Sennheiser G2 interference at DVinfo.net

Jeff Harper · November 9th, 2009, 09:58 AM

I used to run an old expensive Audio Technica wireless, rarely had interference issues. That has not been the case since I replaced the AT with the G2. How I regret selling the AT unit. I bought the G2 cause the AT didn't have a battery level indicator.

More often than not during an hour long ceremony I will get intermittent zzzz noises, interference noises. These are not other people breaking in, just loud static sounds and pops. I'm currently working on the only wedding where I have had no interference. Out of 40 or so weddings, that is a poor track record.

I'll set it up and it's fine, but the issues don't usually start till it's too late. The channel it's set on, the default, is supposed to be clear in my city.

Any thoughts as to what I can do? I'm not experienced with playing with the settings, but I'm willing to try.

Marco Leavitt · November 9th, 2009, 11:07 AM

There seem to be a lot of reports like this with the G2. Hard to know though, just how reliable the system is based on anecdotal evidence. For starters, I'd scan for opening frequencies. That could be a simple fix.

Don Bloom · November 9th, 2009, 11:18 AM

I'm using the AT dual channel and there are times that I get a similar noise but only on the grooms mic. I've tried everything and it seems that I finally found a freq that works. I have to think the noise is cells phones and the like because even when I do a sound check in a church I have no problem no matter what freq I'm on.
I have a tendency to run in the higher 600s and since I changed the grooms mic recently to a different freq I don't have the problem. I never had a problem with the mic I put on the lectern. Weird!

Perrone Ford · November 9th, 2009, 11:22 AM

"Clear in your city" doesn't mean clear in your location. ANYONE can hop onto unregulated channels just like you are doing. Could be the local city maintenance crews. Could be kids on walkie-talkies. Anything.

Wireless is a PITA, but sometimes it's the only way to go. There are clearly better wireless systems like the Lectrosonics diversity stuff, but as you are no doubt aware, the cost gets magnified in a big hurry.

One thing that is curious to me, is that you say this is happening at each wedding. So let me ask, are you turning your cell phone off? Or is it just on silent?

Shaun Roemich · November 9th, 2009, 11:34 AM

I don't own a G2 but a long time client does. I had FAR more issues with dropouts (regardless of channel) and noise with his G2 than I ever had with my Sony UWP-V1.

Jeff Harper · November 9th, 2009, 11:55 AM

I've lost the contact number of the guy I sold the old unit to, but I may drive the 50 miles to his home and work something out with him. The quality of the microphone was also vastly superior to the one with the G2.

Until then, I will try scanning, thanks for the tip. Perrone, I turn my phone off, thanks.

Jeff Kellam · November 9th, 2009, 12:22 PM

Have you sent the G2 back for service?

Mark Boyer · November 9th, 2009, 12:38 PM

What you are referring to is a "RF Hit" and due to the crowded UHF frequency no matter what you use from a Sennheiser up to a high end Lectrosonics unit will get the occasional RF hit. This can be due to: new digital TV broadcasts, Cell phones, PDAs, wireless internet routers, Walkie talkies, etc...

You have numerous solutions, purchase a high end diversity system, get a second unit on a VHS frequency (VHS was crowded before everyone sold them and moved to UHF), move your transmitter and receiver closer, keep the transmitter and receiver in a line of sight of each other (I would run a mic on the grooms backside and his body alone would block the receiver giving me a RF hit) or hard wire your mics and pack away the wireless units.

You need to arrive early enough at a shoot to scan the frequencies for a clear channel then announce to everyone that you will be using a wireless system and they need to power off (not just turn off the ringer) all cell phones.

This is what I have encountered: Set up before the wedding... everything is fine then after 300 guest arrive (approx 225 cell phones) I start getting RF hits.

Another solution is: I take a 50 foot xlr cord, plug it into my camera and run the wireless unit 50 feet up closer to the groom who is wearing the wireless transmitter, and make sure he has it placed on his side facing the receiver instead of his back side (remember line of sight),

Guy Cochran · November 9th, 2009, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Boyer

Another solution is: I take a 50 foot xlr cord, plug it into my camera and run the wireless unit 50 feet up closer to the groom who is wearing the wireless transmitter, and make sure he has it placed on his side facing the receiver instead of his back side (remember line of sight),

This is good advice. We do this even with the rackmount units over a live PA system in front of a crowd. Position the Receiver closer - then turn the Squelch up to HIGH. This will lower your effective range, yet be less apt to pickup stray RF because it is going to ignore more of it.

Jeff Harper · November 9th, 2009, 03:48 PM

Announcing that cell phones be turned off is a great idea...I will also stop the occasional placement on the grooms backside.

Marco Leavitt · November 10th, 2009, 03:34 PM

I don't think getting people to turn off their cell phones at a wedding is feasible. I guarantee you that people will put it on silent and think that's good enough. From my experience, it really only makes a difference if the offending phone is very close to the transmitter or the receiver. So make sure your phone is powered down as already pointed out, and when you mic the groom make him produce his phone so that you can verify that it is powered down.

Jeff Harper · November 10th, 2009, 04:02 PM

Thanks Marco, very good practical advice.

Elias Neris · November 22nd, 2009, 07:12 AM

I use to have a similar problem with my G2 I started to use rechargeable batteries and only used freshly charged 100% batteries that cleared it up for me.
I also turn off my cell phone.

Bruce Taylor · November 22nd, 2009, 02:52 PM

I don't own the G2 but there has been talk of fakes on the market, including some talk on Sennheiser's website itself. Might be a possibility. Otherwise, I've heard mostly good things about the Sennheisers.

As an alternative, the Sony units (UWP-V1, UWP-V2 and UWP-V6) apparently have metal bodies on all units (bodypack transmitter, plug-on transmitter and receiver) which - along with good radio design - would probably go some way to helping minimise interference issues, too.

Ray Jones · November 22nd, 2009, 04:35 PM

I went through the same thing. All I can say is good luck.

November 9th, 2009, 09:58 AM	#1
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Sennheiser G2 interference I used to run an old expensive Audio Technica wireless, rarely had interference issues. That has not been the case since I replaced the AT with the G2. How I regret selling the AT unit. I bought the G2 cause the AT didn't have a battery level indicator. More often than not during an hour long ceremony I will get intermittent zzzz noises, interference noises. These are not other people breaking in, just loud static sounds and pops. I'm currently working on the only wedding where I have had no interference. Out of 40 or so weddings, that is a poor track record. I'll set it up and it's fine, but the issues don't usually start till it's too late. The channel it's set on, the default, is supposed to be clear in my city. Any thoughts as to what I can do? I'm not experienced with playing with the settings, but I'm willing to try.

November 9th, 2009, 11:18 AM	#3
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	I'm using the AT dual channel and there are times that I get a similar noise but only on the grooms mic. I've tried everything and it seems that I finally found a freq that works. I have to think the noise is cells phones and the like because even when I do a sound check in a church I have no problem no matter what freq I'm on. I have a tendency to run in the higher 600s and since I changed the grooms mic recently to a different freq I don't have the problem. I never had a problem with the mic I put on the lectern. Weird! __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

November 9th, 2009, 11:22 AM	#4
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	"Clear in your city" doesn't mean clear in your location. ANYONE can hop onto unregulated channels just like you are doing. Could be the local city maintenance crews. Could be kids on walkie-talkies. Anything. Wireless is a PITA, but sometimes it's the only way to go. There are clearly better wireless systems like the Lectrosonics diversity stuff, but as you are no doubt aware, the cost gets magnified in a big hurry. One thing that is curious to me, is that you say this is happening at each wedding. So let me ask, are you turning your cell phone off? Or is it just on silent? __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

November 9th, 2009, 11:34 AM	#5
Shaun Roemich Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia (formerly Winnipeg, Manitoba) Canada Posts: 4,088	I don't own a G2 but a long time client does. I had FAR more issues with dropouts (regardless of channel) and noise with his G2 than I ever had with my Sony UWP-V1. __________________ Shaun C. Roemich Road Dog Media - Vancouver, BC - Videographer - Webcaster www.roaddogmedia.ca Blog: http://roaddogmedia.wordpress.com/

November 9th, 2009, 12:22 PM	#7
Jeff Kellam Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 656	Have you sent the G2 back for service? __________________ Panasonic HMC150/Canon A1/JVC HD1/Sony Vegas 8.0c

November 9th, 2009, 11:07 AM	#2
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	There seem to be a lot of reports like this with the G2. Hard to know though, just how reliable the system is based on anecdotal evidence. For starters, I'd scan for opening frequencies. That could be a simple fix.

November 9th, 2009, 11:55 AM	#6
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	I've lost the contact number of the guy I sold the old unit to, but I may drive the 50 miles to his home and work something out with him. The quality of the microphone was also vastly superior to the one with the G2. Until then, I will try scanning, thanks for the tip. Perrone, I turn my phone off, thanks.

November 9th, 2009, 12:38 PM	#8
Mark Boyer Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Bothell Washington Posts: 174	All wireless units get the RF hit blues What you are referring to is a "RF Hit" and due to the crowded UHF frequency no matter what you use from a Sennheiser up to a high end Lectrosonics unit will get the occasional RF hit. This can be due to: new digital TV broadcasts, Cell phones, PDAs, wireless internet routers, Walkie talkies, etc... You have numerous solutions, purchase a high end diversity system, get a second unit on a VHS frequency (VHS was crowded before everyone sold them and moved to UHF), move your transmitter and receiver closer, keep the transmitter and receiver in a line of sight of each other (I would run a mic on the grooms backside and his body alone would block the receiver giving me a RF hit) or hard wire your mics and pack away the wireless units. You need to arrive early enough at a shoot to scan the frequencies for a clear channel then announce to everyone that you will be using a wireless system and they need to power off (not just turn off the ringer) all cell phones. This is what I have encountered: Set up before the wedding... everything is fine then after 300 guest arrive (approx 225 cell phones) I start getting RF hits. Another solution is: I take a 50 foot xlr cord, plug it into my camera and run the wireless unit 50 feet up closer to the groom who is wearing the wireless transmitter, and make sure he has it placed on his side facing the receiver instead of his back side (remember line of sight),

November 9th, 2009, 03:48 PM	#10
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Announcing that cell phones be turned off is a great idea...I will also stop the occasional placement on the grooms backside.

November 10th, 2009, 03:34 PM	#11
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	I don't think getting people to turn off their cell phones at a wedding is feasible. I guarantee you that people will put it on silent and think that's good enough. From my experience, it really only makes a difference if the offending phone is very close to the transmitter or the receiver. So make sure your phone is powered down as already pointed out, and when you mic the groom make him produce his phone so that you can verify that it is powered down.

November 10th, 2009, 04:02 PM	#12
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Thanks Marco, very good practical advice.

November 22nd, 2009, 07:12 AM	#13
Elias Neris New Boot Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 14	I use to have a similar problem with my G2 I started to use rechargeable batteries and only used freshly charged 100% batteries that cleared it up for me. I also turn off my cell phone.

November 22nd, 2009, 02:52 PM	#14
Bruce Taylor New Boot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 24	I don't own the G2 but there has been talk of fakes on the market, including some talk on Sennheiser's website itself. Might be a possibility. Otherwise, I've heard mostly good things about the Sennheisers. As an alternative, the Sony units (UWP-V1, UWP-V2 and UWP-V6) apparently have metal bodies on all units (bodypack transmitter, plug-on transmitter and receiver) which - along with good radio design - would probably go some way to helping minimise interference issues, too.

November 22nd, 2009, 04:35 PM	#15
Ray Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Thomasville Georgia Posts: 25	I went through the same thing. All I can say is good luck.