G3 for the next wedding I'm doing and will do a comparison with my current Sony wireless pack I have.

Cheers.

[Randy Johnson]

I use the UWO-D16 with my EA 50 and I LOVE IT! the range is fantastic it hasnt hicuped yet and the sound quality is great!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

I'm going for those series too at the year end. The Bluetooth one seems pretty much OK for amateur video of the kids on the lawn or a fishing trip but certainly not for pro stuff like weddings. Apart from the bulkiness of the transmitter I watched the unit being previewed and the audio quality was very hollow and pure and certainly not anywhere near the SonyUW's quality. Then again they are a fraction of the price but they will work fine for non pro audio. Still would be pretty tough to hide that big bulky transmitter on a groom at a wedding.

Maybe you can give us a mini review David when you get yours???

Chris

[Randy Johnson]

Im sorry I have the UWP-D11 system. Like I said in another thread I am very pleased with it. I had one on a groom and he was 100 feet away and out of sight and I had him strong.

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

I use the UWO-D16 with my EA 50 and I LOVE IT! the range is fantastic it hasnt hicuped yet and the sound quality is great!

I was going this route but at the last minute I decided to go with a dual receiver. I think the UWP-D16 is pretty great. I wish Sony offered a dual receiver. Anyway i decided on the http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/460224-REG/Audio_Technica_ATW_1821D_ATW_1821_Dual_Wireless.html. waiting on it to come this week.

[David Dixon]

I don't know, maybe the UWP-D I tested was defective or something. I compared it to a G2, G3, and to the previous UWP Sony. The new Sony had the worst range of all of them - about half that of the others. The sound quality was better than the older Sony, but the range was only good to about 50 feet before dropouts - and only that if line of sight. I had the kit with the plug on transmitter - I was excited about that, because it provided full phantom power. But, it also had weak volume and poor range. I returned the kit to B&H and instead got an upgraded lav for my G2.

Now I see that B&H has the Sony for $600 and the G3 for $540 - I don't know if that's a temporary discount or not.

I'm happy for the folks that are having good success with their UWP-D. However, my recommendation is that if you get one, test it promptly during the return period to see if it is performing up to spec on audio quality and range.

[Chris Harding]

Be careful with dual receivers! I use two receivers rather than a dual one simply because single receivers have diversity circuitry built in with twin antennas and I the dual one I bought was NOT diversity as the case is not big enough for 4 antennas!!

Non diversity receivers fail miserably on range so be careful with that ...On my main cam my receivers just sit behind each other !

Chris

[David Wibowo]

(Info below is mainly relevant to people using wireless gear in Australia)

Well now I'm even more confused, after going to the wireless mic shop, they determined because I do many interstate shoots, that I would have to have 2 different wireless packs because of the bands that is available (A,B,and G) isn't consistent across the country (not even consistent across the state). They determined I will have places where I can't use it because its being used by the TV stations.

There are high end solutions which I cannot afford so not considering it as an option.

The low end solution I've heard from many videographers is to record into the iphone/ipod similarly with the smart lav, but that entails post pro synching and of course leaving the phone with the mic....which could be an issue.

How are other ppl solving this?

[Chris Harding]

On the D11 you have 42 channels so even if one or two are busy then you still have 40 left to play with ...there are two bands here allocated for us and one is nation wide so I'm not sure who gave you the information. Check out the government website for correct allocations ... Sony are producing sets for both of our allocations.

520mhz to 526 MHz is available nationally for wireless mics so if you travel a lot then you need to get gear in this spectrum ...less channels but usable thruout Australia

Chris

[Mervyn Jack]

To learn about the new frequencies allowed for wireless audio gear in Australia from December 2014
Start here Wireless microphones | ACMA

Also check out AWAG | Aceta

[David Wibowo]

Thanks Chris, I guess its A band for me.

although for half of my work is predominantly recommended I have B. I'll hopefully won't have a problem finding something between 520-526 in those cases, the biggest venue I ever shot did had 6 weddings happening at the same time, and assuming each one has at least 2 wireless mic going for filming plus the own venue....it might get interesting.

This is how I understand it at the moment.

There are 3 bands for us on the eastern seaboard. A, G, and B.

For the Sennheiser G3, based on their product description:
A: 516-558Mhz
G: 566-608Mhz
B: 626-668Mhz

The recommendation I'm getting at the moment is if at Gold Coast get A band, and Brisbane B band, but many other QLD&NSW locations will only have band G&B available. This is based on the post-stack, I'm sure for the first year or so, the frequency won't be fully used yet.