Cheap Lav Solutions

Hey everyone,

I could use your help. I'm looking to buy a lav for a couple projects I have coming up. Traditionally, I outsource sound to someone who specializes in it. But I have a few gigs that are one on one (company promo videos, how-to videos, occasional interview) where all I need is a lav on someone and I'm tired of passing them up because I don't have one.

So, I was wondering if you could help me with

1) Cheapest wired lav solution that has acceptable quality
2) Cheapest wireless lav solution that has acceptable quality

Will be running them straight into the 5D. Wish I had a pre-amp but alas, funds only stretch so far.

gibsonla wrote in post #12514073
So, I was wondering if you could help me with

1) Cheapest wired lav solution that has acceptable quality
2) Cheapest wireless lav solution that has acceptable quality

Will be running them straight into the 5D. Wish I had a pre-amp but alas, funds only stretch so far.

Wired would be the Shure SM93, Audio-Technica AT-831R and the Audio-Technica Pro 70 and for wireless look to Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, and Samson, both references being in the order of good acceptable and will get you by.

Wayne

radio shack has a wired lav for $30, it's about what you'd expect for $30.

which specific wireless models for the makes above were you referencing channel one?

and then just to clarify you ranked the shure at the top for wired lavs?

I noticed it runs off of phantom power, using an xlr to 1/8th adapter will my camera actually supply the phantom power to the mic?

Michael, the ones that get recommended a lot are the giant squid ones. Don't get the radio shack ones, they are awful. I've got a juicelink CX211 + DN101 for sale, ($250). Look at renting one or a h4n. Either way the giant squid lav is a good investment.

http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/

Greg can you run that straight into the camera? no room in the budget at the moment for a pre-amp or external recorder.

Yeah, you can order it with any length you want, but probably just get an extension cord from radio shack. You are still going to get hiss if the set is quiet. If you can afford it, get the new rode videomic pro and stick it on a monopod for a makeshift boom pole. Its got the +20db to clean up the camera's lousy mics.

Or look into the hack to disable AGC and then use the gaint squid. I've not used the 5d mark II hack, but the t2i with mics running right into it sounds great. From what I've read there are two versions of the hack, aj and magic lantern. I hear that the aj is the more full featured. For event photography, the focus assist is great, you get features that you find in $1K monitors right on the lcd screen. If your budget is tight, I would recommend it. I've been using it a ton on my t2i and it really increases the value of the cam.
http://groups.google.c​om …f9565e9e#a8f94a​67f9565e9e


http://rodemic.com …e.php?product=v​ideomicpro

I was actually going to buy a videomic pro and then was considering the lav as an additional purchase if it was cheap enough (for situations where the VMP just wouldn't cut it)

Edit: the 5dII doesn't actually need the ML hack. A firmware update made AGC overrideable and you can set levels manually

Yeah, I don't know how it works with the 5d hack since I use the videomic pro on that. On the t2i hack, there are adjustments for analog gain and digital gain, aside from the agc disable. The agc is done digitally, so with the hack I drop the digital gain all the way down. The analog gain I bump up all the way up and it mimics the +20db gain you get from the videomic pro. I believe the mark II firmware update is a digital gain control (not analog), but I might be wrong.

the 5Dii has manual settings right on the camera assuming it's running the latest firmware.

If you're going to get hiss from the preamps, it's going to be from the cheap tiny analog one, and turning it all the way up will guarantee the worst possible amount of hiss. Turn down your analog and up your digital. Though I'm not convinced there's separate circuitry for either.

As for Giant Squid mics, they're somewhat popular on DVinfo, but only because they made a few models that work specifically with now-out-of-date iRiver recorders. They're definitely not "recommended a lot" here. The ones that do get recommended often here are Audio Technicas and Sonys, for two reasons; 1. They're very well built, 2. They accept either battery power or phantom, and 3. They're easy to find and support is quick. Sure they're not as cheap as the GS's but personally I'd rather use what pros use. For example, Wayne recommended the AT Pro 70 which is fantastic for the price. For a great wired mic, AT 803.

Instead of dropping all the money for a really decent wireless system (I want to do it right, but that means $500+).... I think what I'm going to do is go with that Shure SM93 lav or the AT pro 70 (unless you think I should go with something else) and then pick up a little zoom h1 recorder that I can attach the person as well. Hopefully that will serve my needs as a "wireless" lav system.

Edit: just realized the shure needs phantom power so that removes it as an option

gibsonla wrote in post #12525874
Instead of dropping all the money for a really decent wireless system (I want to do it right, but that means $500+).... I think what I'm going to do is go with that Shure SM93 lav or the AT pro 70 (unless you think I should go with something else) and then pick up a little zoom h1 recorder that I can attach the person as well. Hopefully that will serve my needs as a "wireless" lav system.

Edit: just realized the shure needs phantom power so that removes it as an option

I would recommend you go with the AT 803-B it’s performance is considerably better then the PRO-70 and there is less hardware to carry, now regardless of either choice if you choose to connect it to a zoom H1 you will need an XLR to mini-plug adapter which if you are going to do so you may as well use a long XLR cable and connect the microphone to the camera or get a decent recorder that supports XLR and phantom like the Tascam DR-100.

Wayne

Ah... crap keep forgetting it's an XLR output on these things.

The point of the H1 was to give me a "wireless" solution. Is it just not possible with acceptable quality? Do I have to save up ~$500 for a senneheiser g3 set ><

Saw this this morning:
http://cheesycam.com/z​oom-h1-lavalier-winner/

I use the dr-07 with the gaint squides as a lapel mic for grooms for weddings. No issues. Id like to upgrade to a rode lav mic down the road, but its usable at this point.

Ok a couple more questions.

I'm debating how I want to record from the lav now. It's between the juicedlink CX231 and the tascam dr-100/h1/h4n

With the dr-100/h4n do any of you know if
1) I can run a line out from the recorder to the camera, essentially turning the recorder into just a preampe

and

2) Monitor with headphones simultaneously