Lavalier radio mic system recommendations sought

[tatster]

Hi all,

 

The church I am involved with is looking to replace an old VHF Toa lavalier radio mic, and are looking for suggestions. I realise that this topic has in general terms been covered before but there a couple of features that we would quite like that I haven't found specific details of.

 

The current TOA system's beltpack transmitter has an internal aerial so the only lead on it is the mic connection itself - are there manufacturers that make beltpacks in this way now or do they all have a short "wire" aerial poking out of the top?

 

Also, the other feature we would like to have if we can find such a system is some sort of transmitter battery indicator being shown on the receiver.

 

If anyone can point me in the direction of any such systems I would love to hear from you!

 

Budget-wise we are thinking around £400 but there's probably a bit of flexibility in that. Usage will be for 90% speech.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Anthony

[hounsome]

Look at Shure ULX or Sennhiser EW100 System (G2) with a ME2US head

 

Colin

[smalljoshua]

The current TOA system's beltpack transmitter has an internal aerial so the only lead on it is the mic connection itself - are there manufacturers that make beltpacks in this way now or do they all have a short "wire" aerial poking out of the top?

As far as I know most systems have a short aerial on them.

 

some sort of transmitter battery indicator being shown on the receiver

The EW100 Series doesn't have the remote battery indication on the receiver. The EW300 series does have this feature. It also has a dual colour screen to allow at a glance monitoring of the Mic's status.

 

The EW 312 G2 set is about £90 over your £400 budget though.

 

Josh

[Paul J Need]

We've just updated our Trantec S4000 systems with the S5.5 from trantec - smashing kit. A smidge over your budget so have a look at the the S5.3 which is very close to the S5.5 but with a few less features

 

Also worth looking at the Electrovoice RE-2 radios.

[Trunker]

If yu want the best buy for your money get Sennheiser 312 microphones. I use them all the time and have run them next to Trantec 5.5 mics on a show and there is no comparison. But it's up to you at the end of the day.

[pattonaudio]

If yu want the best buy for your money get Sennheiser 312 microphones. I use them all the time and have run them next to Trantec 5.5 mics on a show and there is no comparison. But it's up to you at the end of the day.

 

 

Any one hear of Ashton? they offer wireless systems for around £200

[Shez]

they offer wireless systems for around £200

 

You could buy a car for £200 if you looked around a bit. But would you really want to? Would you expect it to work reliably and well? I certainly wouldn't.

 

I'm afraid with radio mics £400 really is about the minimum you should be spending. Cheap radio mics are REALLY not worth it. I've seen (heard) the results of other people using them many times and it's just embarrassing. As has already been suggested, get the Sennheiser EW312 G2. I've got a couple and they just work. Period.

[pattonaudio]

they offer wireless systems for around £200

 

You could buy a car for £200 if you looked around a bit. But would you really want to? Would you expect it to work reliably and well? I certainly wouldn't.

 

I'm afraid with radio mics £400 really is about the minimum you should be spending. Cheap radio mics are REALLY not worth it. I've seen (heard) the results of other people using them many times and it's just embarrassing. As has already been suggested, get the Sennheiser EW312 G2. I've got a couple and they just work. Period.

 

 

so have you heard the ashton ones Shez? I know AKG sold the WMS400s for only £200 - £250 and they are compable to the senn 300's

[boswell]

I'm with Shez on this, never heard of or knowingly heard Ashton.

I've looked at the website and the product detail is poor, 16channel UHF is all they say, I couldn't find the manual to download.

No tech spec available so you don't know if they are legal in UK

They are an Austrailian company with a UK base. Radio mics seem to be a very small part of the range, the main product is guitars so I would assume that they are rebadging someone elses wireless mics. They are for sale in the UK for around £140-160.

I think you get what you pay for! You could be better getting a cheap Senn off Ebay, at least it might have been cloned from a decent make!

[stagemanagement]

I'm sorry, but the AKG's WMS400 is NOT comparable to the Sennheiser EW312 - If your ears reckon that they are, then it would, in my opinion, indicate the need for a visit to an audiologist!!

 

As recommended, find the extra money and buy an EW300 series from Sennheiser; they are robust and deliver a quality reproduction for the costs involved, to get significantly better would require an almost doubling of budget. To spend slighlty less will no doubt lead t a product less than half as good.

 

As for the cable and mic, you have multiple options with the TRS input on the EW series. I have the SK 3000 series of rad's fromSennheiser and I prefer the combination of the KA 100 steel cable (beige or anthracite) and the ME 100 (beige, silver or anthracite) capsule. I find the reproduction is as good as the MKE-4-2-C, but the cost is almost £90 less!!

And if they're good enough for SKY and the BBC......

[Trunker]

they offer wireless systems for around £200

 

You could buy a car for £200 if you looked around a bit. But would you really want to? Would you expect it to work reliably and well? I certainly wouldn't.

 

I'm afraid with radio mics £400 really is about the minimum you should be spending. Cheap radio mics are REALLY not worth it. I've seen (heard) the results of other people using them many times and it's just embarrassing. As has already been suggested, get the Sennheiser EW312 G2. I've got a couple and they just work. Period.

 

Yep I am with Shez. I am a big fan of mics that you plug in and you get a good sound from them straight away. Sennheiser 312's do this! This means you are winning straight away. Using 12 on a show this week and cannot fault them and as I said own Sennheiser 312's.

[tatster]

Thanks for all the input so far - it's been great to guage real life views on the EW312's and these do seem to be the most popular.

 

Have done some specific searching for this model I have found I can get one for £449 inc VAT & Delivery which I'm hoping with be doable with a bit of budget flexibility......now to talk to our treasurer!

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

Anthony

[dunk_1984]

it's been great to guage real life views on the EW312's and these do seem to be the most popular.

 

Just to point out the 312's and 322's are the same kits just different capsule.

[tatster]

it's been great to guage real life views on the EW312's and these do seem to be the most popular.

 

Just to point out the 312's and 322's are the same kits just different capsule.

 

Yep, spotted that one - and the site with the best price I've found on the 312's with the Omni capsule have the 322's and the cardiod capsule for only a tenner more.

[Bobbsy]

so have you heard the ashton ones Shez? I know AKG sold the WMS400s for only £200 - £250 and they are compable to the senn 300's

 

You seem to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the AKG radio mic system, possibly due to the fact that you rent them. Back on April 5 of this year you posted:

 

I am new to the forum, and have updated my profile info for those who are intrested. I just started my own PA Hire company, and am looking to buy some new wireless mics, am thinking about the AKG WMS 400/450 lavs and want to know what you guys thought of these compare to the Sennheiser stuff.

 

think the WMS 400's are a bargin at £165 but not sure what the performace, etc is like and is it possible to use more than 16 for a show?

 

Then, after ten days of posts saying the AKG mics you had asked about weren't in the same league as Sennheiser, you posted:

 

Thanks for all the posts! I have 12 AKG WMS400s at the min, all in one rack with signal and power distro from wms4000, to be honest I can not fault the lavi system for the price! the handhelds on the other hand (pardon the pun) are crap compared to the sennis, the akg have a switch on the mic that is too easy accessed by performers, the sennis have it figured out by putting it at the bottom, and beofre you all start I know that they are not the only brand to do this!

 

Plans are now to keep the AKG system and still make a tidy sum from it, but to invest in a senni evo500 prob 24 of them and some nice lavs (suggestions welcome).

 

The above implies both that, despite your original post, you had owned the AKG kit all along and also that you feel there is considerably better stuff out there but that you intended to keep renting the AKGs out.

 

All that aside, it is wrong to put the AKG WMS400 mics in the same league as the Sennheiser Evo 300s. While they might work if you can't afford better, spending more money will get better equipment. If you do a BR search on the AKG mics you will find several topics from people having problems---and some others urging caution when buying because the standard units cannot be tuned to the licence free UK frequencies--you can only use them if you pay extra to JFMG for the licence.

 

Finally, there's a truism about radio mics that I trot out every year or two: you can pay anything up to a couple of thousand pounds for a radio mic system that will be almost..but not quite...as good as a £10 cable. You get what you pay for...spend what you can.

 

Bob