lavalier microphone to a female officiant

David Payne · July 25th, 2014, 06:29 AM

I'd be careful Pete, Zoom themselves advised I use alkaline batteries. I thought it was silly when they said it but I suppose they know their products more than me and so far it's been ok..

Paul R Johnson · July 25th, 2014, 08:52 AM

It's a common problem - most rechargeable have lower terminal voltage, but the worst feature is that with them, the terminal voltage dies off very quickly, which often gives misleading time left on displays, and the sudden death at the end means that the usual shutdown procedures might not have a chance to complete before they go dead. Radio mics do the same thing - turn them on, the display tells you there is plenty of charge, yet suddenly, they just go. All the different rechargeables perform differently - only proper testing will tell you how they behave when nearly dead in a particular device. Personally, I use alkalinise, and just treat them as consumables.

Peter Riding · July 25th, 2014, 09:00 AM

the terminal voltage dies off very quickly, which often gives misleading time left on displays, and the sudden death

Once they get near the single bar of three I swap them out, but with all my equipment except heavy duty flashguns and H4n on phantom power they seem to go on forever. I do regularly recondition them as well.

Pete

David Payne · July 25th, 2014, 11:49 PM

OK so I've bought a mic for testing now trying to decide on a small recorder. Is the olympus 733 the same as the 731 except colour? Also does anyone know if the case that comes with these has a clip on it? Bit surprised to see no clip on the actual unit. Any other recommendations welcome.. £70 max!

Ah just read the 733 is the only one that has low cut filter and noise reduction so I'll go with that. Just need to find a decent clip case for attaching to registrars folder now as suspect the one provided doesn't have a clip..

Peter Riding · July 26th, 2014, 02:38 AM

My 733 case does not have a clip on it, plus the case is slippery so the unit would not stay inside it securely when tilted. You might get away with taping it to the folder using no-residue gaffer tape that is secure but also just peels off. Looking at mine you could gaffer tape it to the underneath outside of the folder back cover very securely and it would not be overly visible. I guess a mobile phone case with a strong belt clip would work but phone cases tend to be too large now; a case for a small ipod might do the trick. You can stop gear sliding out by putting a small piece of velcro on the inside of the case and the outside of the recorder - I do that with my shotgun foamy and windjammer.

Pete

David Payne · July 29th, 2014, 04:09 AM

received my VN-733PC and EZ503 mic today.. now for some tests!

David Payne · July 29th, 2014, 09:28 AM

Wow.. the H1 is so much nicer to the ear :(

The practicality and portability of the Olympus cant be beat, I suppose it'll be a setup solely for clipping onto the registrars folder but I wont be replacing my zoom's with olympus recorders for speeches.

Similarly the Azden mic is a bit tinnier (and much more sensitive) than the Audio Technica's I use. I love the idea of a mic with no soldered joins or battery packs to worry about so I'm going to let the search go on for a decent mic, I may give the Azden a real life test at the next wedding I do as it might just be sufficient, but if I can find a mic that at the same sound quality as the Audio Technika but the build quality of the azden I'll be happy.

Suggestions for that mic welcome before I end up wasting money trying every mic I can get my hands on!

David Payne · August 7th, 2014, 02:05 PM

if it helps anybody here I've done a comparisson of the Rode Lavalier Mic, Audio Technica ATR3350, Azden 503 and the Olympus ME-15 which arrived today. I think the olympus is probably the worst in my opinion. The Azden seemed to have bad handling noise on the cable where as the others (especially the Rode and Audio Technica) were silent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hbA...ature=youtu.be

What do you guys think sounds best?

July 25th, 2014, 06:29 AM	#46
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant I'd be careful Pete, Zoom themselves advised I use alkaline batteries. I thought it was silly when they said it but I suppose they know their products more than me and so far it's been ok..

July 25th, 2014, 08:52 AM	#47
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant It's a common problem - most rechargeable have lower terminal voltage, but the worst feature is that with them, the terminal voltage dies off very quickly, which often gives misleading time left on displays, and the sudden death at the end means that the usual shutdown procedures might not have a chance to complete before they go dead. Radio mics do the same thing - turn them on, the display tells you there is plenty of charge, yet suddenly, they just go. All the different rechargeables perform differently - only proper testing will tell you how they behave when nearly dead in a particular device. Personally, I use alkalinise, and just treat them as consumables.

July 25th, 2014, 09:00 AM	#48
Peter Riding Major Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Reading Berkshire UK Posts: 872	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant the terminal voltage dies off very quickly, which often gives misleading time left on displays, and the sudden death Once they get near the single bar of three I swap them out, but with all my equipment except heavy duty flashguns and H4n on phantom power they seem to go on forever. I do regularly recondition them as well. Pete

July 25th, 2014, 11:49 PM	#49
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant OK so I've bought a mic for testing now trying to decide on a small recorder. Is the olympus 733 the same as the 731 except colour? Also does anyone know if the case that comes with these has a clip on it? Bit surprised to see no clip on the actual unit. Any other recommendations welcome.. £70 max! Ah just read the 733 is the only one that has low cut filter and noise reduction so I'll go with that. Just need to find a decent clip case for attaching to registrars folder now as suspect the one provided doesn't have a clip..

July 26th, 2014, 02:38 AM	#50
Peter Riding Major Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Reading Berkshire UK Posts: 872	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant My 733 case does not have a clip on it, plus the case is slippery so the unit would not stay inside it securely when tilted. You might get away with taping it to the folder using no-residue gaffer tape that is secure but also just peels off. Looking at mine you could gaffer tape it to the underneath outside of the folder back cover very securely and it would not be overly visible. I guess a mobile phone case with a strong belt clip would work but phone cases tend to be too large now; a case for a small ipod might do the trick. You can stop gear sliding out by putting a small piece of velcro on the inside of the case and the outside of the recorder - I do that with my shotgun foamy and windjammer. Pete

July 29th, 2014, 04:09 AM	#51
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant received my VN-733PC and EZ503 mic today.. now for some tests!

July 29th, 2014, 09:28 AM	#52
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant Wow.. the H1 is so much nicer to the ear :( The practicality and portability of the Olympus cant be beat, I suppose it'll be a setup solely for clipping onto the registrars folder but I wont be replacing my zoom's with olympus recorders for speeches. Similarly the Azden mic is a bit tinnier (and much more sensitive) than the Audio Technica's I use. I love the idea of a mic with no soldered joins or battery packs to worry about so I'm going to let the search go on for a decent mic, I may give the Azden a real life test at the next wedding I do as it might just be sufficient, but if I can find a mic that at the same sound quality as the Audio Technika but the build quality of the azden I'll be happy. Suggestions for that mic welcome before I end up wasting money trying every mic I can get my hands on!

August 7th, 2014, 02:05 PM	#53
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant if it helps anybody here I've done a comparisson of the Rode Lavalier Mic, Audio Technica ATR3350, Azden 503 and the Olympus ME-15 which arrived today. I think the olympus is probably the worst in my opinion. The Azden seemed to have bad handling noise on the cable where as the others (especially the Rode and Audio Technica) were silent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hbA...ature=youtu.be What do you guys think sounds best?