Reviews on Sennheiser EW300 series G1 Lapels for a shcool?

[lewisreid01]

As a school, we are looking at purchasing a set of used Sennheiser EW300 series G1 with the Lapels. They are said to be in working condition and come with the Antenna Distribution. I would like to know if anyone else uses these still and if they are actually any good in 2018? They are very cheap which is means we can afford them in our budget, but we are wondering if the price is low as they have a poor range or poor sound quality? We don't need massive range or the best sound quality as we are only a school at the end of the day. Currently we have 4 tranatec s4.04 and these are fine for our needs.

 

 

Thanks for any advice!

Lewis

[Simon Lewis]

First generation EW series must be ~ 15 years old now. The cases were much bigger than G2/G3/G4, and were heavy too. They were robust but large and harder to conceal. It's quite possible the sliding plastic cover which hid the adjustment buttons has become very loose or has fallen off. If it's the latter, the buttons themselves can get damaged. The LCD is a little hard to read.

Later versions have wider tuning range, pilot tone and (I believe) better radio frequency performance.

If you can view and try out these G1 units before buying, I'd take the opportunity. The mics may work OK, but in some senses are almost replaceable items but the ME2 does cost ~ £110. You can use third party mics with locking 3.5mm jacks though...

If it were me, the asking price would have to be very attractive indeed...

[paulears]

How many? I ask as the allocation they used to work in is much smaller, and you'll see atopic started today on even more pressure on that small amount of spectrum. You won't squeeze very many in to the legal chunk of shared spectrum.

 

To be honest though - I still have a few of these and the packs are stringer than G2 and 3, and as they're cast, they're pretty bomb proof. If you can fit them into the available spectrum, then I rather like them 0- despite the age.

[lewisreid01]

First generation EW series must be ~ 15 years old now. The cases were much bigger than G2/G3/G4, and were heavy too. They were robust but large and harder to conceal. It's quite possible the sliding plastic cover which hid the adjustment buttons has become very loose or has fallen off. If it's the latter, the buttons themselves can get damaged. The LCD is a little hard to read.

Later versions have wider tuning range, pilot tone and (I believe) better radio frequency performance.

 

If you can view and try out these G1 units before buying, I'd take the opportunity. The mics may work OK, but in some senses are almost replaceable items but the ME2 does cost ~ £110. You can use third party mics with locking 3.5mm jacks though...

 

If it were me, the asking price would have to be very attractive indeed...

 

We're looking at 8 units for £300 starting bid, but buy it now of £500 so we're interested if they go for near 300. As long as they turn on and work, the size or weight of receivers isn't much of an issue. Also I have been assured that all the Mics work, as I had seen that they cost £110 each.

 

How many? I ask as the allocation they used to work in is much smaller, and you'll see atopic started today on even more pressure on that small amount of spectrum. You won't squeeze very many in to the legal chunk of shared spectrum.

 

To be honest though - I still have a few of these and the packs are stringer than G2 and 3, and as they're cast, they're pretty bomb proof. If you can fit them into the available spectrum, then I rather like them 0- despite the age.

 

There are 8 in the listing, I have just asked about what frequencies they are on to be sure that they wont clash with the units we already have.

[TonyMitchell]

Definitely check the frequencies. If looked after, the kit can be good, as it was exceptionally well built. We still have a G1 550 twin RX with a couple of handhelds that still get occasional use, however can only be used on channel 70 now, which severely limits the events it can be used at, as channel 70 is non licensed, first come, first served, take what you get.

 

 

We did pick up a similar G2 unit cheaply a couple of years ago, which is in the same rack, the latter is nice as it goes down to channel 66 so can access the 830-832mhz that was added back as a freebie onto the channel 38 shared PMSE licence.

 

Together it is a useful 4-ch second rack that's good for outdoor countryside events where there's nothing much else RF happening.

 

All I would say, is don't pay over the odds for it.

[nmr]

G1 is 9volt batteries if I recall correctly, which for me is a deal breaker, personally wouldn't go for G1, (but then again I only have G3 stuff so that makes a difference to me) G2 is a good step up, but G3 stuff is much better from a usability stand point, IR sync and improved battery life makes life much easier.

 

Sound quality and range shouldn't be an issue with any of them though.

[Shez]

Big heavy packs. 9v batteries. You may not be able to use more than four of them together if the only legal range they tune to is ch.70. I think there's a reason they're very cheap.

[Simon Lewis]

From looking around, it seems that the G1 had the following bands:

Range A: 518 – 550 MHz,Range B: 630 – 662 MHz,Range C: 740 – 772 MHz,Range D: 790 – 822 MHz, Range E: 838 – 870 MHz.

If the proposed units are range E, then only channel 70 is any use, so only four units could potentially be used.Range C and D are illegal to use. Range A and B may be OK if you can arrange co-ordinated licences in your locality.

As you already have Trantec S4.04 (which I believe are channel 70) you may be snookered if they're Range A...

 

 

 

[Chappie]

Range C and D are illegal to use.

Just to clarify, range C and part of range D are still perfectly legal to use at the moment, with the relevant licence, although this will change come 2020.

[MarkBarl]

From looking around, it seems that the G1 had the following bands:

Range A: 518 – 550 MHz,Range B: 630 – 662 MHz,Range C: 740 – 772 MHz,Range D: 790 – 822 MHz, Range E: 838 – 870 MHz. If the proposed units are range E, then only channel 70 is any use, so only four units could potentially be used.Range C and D are illegal to use. Range A and B may be OK if you can arrange co-ordinated licences in your locality. As you already have Trantec S4.04 (which I believe are channel 70) you may be snookered if they're Range A...

 

As Simon points out, as you already have other Ch70 equipment, these probably won't be that helpful. On a good day, you can only get about 4 CH70 devices up and running. Although the Range A has buyable frequencies, as they are not included in the shared licence would probably be prohibitive to run. I would say that it is probably not worth it.

[Chappie]

Although the Range A has buyable frequencies, as they are not included in the shared licence would probably be prohibitive to run. I would say that it is probably not worth it.

Whilst it is certainly an extra expense that many educational institutes cannot run to, it isn't as expensive as many people think. Currently, a single frequency at a fixed site is £28 per year and a whole channel is £168. Whether this channel cost will rise as frequency density increases with new technology and revenues fall as a result, is another matter.

[Simon Lewis]

Range C and D are illegal to use.

Just to clarify, range C and part of range D are still perfectly legal to use at the moment, with the relevant licence, although this will change come 2020.

 

My mistake - I'm jumping the gun a little... ;-)

The G1 Range C (more or less covers channels 54 to 58) will indeed be OK until 2020.

Also, my last line should have read, "you may be snookered if they are Range E"

 

However, isn't the G1 Range D (channels 61 to 64) part of the cleared spectrum as a result of DSO and no longer available for wireless mics and IEMs from 31-12-12? I know the EU mandated access to the Duplex Band (823-832MHz) in ~ 2014, but this falls outside what the G1 range D can tune to?

G1 Range E starts well above the Duplex Band, so can only tune to free to use spectrum in channel 70.

 

The mics that the OP is looking at still appear to be a potentially poor purchase....

 

 

 

[Chappie]

However, isn't the G1 Range D (channels 61 to 64) part of the cleared spectrum as a result of DSO

Yes, you're right, my bad, it's only G2 and G3 that overlap into channel 60 and are therefore usable.

 

The other thing to know about G1 is that some parts are becoming end-of-line. I bought as many antenna as I could when I found out they weren't being made anymore.