Need Help Purchasing Mics for the Outdoors
 

Question for you fellow outdoor guys. Like a lot of other people, I have to replace my wireless mics. We have a fishing show. Before I buy, what wireless mics are you guys using in the outdoors? Looking at the Senn. G3. Don't let me down- I posted this in audio and got no responses I value your opinions!

Folks I know took the Sennheiser to Madagascar for documentaries about lemurs. I've not heard about problems.

Can't help with wireless mics. I am soon going to evaluate the Sennheiser wireless ones. How far will you be from the subject?

If the distance is not far, then you can try using a super cardiod. I have a Sennheiser MKH 416 and it sounds good. If you have a local store, then you can test.

Tony, I use the sennheiser ew-112 g3 lavalier system. For wildlife this is nice as you can mount the lavalier and the transmitter near the action, while you are hiding in a blind. I have not tested how long the reach is, but I have recorded good sound about 50 meters from where I was hiding.
Note that you should protect the transmitter from humidity by using some sort of weather protection. I often use a ordinary plastic bag. Also use a wind protection on the lavalier.

Tony,

I use a wireless in a couple ways. When in a blind I have set out a shotgun mic attached to the wireless transmitter always in a dead cat. I then use a shotgun in a blimp outside the blind with xlr cord to camera. so far I have not had the wireless mic more than 40 yards from the receiver and it worked fantastic. I have used the 100 light, pretty reasonably priced.

When putting the mic on a person for outdoors shooting I usually have to deal with wind and having it rub on clothing which is even worse. The foam cover is particularly noisey so I made a tiny fur cover for it and while it doesn't block heavy wind it does cut out a huge amount of rubbing if that happens.

Wish I had confirmed answers!!! I am open to suggestions along this line too!!!


dale

Can someone confirm how far from the lavalier the bird has to perch and sing for the sound to be effectively recorded? That would help my decision about wireless lavaliers? I hope the lavalier wont be too directional?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Now that is a great idea. A little fur cover for the wearable mic. I need to make one for mine now.

Sabyasachi, you should put it as near the object as possible. If you want to record birds hide it in the branch where the bird use to sit. Near a feeding station would be perfect. Remember that they are made for recording sound near by, like from a talking head. So you will get best results putting them as near as possible!
I think most of the lavs are omnidirectional or cardiod, so they will take up all sound from the surroundings no matter of direction.
I got good results combining a lavalier with shotgun mics.
ALWAYS use headphones to monitor the sound recording!

I am actually planning for a specific project where I would be using the lavalier. I hope the bird would normally sit near the lavalier, about 6-7 inches to a feet away. I am not sure, how it will work out. If the lavalier works well, then I will record from it.

Am wondering, if it will be a good idea to attach my Sennheiser 416 to a wireless and place it nearby. Since I can ensure that the placement is about 1-2 feet away from the bird, it may work better?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Well 6-7 inches doesn't seem to far away, but again the only way to find out is to try this one out. Remember to monitor the recording with good earphones!
I'm not familiar with the 416 but I'm using Sennheiser ME-67 with great success. They are connected to my camcorder which feed them with 48V phantom power through a 25 feet cable.

What kind of camcorder do you planning to use?

No shotgun, no matter how good will be as good as a microphone placed very near the subject. Since this is a fairly specialized application, I would use a remote microphone. Does it have to be wireless? Could you run a long run of wire? If wireless you can still use a shotgun of course, but most wireless transmitters don't supply phantom power. You may be able to get a directional lavaliere on a wireless transmitter. That will help some with ambient noise.

Well, a combination will be the best choice IMHO.

A lavalier will pick up sound from the object (the bird), but it's also important to have the surrounding sound (ambient sound) which I found that the shotguns do very well!

Just a thought...

Why replace the mics?
If you are being moved to a different band, then just replace the transmitters and receiver?

Ben