Holy Smoke! AT 1800

Dean Sensui · March 13th, 2007, 10:09 PM

Ty...

I no longer use a Firestore as I had to give it up for a few reasons. One of the reasons was the RF problem.

Interesting there's a problem with the Sound Devices recorder. As I'd mentioned, I also noticed a noise problem with a LaCie external drive when doing a test. It's the hard drive. These things spew quite a bit of RF noise when spinning and especially when writing data.

The x-version I have operates at 656.125-668.500 MHz. Yours operates at 728.125-740.500 MHz.

Maybe the different band might make a difference but I'd guess probably not. The RF noise these hard drives emit are very broadband.

I wonder if the really expensive wireless systems filter out this interference better than th eless expensive ones?

Other than the rare instance of RF interference, I found all the AT units to be the next best thing to a hardwired mic at reasonable distances.

Neil McLean · March 18th, 2007, 05:18 AM

Can anyone please confirm whether or not you hear the click when you mute the AT1800 beltpack?

I've got the AT892 microset and was gonna buy their AWT-RMS1 remote mute switch.

If someone can convince me the AT1800 series system beltpack mute switch wouldn't be heard via an auditorium loudspeaker system, I'd more than likely go down this route.

TIA
Neil

Dean Sensui · March 18th, 2007, 10:31 PM

Neil...

The muting at the transmitter end is absolutely silent. And if you turn off the transmitter there's no "hash" noise since the squelch seems to handle that instantly.

But if you turn off the receiver there's a click.

Neil McLean · March 19th, 2007, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean Sensui

Neil...

The muting at the transmitter end is absolutely silent. And if you turn off the transmitter there's no "hash" noise since the squelch seems to handle that instantly.

But if you turn off the receiver there's a click.

Thanks for that Dean.

Your feedback has been very useful.

Neil

Toenis Liivamaegi · April 8th, 2007, 08:58 AM

Is the output from the ATW 1800 receiver usable with stereo mini jack mic input on low end camcorders?
Another thing is that is the 1800 system usable all over the world (there are at least C and D bands)?

As far as I know two wireless channels on ATW 1800 can be mixed together to one output channel of the receiver so it is possible to use third wired mic additionally.

Is all that doable with the standard mini jack input on camcorder too or in other words does the mini jack mic input on consumer camcorder take the balanced output from the receiver? Can the mini XLR be terminated to do so?

Thanks in advance,
T

Jason Strongfield · April 8th, 2007, 09:09 AM

any sound quality comparison between the AT 1800 vs the sennheiser G2 yet ?

Dean Sensui · April 8th, 2007, 06:21 PM

"Is the output from the ATW 1800 receiver usable with stereo mini jack mic input on low end camcorders?"

The input on the camera has to be able to take in a mic-level input. And you will need to convert or adapte the XLR connector to a 1/8" connnector.

"As far as I know two wireless channels on ATW 1800 can be mixed together to one output channel of the receiver so it is possible to use third wired mic additionally."

You can combine outputs on the ATW 1800 so that it mixes both inputs to a single cable, but to get another mic to feed your camera you're going to need a mixer. The ATW 1800 won't allow a third input.

"Another thing is that is the 1800 system usable all over the world."

You'd have to check each country's frequency listing to find out whether you can use a particular wireless mic system there. The mic manufacturers usually have a list available for the asking.

Chris Medico · April 15th, 2007, 09:14 PM

OK.. Just ordered this setup myself.

Based on seeing comments regarding the stock lav is there a consensus yet on the best mic element to use?

Chris

Chris Medico · April 18th, 2007, 08:03 PM

Hey DSE,

I have a question.

I got my AT1800 setup today. I connected it to my V1 and everything works fine. The question I have though is the unit seems to have some background white noise. It is coming from the receiver regardless of any incoming signal from either channel. I've been able to minimize it by turning up the mic output on the receiver and reduce the gain on the input of the V1. If I turn the V1's AGC on it becomes MUCH more noticeable (as I would have expected). The inputs are set for MIC level. I can even hear it over the headphone jack on the receiver.

Does your setup exhibit the same thing?

I've used my friends Lectrosonic setup and it doesn't do this at all. Dead silent.

I know we are talking about apples and oranges here when it comes to class of equipment between the AT and the Lec. If this is the way it is OK. Just wanting to know if I have a problem.

Mike Altman · March 26th, 2008, 11:49 AM

How are your AT 1800 transmitters holding up after about a year? That's the length of the warranty. Any issues with the belt clips or any little pieces of plastic breaking? Do they make a sleeve for the transmitters? I wish they were built like the metal casing of the dual receiver along with the sturdier clip.

Dean Sensui · March 26th, 2008, 12:08 PM

So far I've had no problems with the mics and they're still delivering good audio.

AT does have a sturdy plastic sleeve to help weatherproof them, although they're a little too short if you tried to roll them up with the velcro seal. The antenna would have to be folded down to allow the sleeve to be folded shut.

Instead I seal up the opening with a piece of duct tape and that works well.

Ty Ford · March 26th, 2008, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

Hey DSE,

I have a question.

I got my AT1800 setup today. I connected it to my V1 and everything works fine. The question I have though is the unit seems to have some background white noise. It is coming from the receiver regardless of any incoming signal from either channel. I've been able to minimize it by turning up the mic output on the receiver and reduce the gain on the input of the V1. If I turn the V1's AGC on it becomes MUCH more noticeable (as I would have expected). The inputs are set for MIC level. I can even hear it over the headphone jack on the receiver.

Does your setup exhibit the same thing?

I've used my friends Lectrosonic setup and it doesn't do this at all. Dead silent.

I know we are talking about apples and oranges here when it comes to class of equipment between the AT and the Lec. If this is the way it is OK. Just wanting to know if I have a problem.

Might just be a mute that Lectro has. The AT folks are very attentive to phone calls. Call Ohio and ask to talk to their wireless mic dept.

Regards,

Ty

Douglas Spotted Eagle · March 26th, 2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Altman

How are your AT 1800 transmitters holding up after about a year? That's the length of the warranty. Any issues with the belt clips or any little pieces of plastic breaking? Do they make a sleeve for the transmitters? I wish they were built like the metal casing of the dual receiver along with the sturdier clip.

no issues here at all. The metal case would be nice, but it's not an issue for us, even though we're pretty damn hard on our gear.

Chris Medico · March 26th, 2008, 07:20 PM

No problems here. Once I figured out that I needed to put the audio gain in manual I've not had white noise issues on tape. The V1 gains up a LOT and that was causing my audio hiss.

The only thing I've done is lost the mic clip. I've gotten around it by using a clip from a audio headset. Fits pretty well actually.

Jack Walker · March 26th, 2008, 08:54 PM

What mics ship with the Body Pack Transmitter versions of the 1800 wireless set?

Is it the AT830 (that looks a bit like a Tram)?

Thanks!

March 13th, 2007, 10:09 PM	#31
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	Ty... I no longer use a Firestore as I had to give it up for a few reasons. One of the reasons was the RF problem. Interesting there's a problem with the Sound Devices recorder. As I'd mentioned, I also noticed a noise problem with a LaCie external drive when doing a test. It's the hard drive. These things spew quite a bit of RF noise when spinning and especially when writing data. The x-version I have operates at 656.125-668.500 MHz. Yours operates at 728.125-740.500 MHz. Maybe the different band might make a difference but I'd guess probably not. The RF noise these hard drives emit are very broadband. I wonder if the really expensive wireless systems filter out this interference better than th eless expensive ones? Other than the rare instance of RF interference, I found all the AT units to be the next best thing to a hardwired mic at reasonable distances. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

March 18th, 2007, 10:31 PM	#33
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	Neil... The muting at the transmitter end is absolutely silent. And if you turn off the transmitter there's no "hash" noise since the squelch seems to handle that instantly. But if you turn off the receiver there's a click. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

April 8th, 2007, 08:58 AM	#35
Toenis Liivamaegi Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tartu, Estonia Posts: 579	Few questions about ATW1800 for documentary audio Is the output from the ATW 1800 receiver usable with stereo mini jack mic input on low end camcorders? Another thing is that is the 1800 system usable all over the world (there are at least C and D bands)? As far as I know two wireless channels on ATW 1800 can be mixed together to one output channel of the receiver so it is possible to use third wired mic additionally. Is all that doable with the standard mini jack input on camcorder too or in other words does the mini jack mic input on consumer camcorder take the balanced output from the receiver? Can the mini XLR be terminated to do so? Thanks in advance, T

April 8th, 2007, 06:21 PM	#37
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	"Is the output from the ATW 1800 receiver usable with stereo mini jack mic input on low end camcorders?" The input on the camera has to be able to take in a mic-level input. And you will need to convert or adapte the XLR connector to a 1/8" connnector. "As far as I know two wireless channels on ATW 1800 can be mixed together to one output channel of the receiver so it is possible to use third wired mic additionally." You can combine outputs on the ATW 1800 so that it mixes both inputs to a single cable, but to get another mic to feed your camera you're going to need a mixer. The ATW 1800 won't allow a third input. "Another thing is that is the 1800 system usable all over the world." You'd have to check each country's frequency listing to find out whether you can use a particular wireless mic system there. The mic manufacturers usually have a list available for the asking. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

April 15th, 2007, 09:14 PM	#38
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	OK.. Just ordered this setup myself. Based on seeing comments regarding the stock lav is there a consensus yet on the best mic element to use? Chris __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

March 18th, 2007, 05:18 AM	#32
Neil McLean Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: U.K. Posts: 125	Can anyone please confirm whether or not you hear the click when you mute the AT1800 beltpack? I've got the AT892 microset and was gonna buy their AWT-RMS1 remote mute switch. If someone can convince me the AT1800 series system beltpack mute switch wouldn't be heard via an auditorium loudspeaker system, I'd more than likely go down this route. TIA Neil

April 8th, 2007, 09:09 AM	#36
Jason Strongfield Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: USA Posts: 195	any sound quality comparison between the AT 1800 vs the sennheiser G2 yet ?

April 18th, 2007, 08:03 PM	#39
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	Hey DSE, I have a question. I got my AT1800 setup today. I connected it to my V1 and everything works fine. The question I have though is the unit seems to have some background white noise. It is coming from the receiver regardless of any incoming signal from either channel. I've been able to minimize it by turning up the mic output on the receiver and reduce the gain on the input of the V1. If I turn the V1's AGC on it becomes MUCH more noticeable (as I would have expected). The inputs are set for MIC level. I can even hear it over the headphone jack on the receiver. Does your setup exhibit the same thing? I've used my friends Lectrosonic setup and it doesn't do this at all. Dead silent. I know we are talking about apples and oranges here when it comes to class of equipment between the AT and the Lec. If this is the way it is OK. Just wanting to know if I have a problem. __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

March 26th, 2008, 11:49 AM	#40
Mike Altman New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii Posts: 20	How are your AT 1800 transmitters holding up after about a year? That's the length of the warranty. Any issues with the belt clips or any little pieces of plastic breaking? Do they make a sleeve for the transmitters? I wish they were built like the metal casing of the dual receiver along with the sturdier clip.

March 26th, 2008, 12:08 PM	#41
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	So far I've had no problems with the mics and they're still delivering good audio. AT does have a sturdy plastic sleeve to help weatherproof them, although they're a little too short if you tried to roll them up with the velcro seal. The antenna would have to be folded down to allow the sleeve to be folded shut. Instead I seal up the opening with a piece of duct tape and that works well. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

March 26th, 2008, 07:20 PM	#44
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	No problems here. Once I figured out that I needed to put the audio gain in manual I've not had white noise issues on tape. The V1 gains up a LOT and that was causing my audio hiss. The only thing I've done is lost the mic clip. I've gotten around it by using a clip from a audio headset. Fits pretty well actually. __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

March 26th, 2008, 08:54 PM	#45
Jack Walker Trustee Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burbank Posts: 1,811	What mics ship with the Body Pack Transmitter versions of the 1800 wireless set? Is it the AT830 (that looks a bit like a Tram)? Thanks!