Wireless Mics

[PhotoJones]

Our shop is looking at purchasing new wireless mic sets for every photographer. We're replacing 15+ year old Lectrosonics. We have $1500 to spend on each and are considering Lectrosonic, Sennheiser, and Sony. We of course love the durability of the Lectros but the price point prevents us from having both a lavalier AND cube transmitter for each set. Any suggestions or input about what is working for you would be appreciated!

 

[zac love]

I love, love, love Lectrosonics.

I think the current "budget" UCR100 series Lectrosonics are alright, but not great (biggest negative is they can't scan to find free frequencies).

Can you re-use any of your old Lectrosonic's transmitters? If so you can get a SR or 400 receiver & set it to work with any 100, 200 or 400 transmitters. That might be a compromise between cost & sticking with Lectrosonics.

I worked with some Sony wireless units & they worked, but I always felt they didn't sound great. Can't explain it very well, just that the audio wasn't as robust. Just my opinion.

If you can't afford Lectro, I'd suggest Sennheiser G3. I haven't used their 2000 series, they're supposed to be better, but not sure why (though those look out of your budget for cube & belt pack).

The G3s I think work fairly well, especially for the price. I don't think they perform as well as Lectrosonics in tough situations, but I think that comes down to you get what you pay for.

I find the menus on the G3 is greatly improved over the G2 series. And the G3 actually scan the entire block, instead of just 4 frequencies at a time (major pain with the G2).

 

[Minnesotan]

Use the XLR to Lectro connector cable to save money on cubes.

I really like the Lectro SR line. We have the SR5P on all our XDCams with no issues using the SMV or SMQV as transmitters.

I've also used the Sony pro line and Audio Technica. I remember looking at prices for Sony and they were about the same, if not higher than Lectro.

Sony worked pretty well, Audio Technica was okay but I felt the range wasn't as good as the Sony or Lectro.

 

[satpimp]

I have had stellar results with the Lectrosonics. Not endorsing, but something would have to change dramatically for us to consider changing manufactureer. I do know Sony makes great gear especially if you're running Sony gear already. We opted for Lectro on our new Sony rigs. Some of our guys have the internal slot mounted dual channel Lectro with a cube and a beltpack Tx. Most just have external Lectro Rx on BEC mounts off the back with a cube. The new HM cubes have one drawback. It takes two hands and has a 3 second startup and shutdown delay. Our guys still lament not being able to just flick the switch. If you can get the same frequency blocks and use the old cubes and new beltpacks that'd be great. The legacy gear may be too old and not compatible but good luck.

Omar

 

[svp]

Sennheiser G3 100's. Never had issues with them and the audio quality is better than my Lectro UCR100, which is now just a backup wireless. Menus on the G3's are very fast and user friendly. What I really like about the G3 is you can adjust the gain on the receiver and transmitter to a point where you can put the lav on a reporter next to the highway and get great audio with minimal traffic noise. It's incredible how adjustable they are for different situations.

 

[Necktie Boy]

There a few threads about upgrading wireless systems.

Lectrosonics have been field proven for years. You said that your older Lectrosonics have lasted 15 years. You don't say which models you have, but I will take a shot and say the older 187 series.

If you are using the 200 series, just send them in for tune ups and updates. There are still very usable. Just replace the ones that have been abused.

You do have a few options. If you are having problems or not, you should them to the mothership for tune-ups and updates. If you are not having any major inferences, this may be the best way to keep cost down. Just replace a few of the worst offenders. I still use my older 185 with no problems, and have seen the local stations still uses the older Lectrosonics.

I do like Zac ideas of reusing the transmitters and receivers, and purchasing new ones for replacements, but the transmitter takes most of the abuse in the field. I would send the transmitters in to be tuned up and updated. Also, they have to be 200 series or newer 100 series to work with the newer receivers. If you are still using the older 187's, these won't work with the newer Lectrosonics.

With only $1500 bucks per set to spend, it's not enough for Lectrosonic replacements. If you wanted to go with Lectrosonics, you would have to raise your spending limit.

The G3 is good for your money, but there are durability concerns. How good does the staff take care of their wireless now? The antennas are fixed, and not really field repairable. Most of the time, you have to send them back to the mothership. The cube has an XLR problem. It eats up the mic's XLR's. There is a thread about this problem, and don't know if the problem has been fixed. I have heard users breaking the LCD. Also, don't know the long term durability of the 3.5 mic connector. I did see a station go from G2's, back to 187's, but I never asked why. They use small cameras in the field.

For cost, the G3's are good for what you get. Most say upgrade the mic to something better. You can buy or have cables made to accept a mic or line level signal. The size is great if using small cameras. A neat trick with the G3's that you can use them as an IFB system. Never used one, but I guess you can control volume with the LED screen. Most users are happy with them, but wish they had Lectrosonics.

Overall, if your budget is only $1500 bucks per set, and you have to stay within it, and replace all wireless systems, go with the G3's. In the long run, they may cost you more for repairs, and time out of service. You would be able to have a few backups when problems happen. If you can mix, replace the bad ones with either G3's or Lectrosonics, depending on how much total money you can spend. I would send the ones that you are keeping to Lectrosonics for tune ups and updates.

Hope that helps

 

[zac love]

Well said Necktie Boy

Use the XLR to Lectro connector cable to save money on cubes.

I had two of these cables made for me. One mic level one line level (attenuator built into cable that is like -20db or -30db).

It is a little awkward to have the belt pack on a reporter & then a short cable (3-6') going to the hand held mic vs an actual cube, but not that tough to get used to and if it means you can go with Lectro I think it is a good choice.

Also I've read that the LMa performs nearly identically to the UM400a even though the listed power output is much lower. So that is another option to save a little money.

 

[2000lux]

Is any one using Zaxcom units? I see a lot of them in the field. When they first came out I don't think their reputation was great, but like Hyundai, they've probably gotten better.

The Sennheisers are ok. They just seem a little fragile to me. I always disconnect the mic and the output cables when I need to ship them, or just pack them away with other gear. I wouldn't recommend dropping them often either. They are much easier to change channels on than the Lectros though.

If you do buy just a few items to replace the broken ones, you might not want to give the new units to the shooters who are notorious for breaking gear...

Sennheisers may cost you more for repairs in the long run. You get what you pay for.

 

[svp]

I've had a Sennheiser G2 unit for five years now and the only issue I had was I had to replace the lav mic once because I'd leave it attached to the beltpack hanging and the inner cable at the phono plug finally broke on the inside from the stress. Otherwise no issues or repair costs so far. Stick working like a new unit.

 

[Land Rover]

Go with the Lectros. I've used the Sony's for the past 8 years and they really pretty good but I do miss the Lectrosonics I had before those. Nothing else I've used since then has had the clarity, durability and especially the range, that they did. I don't care for the Sennheiser. Very limited range, interference happened way too often and I didn't like the sound quality off it. They did work, just not as well as other systems I've used.

 

[Silverado61]

If you can finagle a way to get the Lectrosonics I would. I've used them since 1989(various models 187, 205 and 411) and they are great. I rarely had any trouble with them. We now have the Sennheiser EW 100 G3 and we have had to send in at least 4 of the 21 units we have for repairs. They work fine, but they don't seem to be as durable as the Lectrosonics.

 

[Run&Gun]

If you can swing it, go Lectro. I have five SR(a & b) dual-channel receivers, two 411A's, a retired 195 and the matching plug-on & belt-pack transmitters. There is no question that Lectro gear is built to be used in the field everyday. If they didn't last, I wouldn't have as much invested in them as I do(you could buy a nice car for the money I've spent on just wireless). That's the nice thing about being a freelancer who own's their own gear, you can pick what you want. I have two friends that shoot with "truck gear" provided by one of the largest mobile TV production co's in the country and they just replaced the wireless units for those two cameras(HDX-900's) with Sennheiser's and they hate them. Little tiny plastic receivers that look like belt packs on "homemade" brackets on the sides of the cameras with janky looking cables to go into the XLR connectors on the cam(I think it's a mini plug out of the receivers) and you have to open the side of the receiver up to get to the power button. And the range is not good and easily stepped-on by other RF equipment in close-proximity. In my opinion, a bush-league excuse for gear in network television, especially considering the size and resources available to this particular company. I will say that Sennheiser does have some high-end stuff, but I seriously doubt they would spend the money on it.

 

[valvashon]

Maintenance technician and satellite truck operator here-

I would look at getting some of your existing Lectrosonics gear evaluated and repaired. If it's the older 185/187 stuff that's on VHF frequencies, get a spectrum analyzer somehow (rent, borrow) and see if the assigned frequencies are clear. If they are Jerry at Jaycee Communications in NYC will do a good job of refurbishing the units. There are some components that do not age well and cause transmit power levels to drop. We did have to ditch some of our older gear because a low power VHF station signed on here in Seattle on RF channel 8. We sent Jerry one of the units we could still use and he tuned it up so now that it works great- the photographer it's assigned to loves it.

We also bought everybody a set of the Sennheiser G3 gear. It appears to be made of paper mache. There are some things that a reasonably equipped shop can repair but keep that shipping box handy- the cubes especially will be going in the shop quite often. If I was buying and knew what I know now, I would not purchase the Sennheiser gear.

Val