Need Some Advice
 

Hey all. I am currently looking for an affordable, quality wireless mic setup to use for interviews. I will need the microphone to work with the XLH1 and have good quality in loud, club-like atmospheres. I am not very familiar with sound, and I don't really even know where to start. I've been looking around on B&H but I don't know what any of the specifications mean. Any clarification or suggestions would be great.

Preferably hand-held setup that would run straight into the XLH1. Looking to spend around $200.

Thanks!

The least expensive quality wireless gear out there is the Sennheiser G2 kit, and the new G3 gear that's coming out in July. That starts in the $500-600 range.

Anthony,

I agree that the Sennheiser units are the lowest quality you want to start with. However, you say you want it to sound good in a loud club venue. Ain't goin' to happen. If you get the standard handheld mic, it has a cardioid polar pattern. That means it will reject some of the sound around you, but really not very much. You could get the "butt plug" that allows you to use any handheld mic and get a mic with a hypercardioid pattern that would reject even more of the sound around you. That would cost you a lot more, and still would sound like you were in a loud club trying to scream over the music.

Have fun!

Rob

That should probably read '...the Sennheiser units are the HIGHEST quality you want to start with...'! The all ew handheld transmitters have unidirectional, not omni capsules! The standard lavs for the bodypack transmitters are omni, but cardioid and/or headworn alternatives are also available in standard set configurations. There are sets for virtually any application. Check out their website at:
Sennheiser USA - evolution G3 Series

The Sennheiser EW series is not a good solution for your plans. My experience with them is that they don't cope well with noisy, fluctuating backgrounds, especially where low frequencies are abundant - they have these obnoxious tendency to 'pump' - don't know how else to describe it.
They do the same when used inside cars for example, with the engine running. Compared with a Lectro 400 series system (yes, there is a price difference) the sound you'll be getting is quite different - Lectro's are vastly superior.

As a side note, the 'lavs' that come with the Sennheiser EW package needs to be replaced pronto with something better. (Same with the one's coming with a Lectro package - but buyers of Lectro's know that while buyer's of the lowly EW package tend to be new to the game.)

Buying a second hand Lectro system is the way to go. Plus, Lectrosonic's customer support is the best I've ever experienced with any company.

Easy, overdub in post. No other way it get it to cut through a crowd professionally if it's really loud. Get a cheapy to hear what you want to say, and dub over it, and put the cheap one soft for ambiance.

You need to be more specific... Are you doing a interview between club patrons and the MC?

I would use a plug-on wireless using a good hand held mic. Something that is passed between the interviewer and the guests Also it will need to have limited pickup range and Hypercardioid pattern mic - not a shotgun. Also using a handheld vocal mic you can also use an XLR cord as backup if the wireless unit goes down (this option is not available to most lavalires).

Uwe,

No, I meant that I would not go with anything cheaper than the Sennhesier G2 units. Something more expensive would be better (though still wouldn't be great in this setting). So I would not go with quality any LOWER than the Sennheiser units.

Secondly, as my post stated, the handheld mics in the G2 series have a CARDIOID polar pattern. That is somewhat directional, but still won't ignore the din of sound in a club. I would venture to say that no matter how much money is spent, good sound for an interview is not to be had in a noisy club.

Just my $.02.

Have fun!

Rob