The consensus has been that a $30 cable outperforms a $2000 wireless setup.

I have a need for a wireless mic for a gig Thursday. The conductor will
speak on multiple occasions during the program and usually ignores the PA
mic. I'll put a body pack and lapel mic on her.

I'll probably rent for Thursday. No time to shop and ship.

I'd like to buy a channel or two. Has price/performance improved any on
wireless? Or does the Sabine gear at $1200 a channel (or equivalent) still
sound no better than a wired SM-58?

(Scott Dorsey) wrote in
:

Carey Carlan wrote:
I'll probably rent for Thursday. No time to shop and ship.

I'd like to buy a channel or two. Has price/performance improved any
on wireless? Or does the Sabine gear at $1200 a channel (or
equivalent) still sound no better than a wired SM-58?

I wasn't really impressed with the Sabine stuff. If you're going to
spend the money, look for used Lectrosonics, Vega, and Zaxcom stuff.
Be VERY careful to look at the HDTV bandplan, though, since all the
UHF TV stations are moving around and you need to stay out of their
way.

Used is a great idea. Where's a good marketplace for gear at this level?

You are just down the road from "intermod alley," the place that in
the 1980s had the highest concentration of licensed RF devices per
square mile than anywhere else in the country. This makes the
possible wireless system failures a good bit greater than it is out
here in the boonies. --scott

Already noted.

Carey Carlan wrote:

I'll probably rent for Thursday. No time to shop and ship.

A day's rental isn't going to be much different between the middle and
the top of the heap. Might as well look at what you can find from
Lectrosonics first and go down from there.

I'd like to buy a channel or two. Has price/performance improved any on
wireless? Or does the Sabine gear at $1200 a channel (or equivalent) still
sound no better than a wired SM-58?

Before you buy, you might want to check out Paul Lehrman's column in
the May issue of Mix. He discusses the FCC's spectrum allocation
changes when analog TV broadcast goes away in a few years. He paints a
pretty gloomy picture for the wireless mic technology as we know it
today. There's a revolution (and evolution) going on.

Carey Carlan wrote:
(Scott Dorsey) wrote in

I wasn't really impressed with the Sabine stuff. If you're going to
spend the money, look for used Lectrosonics, Vega, and Zaxcom stuff.
Be VERY careful to look at the HDTV bandplan, though, since all the
UHF TV stations are moving around and you need to stay out of their
way.

Used is a great idea. Where's a good marketplace for gear at this level?

Ask the rental guys first if they have any pre-rented stuff. There used
to be a place called "Get-A-Grip Atlanta" that rented film sound gear.
Also try Cine Photo Tech and PC&E which might still have some.

Then try the big places like Film Sound, Inc.

You are just down the road from "intermod alley," the place that in
the 1980s had the highest concentration of licensed RF devices per
square mile than anywhere else in the country. This makes the
possible wireless system failures a good bit greater than it is out
here in the boonies.

Already noted.

Did that note include WGST coming in on unterminated telephone pairs?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:e3q9vt$1ej$1
@panix2.panix.com:

Used is a great idea. Where's a good marketplace for gear at this level?

Ask the rental guys first if they have any pre-rented stuff. There used
to be a place called "Get-A-Grip Atlanta" that rented film sound gear.
Also try Cine Photo Tech and PC&E which might still have some.

Then try the big places like Film Sound, Inc.

Thanks, I'll give them a call. Sounds like a job for the Yellow Pages.

You are just down the road from "intermod alley," the place that in
the 1980s had the highest concentration of licensed RF devices per
square mile than anywhere else in the country. This makes the
possible wireless system failures a good bit greater than it is out
here in the boonies.

Already noted.

Did that note include WGST coming in on unterminated telephone pairs?

It included WGST on a 3-inch run of unbalanced cable between a transformer
and an unbalanced mic input. I had to use the Shure transformer-in-an-
adapter plugged directly into the jack before the radio dropped into the
tape noise floor.

On May 8, 2006, Carey Carlan commented:

I have a need for a wireless mic for a gig Thursday. The conductor will
speak on multiple occasions during the program and usually ignores the PA
mic. I'll put a body pack and lapel mic on her.
------------------------------snip------------------------------

The Lectrosonics 400 digital series is probably as good as it gets. Most
big-city pro audio rental houses can get them, typically at about
$75-$100/day per channel. Be sure to get advice from your local dealer as to
which wireless frequencies are best for your area.

--MFW

Carey Carlan wrote in
:

The consensus has been that a $30 cable outperforms a $2000 wireless
setup.

I have a need for a wireless mic for a gig Thursday. The conductor
will speak on multiple occasions during the program and usually
ignores the PA mic. I'll put a body pack and lapel mic on her.

I'll probably rent for Thursday. No time to shop and ship.

I'd like to buy a channel or two. Has price/performance improved any
on wireless? Or does the Sabine gear at $1200 a channel (or
equivalent) still sound no better than a wired SM-58?

Thanks for all the input, everyone.

Follow up:

I got a Vega for use during the concert. Tested it beforehand. Worked
like a charm--no RF interference, good S/N, etc.

The conductor wouldn't use it. She's the one that hired me, so...

As a consolation, I clipped it to the podium mic mount and got maybe 60% of
what she said as she wandered about the room.