Although I have filmed weddings for over 30 years, I have never used a radio mic at one. I have a radio mic kit with a mains powered receiver for my live music work and have often used that for schools recordings, where I am working with fixed cameras and mains power.

I have used small portable recorders for a while, but have avoided wireless because of the worries of clashing with Church and venue systems. A few days ago I say a cheap BOYA system advertised on eBay from a UK supplier and the couple of reviews that I saw on YouTube seemed to belie the cheap price. There were a number of different eBay listings from apparently the same supplier at varying prices on buy it now, auction and place bid type listings. The cheapest one was £45.95 new, so I put in a bid of £50 thinking that if it is rubbish ( which is really what I expected) I could find another use for it.

I was pleased to find 15 hours later that I was the only bidder, so it cost me the £45.95 only. It arrived this morning, 24 hours later, and I tentatively added batteries and plugged it in. Well you could knock me down with a feather, not only was it a very useable quality from the included lav mic, the system itself is extremely quiet, way better than my mains powered system. The receiver has a plastic hot/cold shoe fitting and a connecting lead to the camera mic input, which fits a 3.5mm stereo input, which works with all my cameras. The transmitter, is the same size as the receiver, about 4x3x 0.5 inches and has a belt clip instead of shoe fitting and the supplied mic has a 3.5mm tip and 2 ring plug.

Both receiver and transmitter have a 3.5mm headphone socket for a standard tip and ring stereo plug and they both have a headphone volume control. There is also a low cut switch for the mic signal. Surprisingly and very usefully, not only can you monitor the incoming mic signal, on the receiver, there is also a simple plastic single earpiece with a tiny mic built into the cable, so if you are filming someone that you need to give instruction to, you have an instant 2 way talkback built in. You could also use it as a wireless talkback system if you weren't using it to film. The mic/headphone socket on the receiver is a tip and two ring type, so it is quite likely that a cheap combined throat mic and headset would also work. All of my earpiece and enclosed headphones, even my senheisers work well with it, but I haven't got a mic headset system to try that.

How it stands up to the rigours of working in an environment with other radio systems I don't know yet, but even if there is cross interference, there are still many occasions when I am filming away from other systems that it will be useful. At the moment I have only used it indoors from one end of the house to the other through 3 brick walls with no signal loss, so I am reasonably hopeful.

Roger

At least BOYA make something that works! I'm happy for you Roger! I looked at their 2.4GHz wireless setup (mainly because I'm a real cheapskate) but after reading a few reviews that said the system seldom worked I dropped it and stuck with the Audio Technica and Rode 2.4GHz systems.

Are those units UHF??? and are they using frequencies that would be legal in most countries? I often see wireless systems offered that use the 700-800 Mhz bands down here and we were stopped using that frequency range on 1st January 2015 yet dealers still seem to openly sell the kits ??

I would be interested in how it stands up in a practical on site test as I need to replace my Azdens

Chris

Chris I found this link for the product.

BY-WM5 - BOYA AUDIO EQUIPMENT CO.,LTD (http://www.boya-mic.com/products/show-389.html)

Hi Mervyn

Yep that's the one I looked at .. I also found some guys having issues with the same unit that's why I questioned Roger regarding whether it was UHF or 2.4Ghz ... There were a few reports of the unit dropping out when other 2.4GHz units are working and as I'm sure you are aware, it's the same band that most smartphones use as well as wifi

The AT and Rode systems also use the same band but then again they are a LOT more expensive!! Around $450.00 here

It will be interesting to see how Roger's unit works in the field!

Chris

Hi Chris,

Just got back from walking the dog! Mine are the Boya BY-WM5 and they work on the 2.4Ghz band, 2405-2478 MHz. I've no idea yet how they will work in the field, but if I get a chance today to get out with Claire and the new camera on the next dog walk, we'll try a test recording and also try the talkback facility.

The spec shows RF output at 5mw, distortion at 0 1% or less and signal to noise at 76dB or more, which seem pretty good at the price. All leads, and cables are included and the TX and RX take two AAA batteries each which they suggest should last 3.5-4 hrs.

Roger

Took the Boya to the park on the FZ1000 with the mic and TX on Claire and with the talkback mic and earpiece on the receiver. Had no dropout or loss of signal at all up to about 100ft, with some dropout starting above that. Claire's TX was in her bag, so probably would have given a bit more range if on her waste band. Even so, I consider a clean 100ft range to be more than adequate for all my needs.

The signal to noise also remained constant and the mic sound was always crisp and clear. I thought I was hearing some background hiss, but it turned out to be the breeze in the trees and a close main road.

The included plastic earpieces are not very comfortable and fall out easily, but would be very cheap and easy to replace with something more comfortable. The talkback facility is very clear and we were having a perfectly normal conversation even when we were well away from normal hearing distance. It was very easy to just ask Claire to turn, stop wave etc and a viewer would be unaware that she was receiving instructions. At one point a couple of walkers passed Claire and looked at her very strangely as she appeared to be talking to herself!

If I get a chance, I will try to upload some clips to give an idea of the sound and the next test will be on a live shoot. At the moment though, I feel that I would have been very happy with the sound at two or three times the price. I have already ordered a second set to have the option of two transmitters to one receiver so that I can use two mics and take the signal to two cameras.

Roger

Hey Roger

Thanks for that! It's always tough (like the FZ1000 post) to look at something that costs a fraction of the price and does the same job as a brand name unit. I have been burnt previously with cheap UHF sets that had more hiss than audio signal and had to be tossed in the bin but this seems to be pretty stable. However because it runs in the 2.4GHz band along with a trillion other smart devices I think it would be worth a test in an environment that is electronically "dirty" ...ie: electrical cables, computers running, routers and other wifi devices and see if they cause any issues before using the unit at an event,

Sheesh, if it works well then over here it's only $125 a set compared to a Rode Link unit at $449

Chris

It's definitely tough reviewing budget gear, when the general feeling is that you have to spend loads of dosh to get a great result. I do tend to think that if I spend 5 times as much on something, it will probably be sturdier and longer lasting, but Iif the results are to the required standard, I would rather replace a cheaper unit two or three times if neccesary, by which time technology would probably have moved on enough to buy something much more advanced rather than being stuck with some high cost obsolete bit of gear.

I will be testing the Boya next week in 5 different environments, from schools to a theatre to a wedding venue. I'll only be using it as a backup, but will be a good opportunity to see how it stands up to it.

Roger

Hi Roger

The 2.4GHz systems sadly do not have dual receiver facilities so if you want two transmitters you have to have two receivers ..well, on the Rode Link and AT System 10 they state that you can "pair" up to 8 units but not to one receiver though. At that price there is no real issue with having two sets anyway. With UHF sets you also have to have a transmitter and receiver set UNLESS you have a dual channel receiver and the only one I had gave me issues. I'm currently running two receivers on the FZ1000 (one either side of the camera ) and they work fine. The review I read they complained out not being able to know when the batteries have run down but I checked the website and the specs say that when the batteries are low the unit LED starts flashing red so that would work fine!

At weddings I'm seldom more than 15m from the couple anyway (more likely only 5m) so I cannot see a range issue either plus it's line of sight too!!! If you have a 2nd shooter I can see great usefulness for comms that you don't record ...like you my wife does the photos and attracting her attention with frantic hand gestures is not very professional!!

I think I'll definitely try one of these sets as well since we have lost our frequency allocations over here this year. A report back from you will be most useful!

I just assumed Chris that having two transmitters would only require one receiver, but I will have two receivers anyway. I can see the talkback being really useful when we are doing photography as well and multiple use of equipment always appeals to me.

Just thought that even if I can’t use two TX with one RX, I will still be able to receive the sound from one TX on two different cameras, which will be very useful at times, such as speeches etc.

The RX and TX both take two batteries and should last up to 4 hours of continuous use and the LEDs do indeed flash red when the batteries are getting low. That's often the problem with some YouTube review, they often miss or don't understand some of the things that are being reviewed, giving a misleading impression.

I will certainly report back after my experiences with the Boya in the coming week.

Roger

Just received my second Boya after going for the free postage option. Ordered it Thursday arrived Monday for a total cost of £45.99.

I expected it to be the same frequency as the first one, however, not sure whether it is just luck but they are both on different frequencies, so I can now use both at the same time with no crossover, brilliant!! Just remains to be seen how they work in a high electrical activity area. I did set up my twin mic UHF radio system which has a mains receiver, and there was no interference or noise with the Boyas, so I am reasonably hopeful.

I am now looking for a suitably connected split lead, so that I can use two mics with either transmitter for head table speeches and school stage productions. With the two transmitters, that would give me 4 mic possibilities.

Roger

Hi Roger

AFAIK the 2.4G systems just find a spare channel in the 2.4GHz band and then pair with the transmitter/receiver ... the AT system 10 units actually specify that 8 units will work together and they have an LCD display telling you which is on which channel ... Does the manual say anything about using two or more units??

If you want to feed to mics into the input then you need a 47K resistor in each lav hot lead so it acts as a passive mixer ...I would get a wee plastic box with one mono plug out and with two 3.5mm jack sockets for each mic and then solder each 47K resistor from the input socket to the output lead.

It's definitely tough reviewing budget gear, when the general feeling is that you have to spend loads of dosh to get a great result.

I don't think its just about results, it can also be about ease of use and compatibility. Last Saturdays Wedding was a case in point. A last minute decision to have a roving handheld mic being passed around for the Speeches; no problem as they use a sennheiser wireless system (the standard it seems for most venues), same as my own. So I simply tapped into their frequency and voila - I got my audio. It was a stressful, hectic Wedding, so my wireless system, though more expensive, really helped that day.

Chris, I think that would be pretty much the same as the passive mixer box we discussed on the other thread. I just haven't got around to ordering the bits yet.

Steve, I'm sure you are right about greater compatibility with house systems, but half the time people don't use the mics properly and there are often flat battery and distortion problems. The other thing with the More expensive systems, apart from the price, is that they are more likely to conflict with your own system particularly in a situation with lots of wireless mics, like my schools filming.

For me, a radio mic is always a back up as there are always a number of potential problems and I would rather rely on a portable recorder for my main sound, or a direct wired mic that I can monitor.

Roger

Steve, I'm sure you are right about greater compatibility with house systems, but half the time people don't use the mics properly and there are often flat battery and distortion problems. The other thing with the More expensive systems, apart from the price, is that they are more likely to conflict with your own system particularly in a situation with lots of wireless mics, like my schools filming.



Well I never rely on just the mic; I have zooms dotted around, but the potential is there for better audio. I think with wireless, just owning a different system doesn't mean you're free from interference. It's true that in a larger venue with multiple events on, my sennheiser will be competing for available frequencies, but I haven't had an issue in the places I've filmed in so far. Personally I use the olympus pocket recorder and lapel mic for most filming.

Chris, I think that would be pretty much the same as the passive mixer box we discussed on the other thread. I just haven't got around to ordering the bits yet.

Steve, I'm sure you are right about greater compatibility with house systems, but half the time people don't use the mics properly and there are often flat battery and distortion problems. The other thing with the More expensive systems, apart from the price, is that they are more likely to conflict with your own system particularly in a situation with lots of wireless mics, like my schools filming.

For me, a radio mic is always a back up as there are always a number of potential problems and I would rather rely on a portable recorder for my main sound, or a direct wired mic that I can monitor.

Roger
We went over to 2.4G (Line 6) mics last year, we've yet to come across a theatre / venue that uses these frequencies, (I accept this will happen in time).

So far so good, very clear audio, no interference issues. However I am unsure how all the different makes of 2.4g kit will play alongside each other. The Line6 wireless has a quite aggressive means of securing its frequencies. (they use 2 frequencies per mic).

We use 4 now, being able to see the battery status of the remote pack on the receiver is real boon.

@ Steve, yes interference can affect anything, even wired mics and my preference is for my small pocket Sonys with a lav.

@ Daniel, that's interesting to hear what you have been finding and I will have a better idea after filming every day this week in various environments.

Roger

I've used them in 1500 seat theatres with no issues, given all the RF interference from everyone's mobiles trying to find a wifi connection, they have been fine.

We tend to use the TX on the front of the stage, with the RX at the back with the cameras, all been fine.

We don't get the der,der,der that you get with analogue wireless when mobile try and page their networks.

Sounding better all the time Daniel

Roger

Just got back from the first field trial of the Boyer radio mic.

It was a school production shoot in a theatre with 4 cameras an orchestra and choir. As with most school production videos, it is very difficult to find anywhere to put sound mics and today was no exception. The stage was 5ft high and about 30ft wide, with the entire being used at various times from front to back. There was no possible way to use any stands, but fortunately they had a sound engineer and PA from a local studio. He was using 13 radio mics for the main players, with an overhead pair for the orchestra and choir and a separate side mic for some stage side speaking. He was very happy to take a stereo record out to my Zoom H1 from his desk, so at least I would get the clean full sound.

Being near the front and too long in the tooth to completely trust ANYONE with the responsibility for all the sound for my video, I also had two cameras recording through their own mics, a more sensitive Sony stereo mic picking up forwards and feeding a third camera and the new Boya radio lav mic taped to the front edge of the stage, the only place possible, and TXd back to a Sony portable recorder back at the video mixer.

Checking the sound after the show, the feed from the sound engineer to to Zoom was completely blank although it had recorded, he had accidentally muted the output. As his own son was in the production, he wasn't best pleased. The sound from the Sony mic was perfectly useable although there was room echo which I will be able to reduce. The two cam mics are also useable if neccesary but I am delighted to find that inspite of it's positioning and some footstep noise, the Boya radio mic has picked up a very clear sound from the stage that I can feed into the mix.

Most importantly, the venue had a large number of radio mics and a lot of lighting gear, plus staff walkie talkies, but there was not a trace of a hum or buzz from the Boya. Tomorrow at a new school, I will see if it is possible to use both Boyas and feed them to a camera this time, now that I feel more confident with them.

I'll report back again, now I need to get to bed.

Roger

Exactly why desk feeds always need a backup. You cannot blem the engineer. They have their hands full with mixing radio feeds and that can be very stressful even with modern automation. It's also very easy to have programmed in a mute and not noticed calling up the next cue wipes out an output. I bet he feels bad, I would, but it happens frequently. Perhaps more now we are going digital. Seeing lots of meters means missing one is very simple.

Paul, having been a sound engineer for many years, I completely agree with you and I don't blame the guy, as his job is not to do mine for me. If he screwed up the PA sound trying to get mine right, nobody would have thanked him.

I am always banging on about taking care of your own sound, whether it is weddings or concerts, otherwise you can come very unstuck.

Roger

For those that aren't yet completely bored to tears, I thought I would report back on the second use of the radio mics at a school this week.

The school was a very small primary school in the middle of Cambridge putting on a production of Oliver. A very small platform stage, with a dad supplying his own radio mic body packs with about 5 mics. The music was an excellent live pianist, and the lights were 8 small white dimmable par cans. We had a platform at the back of the small hall with a similar system to yesterday, 3 Panasonic video cams one with a Sony directional mic, Lumix FZ1000 for close shots and a Zoom H1 above the stage.

Today though I took a small mains powered 5 channel mixer with onboard USB audio recording. Into this I ran the two Boya RXs into independent channels. The transmitters and lavs were just hung on the curtain at the back of the stage, not the best way to use lavs, but at least they were on the stage and spread about 10ft apart. The sound was excellent with absolutely no dropout or interference noise and lots of headroom. Just as well as I had the levels too low and had to boost the recording a lot, still a very clean overall sound though. It might not be a pair of Calrecs, but hey it's a primary school and they will be delighted. I will normalise and compress the sound to even out the levels, but I won't bother with the other recordings.

I see that as a great result for a twin talkback radio lav system for less than £100 for the two. I haven't even tested them in the normal close lav configuration, but Claire will use them at her wedding on Saturday. I will be also interested in trying other full sizeds mics now that I have some new leads arrived. the quietness of the radio signal would suggest some interesting possibilities. I also have a split lead arrived so that the talk back can now be used with a conventional mic and headset arrangement, Happy Days :-)

Roger

Hi Roger

Glad to hear they are working well for you.

We use a couple of Rode NTG2's plugged into the Line 6 body packs that we have, and a pair of Audio Technica Boundary mics into another pair (u851a) of the packs. If you pick condenser mics that run off "AA" batteries you can plug all sorts in! (We have a rule that all battery powered kit should run off "AA" batteries only, keeps the maintenance simple).

Hi Daniel,

I've filmed another school production today with a couple of Sony mics into the two Boyas on stage and they worked flawlessly.

I still have a couple of boundary mics kicking about that I haven't used for a while, so I might give those a go. Funny how various mics get a whole new usage when you can plug them into a transmitter. I may even see if I can plug my guitar in, to free me from being tied to my foot pedals at gigs :-)

Roger

I use my AKG C400 boundary mics quite often ...they are brilliant as long as you put them on a big enough surface like a table top or lectern ...Mine are also nice and small too ...about 1.5" long and 1" wide and look like a tiny computer mouse so even if they get in the shot they are still not obtrusive.

You lose a lot of low frequency audio with them but that's easily added and when you have a bunch of people around a lectern or table wanting to speak they handle that situation perfectly!!

Roger? Boya actually make a system for you muso guys also working at 2.4GHz ...the transmitter has a protruding 6mm jack that plugs in directly into your guitar and then the receiver plugs directly into the amp so you are cordless! I was contemplating buying a set (cheaper than the video ones!) and cutting off the plug as it also has a 3.5mm mic input!

Thanks for that Chris, I hadn't realised they made a guitar TX, I'll have a look at that.

I used to use boundary mics all the time for weddings in the wired mic only days I may well get back into using them now with the transmitters.

Roger

Are you able to plug another microphone into yours? I tried to plug a different microphone in and it just doesnt pick anything up

Hi Matt,

The mic supplied has a tip and 2 rings plug, whereas most mikes would be tip and ring or mono plugs. I bought a couple of Y converter leads which convert 1 tip and 2 ring plug to a pair of tip and I ring sockets If you just use a 2-1 tip converter it won't work, the separation of the connections has to be maintained, so one of the pair of sockets on the Y converter will work will work with a different mic.
Headphone with Mic Converter Cable 2 x 3.5mm Sockets to 3.5mm 4 Pole - 4PC-007635 - Audio Cables, Jack Extensions/Splitter, 4PC-007635 from kenable (http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=48_57&products_id=7635)

Using the same adapter lead, you can also use a mic and earpiece talkback set with the RX & TX for a talkback system if you don't want to use a lav mic. Useful for communicating with another camera operator.

Roger

Isn't the mic a condenser? So the TRS plug uses the extra circuit for DC power - dynamics might not have enough output, or did I get confused? Splitters or adaptors that short the sleeve to the ring might be fine with a dynamic, but will prevent a condenser getting power unless it's DC voltage superimposed on the audio type.

Isn't the mic a condenser? So the TRS plug uses the extra circuit for DC power - dynamics might not have enough output, or did I get confused? Splitters or adaptors that short the sleeve to the ring might be fine with a dynamic, but will prevent a condenser getting power unless it's DC voltage superimposed on the audio type.

Hi Paul,

There doesn't seem to be a universal standard for 4 pole mini Jack wiring, but I am pretty sure that the mics are not condensers, I think that the other ring on the TX is used for a headphone output in parallel with the other headphone output on the casing. On the RX, the 4 pole headphone socket is wired for an earpiece and a talkback mic which is supplied, so I think for cheapness, the TX socket is wired the same way, as I can plug the supplied headset into the TX mic socket and hear the audio in the earpiece. Using the splitter linked to, keeps the electrical separation, and allows other dynamic mics and headsets to be used. It's a bit of an oddity but seems to work.

They probably use the same cases and sockets for TX and RX to keep the price down.

Roger

If a condenser mic element is used you still only need two conductors for a mono mic as the bias voltage is run in series with the hot wire of the mic so once the cable goes into the circuit board bias voltage is piggy backed on the same input cable ..it can be as little as 1.5v for a condenser mic so any transmitter with a least 1 x 1.5v battery to power the board is enough to provide a bias voltage for the mic element too. Because a dynamic mic needs a continuous circuit it often won't work in a condenser mic input however a powered condenser mic like the Rode Video Mic will work as it also uses a condenser element not a dynamic element. The current TRS plug might also be wired slightly differently to a standard mono or balanced mono (they use a stereo plug)

Just found another useful feature today on the Boya receiver, what I thought was the headphone monitor volume, is actually the overall RX output volume, which is great as it means I can adjust the volume into the camera live. As I have volume meters on all my cameras, I can set at the optimum recording level and adjust instantly while I'm filming.

Roger

Roger, Is there any background hiss or rustle when you use yours?

I wasn't sure if it was the microphone or the RX and TX.

Roger, Is there any background hiss or rustle when you use yours?

I wasn't sure if it was the microphone or the RX and TX.

Hi Matt,

No background rustle or hiss on either of mine, but the included mic is very sensitive to clothing rustle. I have just finished editing a wedding with the lab on the Groom and I placed it higher on his jacket because of rustling on other weddings. It was totally silent apart from the voices.

I also use two of the Boyas on a school performance recording, with the lavs clipped to two mic stands that the school were using. I had a Zoom on stage, plus a couple of shotgun mics on two cameras and the Boyas gave by far the best sound with no background noise at all. They were transmitting about 40ft to the RXs. The TX really needs to be in line of sight of the RX unless close or there will be some stuttering occasionally.

I have been testing various mics with the TXs using the 4 node to 3 node splitters that I mentioned earlier with good results, but they do need to have stereo plugs on the mics to work with the splitter. To that end, I have received a couple of stereo to mono converters this morning, so if they work it may be possible to use standard mono mics like Sure SM58, SM57 and other popular mics. I'll post what I find.

Roger

Hi Roger

What I am interested in is for weddings, can you put the transmitter into the groom's inside jacket pocket? On your last wedding where did you have it ? Normally with RF based transmitters, if they are placed next to the body of the groom the signal is attenuated especially if the receiver has to try and get a signal when it has a human body in the way, plus a bit of clothing too. I do try and keep my main camera no more than 5 metres from the groom which does help a bit!!

These might be a far more economical solution as I was currently looking at the Audio Technica System 10 but it's a lot more money and so far I have read a few reports that the Rode Link system also has weird and wonderful noises.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I have had no problem at all with the TX at weddings and always put it in the groom's inside pocket. As you say it would probably be no further than about 5-6 metres for most weddings, so would be fine. I have tested it at home through a brick wall up to 20ft without drop out.

More expensive systems are probably able to transmit over a greater range, but a few metres is all I ever need, with schools and theatres being the greatest range I would need. With those, I have the TXs mounted in direct line of sight and use them for general stage mics. I have also still not had any interference from other signals which surprises me in view of what others say about their own other brand systems. I rarely used my other system as it was always clashing with church and venue wireless mics.

For the price, I would just get one and see how you get on with it, which is exactly what I did and have been delighted.

Roger

Thanks Roger

I will do just that !! My Azdens are getting old and the bandwidth that's legal is shrinking even faster!!

Chris

I said I'd report back when I had tested the stereo to mono adapters.

I plugged the 4 node plug from the 2x 3node socket splitter lead into the TX, then the stereo plug to mono socket into the red side of the splitter lead. The red socket is the stereo mic input and the green takes a talkback earpiece if required. Then I have an XLR to mono 3.5mm plug lead that I can plug any of my XLR dynamic or battery capacitor mics into. In addition, any of my mics with stereo connectors will go straight to the red of the Y lead.. I added a pic to show the connectors.

Now I know the TX works with any combination, I will make up some leads to do away with the different connectors. It should be straightforward to make up an XLR to 4 node 3.5mm plug, just using the correct nodes on the plug, which will then go straight from mic to transmitter. A similar one can be made to go directly from stereo mics to the TX, again using just the correct nodes on the 4 node plug. Easy enough to test with a multimeter.

All in all, this means that in addition to lav mics, I can now use any of my mics placed wherever I want them for best effect. Not bad, two transmitters and receivers including lavs, with a few extra connectors for no more than about £100 total layout. :-)

Just received my second Boya after going for the free postage option. Ordered it Thursday arrived Monday for a total cost of £45.99.

Roger
Where did you get it at that price Roger ? I paid £60 for mine from Amazon, Delighted with it, thanks for the heads up. Looking to buy another, hence the question

Dunno if you can hear this but recorded an example of the background noise I get.

Used a Zoom H1 at 55 Input Level.

Where did you get it at that price Roger ? I paid £60 for mine from Amazon, Delighted with it, thanks for the heads up. Looking to buy another, hence the question

Hi Colin,

Glad you are pleased with the Boya and I just had a look back at my purchase history to find where I got mine. They seem to be advertising it at £49.99 at the moment but I made them an offer previously and got it at the lower price. Here is the current link BOYA 2.4GHz Wireless Lavalier Stereo Microphone System for DSLR Camera Camcorder | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOYA-2-4GHz-Wireless-Lavalier-Stereo-Microphone-System-for-DSLR-Camera-Camcorder-/231660341007)

Roger

Thanks for that Roger, much appreciated

Dunno if you can hear this but recorded an example of the background noise I get.

Used a Zoom H1 at 55 Input Level.

Matt I can't hear anything at all on your upload, so can't comment. I would say that input 55 on the zoom would seem to be quite low to me, but there should be something there at least.

Roger

Yeah, I just recorded silence to hear the background noise, 55 was ok for my voice as it was peeking around -8db

Just listened to the clip at work through the (semi-pro) speakers and DT100 and the background noise is very subtle so perhaps its just my laptop's speakers that boosts everything too much.

Listening to it on the better equipment sounds like it'll be very good quality for the price.