Sennheiser G2 Lavalier picking up background sounds?
 

My new Sennheiser G2 wireless mics seem to be picking up WAY too much background noise. When I hold it to my chest pointed up, I can hear guys talking 5 feet away, PLUS all sorts of background din from busy halls.

The mic does have the little foam ball that it comes with. I tried changing the sensitivity from anywhere from -20 to 0, all the same. Manual mic levels on the FX1 were fiddled with to no avail.

I thought lavs were really good at selectively rejecting anything not directly above.

Is that just the way it is supposed to be?

Lav mics are omni-directional, with a few exceptions. This is why it's possible to mic only the groom at a wedding, and get the vows from all three without issue. It's really no different than using a boom.

Well, in some respects. But mics generally chosen for boom work are highly directional, shotguns and hypercardioids, not omni. If you're booming two people standing facing each other talking back and forth, you don't just split the middle and point the mic down vertically in between. That would place both speaker's mouths well to the side of the mic pattern. Instead, the boom operator follows the flow of the conversation, aiming the mic directly at the first speaker's throat, then shifting it to aim at the other person, then back again as the conversation moves along. Splitting it down the middle with a stationary mic would mean that neither talent is ever actually properly "on-mic."

I knew that comparison would get me into trouble... and yes, I am familiar with the mics used for booming, and techniques. It wasn't the best comparison.

Lavs for sound recording are generally omnidirectional as these minimise the impact of the talent turning their head or other movement between the source and mic. As you have noticed, they pick up other sound but the proximity of the source should mean that it is much louder than the background noise. Cardioid lavs are available and are often used for sound reinforcement as you can drive the gain a little harder before getting feedback. However, they need more careful placement and are only significantly directional at low frequencies, so the benefits are marginal.

N

I was pretty sure you were aware - just wanted to make sure some of our readers didn't get the wrong idea.

Vows from all three? Perrone, what kind of weddings are you shooting? :)

Marco! LOL!

Squelch?
 

I'm no expert at all, but would adjusting the squelch and setting up closer to the person mic'd up help out?