Battery Life in Sennheiser Ev 500 Wireless
 

I have a couple Sennheiser Evolution 500 wireless mic sets.

I have used them about a dozen times. When I have a whole day of use, I put new batteries in first thing and again at lunch. If it's just a few hours, I use a new battery too. No problems yet.

Am I throwing my money away? How long will new Duracell or Eveready alkaline batteries last in these? I don't want to find out the hard way, but I don't want to toss money out the window either.

Thanks,

Mike

You're playing it just a little safe. But "better safe than sorry" as they say.
For me, 5 hours is life of a battery on a true diversity UHF system. I'm sure I'm tossing money away too, but I'd rather lose a few pennies than miss the audio. I can't count the times I've screwed up in earlier years past and not changed out batteries. The 3.00 battery has cost me a lot more than 3.00 in frustration from degraded audio, both as a recordist and as a performer on stage.

I mark and save my partially used batteries for testing, practice and rehearsal sessions, then discard them after that use.
Store the 9-volts so their contacts can't short against anything conductive, including other batteries. Shorting them can easily kill them in less than 30 seconds. I always have to shake my head at the person with a sandwich bag of loose 9-volts that can't figure out why most of them are low or dead.

Lithium 9v cells are the only way to go for wireless mics today. They cost only a bit more than "retail" alkalines and will last up to 6 times as long.

Their discharge curve also makes them ideal for wireless use as they hold their average "resting" voltage longer (and higher) over their lifetime while alkalines tend to "fade away" as they age.

BTW: Duracell Procell's are the worst 9v. cells made. They have less capacity than any other 9v cell. If you want to use Alkalines use EV's standard #522 cell.

George

George: I'm curious as to where you got that information.
I have always been wondering what the difference between normal Duracell and Duracell Procell is. The Duracell Procells seem a little more expensive from what I've seen.

I use lithiums to power a Sound Devices Mixpre
and have found that their used voltage is more
than the voltage of unused regular alkalines.
Also, my flash recycling times with lithium
are half what they are with alkalines.

Glenn:

Well, I tested them for one and I also have a chart around somewhere that shows the capacity of all batteries. Procell is the lowest for the 9v. alkalines and my tests bear that out.

It's all hype. They sell these as "professional" batteries and companies buy them like hotcakes. When I used to rent wireless mics they would come with half a dozen Procells. Why would I need half a dozen for one day??

Lithium, lithium, lithium...

George

Ok that's good to know. It seems like the Procells are just a scam then...

Thanks for the info on the batteries
 

Thanks for the info on the batteries.

I have ordered 20 lithium 9v and I'll give them a shot.

Prices seem to vary wildly. Many places on the web were charging $6-8 per battery. The least expensive I found was $4.08. The order should be here in a few days.

Cheers,

Mike

Why not try the Powerex rechargeable 9V batteries ? Although they don't
last as long as alkaline or lithium, you can at least be sure that your batteries are fully-charged before each event. All you have to do is time how long they
last and run a stop watch. I guess such an approach is more for people like me that are concerned about the waste from several batteries each event.
I don't have a lot of experience with these batteries, but at least I am no longer trying to scrounge my partially-used 9V alkalines.