Rustic River

They explained that to me, but it went a little over my head haha. They sound the exact same though as they did before.

Got it done at Gotham Sound. Got all 8 of my COS-11D’s microdotted with DPA’s heavy-duty microdot which fits the thicker cable of the COS-11D perfectly. The DPA heavy-duty lavs (4660/4661/4671) have almost the exact same cable size as the COS-11D (2.1mm on the COS-11D vs 2.2mm on the DPA), so the adapter was a great match and is built tough. I have tried these out on both my Sony UWP series transmitters with a DPA microdot adapter as well as on my Tentacle Sync TRACK E’s using a Tentacle Sync microdot adapter and they work great. I love having microdotted COS-11D’s!

Yeah I just ordered the 4661's to test them out. They should be here tomorrow.

Thanks for the reply! After further research, it looks like the sensitivity of the 4660 is 20 mV/Pa at 1 Hz whereas the 4661 is 6 mV/Pa at 1 Hz. My COS-11D's have a sensitivity of 8.9 mV/Pa which is a little more than the 4661, but a lot less than the 4660. Perhaps that means I would have a slightly higher noise floor than I have with my COS-11D's, but with a much higher max SPL rating than either the COS-11D or the 4660. My only concern is the noise floor, but I'm thinking perhaps 6 mV/Pa isn't all that much different than the 8.9 mV/Pa of the COS-11D. I also noticed that the 4071/4671, both of which are designed specifically for speech under clothing for film, have the same sensitivity and SPL rating as the 4061/4661. That further leads me to believe that if the 4071/4671 are designed for speech for film, then why wouldn't the 4061/4661 be the same?

Hey folks, I recently purchased a pair of DPA 4660's and today I am testing them on both my Sony UWP (gen 4) transmitters as well as on some Tentacle Sync TRACK E's. First, I want to say that I really like the mics. The build quality is great and they aren't that much bigger than my COS-11D's which is fantastic considering I specifically went with the heavy duty versions (4660 over 4060) to use for doc work. The sound quality on these mics is good and they EQ my voice well in all the tests I've done. Overall, I'm very impressed. What I'm trying to figure out though is if I should keep the 4660's, or send them back for 4661's. I had a hard time deciding between the two initially, so I decided to just buy one set, test them out, and then go from there. Here's what I've found. With my gear (Sony UTX-B40 transmitters), I have to set the attenuation to 12 dB for my voice when talking at a normal level. My COS-11D's by contrast are usually sitting at 0-3 dB of attenuation. My plan for these mics is to use them for doc work, or in some commercial work when I'd rather use the flatter sound of the DPA's vs the boosted frequencies of my COS-11D's, like when recording higher pitched female voices. For the doc work I do, audio levels can be all over the place. As such, I'm wondering if I should switch over to the 4661 mics that have a higher SPL rating (144 dB vs 134 dB), and that are quieter to begin with. My thought was that I could drop my attenuation back down on my transmitters, closer to 0 like my COS-11D's are which have always sounded fine. Should the 12 dB of attenuation on my transmitters worry me? I'm not sure what the negative effects are when starting at 12 dB. Also, I did try yelling as loud as I could while the mics were mounted to my chest, under my shirt, while recording at 27 dB of attenuation on my wireless transmitters and on 32-bit float on my TRACK E's. When I did that, I did manage to make the mic distort, so perhaps the 4661 is the better choice. I just am not sure if it will add too much noise to my recordings if I go that route. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks! IMG_2304.heic IMG_2306.heic

Does anyone know if Sanken COS-11Ds can be wired for Microdot? I have several in my arsenal wired for Sony 3.5mm, but would love to be able to use them on my Tentacle Sync TRACK E's without relying on some off-brand adapter. If I could have my COS-11's re-terminated in Microdot so that I could swap them between systems as needed, that would be great.

Honestly, my biggest issue with the DL4 is that Shure doesn’t offer it in a Sony 3.5mm mount. I’d have to buy the lav in another connection and then pay to have someone re-terminate it and I’m not 100% sure it can be terminated in Sony mount at this time.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm pretty close to settling on grabbing some Countryman B3s to add to my Sanken COS-11D kit, but I'm also taking a hard look at the Countryman EMW. Countryman seems to market on their website the EMW as being their toughest, most water resistant mic. Does anyone here have any experience with them? What about experience with them vs a Countryman B3? I can't find much on that comparison online outside of a few very small mentions. I think the EMW looks like it could be a solid option for what I'm wanting, but, the one thing holding me back is that Bubblebee doesn't offer a Lav Concealer for them like they do the B3. I use Bubblebee Lav Concealers almost exclusively on my COS-11Ds and would want that option for the newer mics as well. The B3 does have a Bubblebee Lav Concealer option, but again the EMW looks like it could be the more appropriate mic for what I need.

They have shorter heads that will be better hidden when ear mounted and they come in brown as an option whereas the COS-11Ds offer beige and black, but not brown. They also have an IP 57 rating whereas the Sankens do not which make them more trustworthy potentially for doc work, plus they have interchangeable connectors for my Sony transmitters and TRACK E records (I use both in my work). Lastly, they work with the EMBRACE ear mount. I love my COS-11Ds, but these look like interesting options to potentially add to the kit.

Does anyone have any experience with Point Source Audio lav mics? There’s very little information on them anywhere online, but their mics actually look quite interesting. More specifically, the CO-8WLh has a pretty small 4mm head which should make them compatible with COS-11D accessories, like Bubblebee concealers, and the mics are IP 57 rated which is great. You can get them in black, brown or beige which I like and they sell interchangeable capsules that can be bought in a variety of colors. They have an updated X-Connector which looks solid and is more affordable than Microdot. Supposedly the X-Connector used to have some issues, but have been updated with locking teeth to fix them from coming undone or being over-tightened. Lastly, they have a really cool EMBRACE ear mount that can convert the lav into an earset mic which is basically a Hellerman mount that’s pre-built and comes in matching colors to the lavs. Overall these lavs look incredible for what they offer and look pretty versatile. I’d be interested in adding some to my kit which consists of several COS-11Ds, but, there’s really no reviews anywhere on them which I find concerning. Point Source Audio themselves comment on forums all over, but I find that the market speaks louder than the maker. My use for them would be for commercial/corporate work, doc work where the IP 57 rating could be beneficial, and for mic’ing up people on stage with the EMBRACE earset for livestream presentations, like TED Talks at local universities or presenters at live-streamed conferences.

I did a search and dug up some pretty old threads about painting lav mics, but I wanted to see if there are any new or improved methods today. I have several Sanken COS-11Ds in black, white and beige and am wanting to have two in brown. Sanken doesn’t offer this color whereas DPA and Countryman do. I wish they did as I would buy two instantly! Ad such, I’m thinking of painting two of my beige mics to be brown. I’m wanting this to be permanent if possible and was wanting to paint the wire, the mic capsule, the windscreen, and the alligator clip. Do any of you have suggestions on a permanent paint for this? I’m assuming it would have to be somewhat of a flexible paint since the wire is flexible. I’m open to any ideas. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. So my issue is that I have my COS-11D lavs in Sony mount and I do use an adapter to run them on the TRACK E's. The adapter I use is a HIXMAN CA117. It works great and does a great job of letting me use my Sony mounted Sankens on my TRACK E's. The problem is that on HIXMAN's website, it says this: "Please Noice! This Convert Adapter is only Compatible With SONY Lavalier & Headset Microphone/ Sanken COS-11D for SONY with 3.5mm Locking Plug. NOT Compatible with Countryman/DPA and other brand Headset/Lapel microphone with 3.5mm Locking Plug, if your headset/lapel microphone is your other brand, please contact me first before ordering." I'm concerned if I buy Countryman B3s in Sony mount that they won't adapt to the TRACK E's the way the COS-11Ds do, or that if I get Deity W.Lav Pros custom terminated in Sony mount that they too won't adapt over to the TRACK E's. That's why I was originally interested in the microdot system of the W.Lav Pro which does have microdot capsules for both Sennheiser mount as well as Sony, or just simply buying a bunch of mics and having them terminated in both mounts. None of this would be a problem if I didn't need to use my TRACK E's. I just would get everything mounted in Sony, nothing else, and would call it a day. But, my TRACK E's have definitely bailed me out of a few jams when my wireless mics had interference issues, or when I couldn't run wireless for some reason and simply had to throw a mic on someone that recorded to a body pack.

With how cheap the W.Lav Pro is, I could afford to buy 4 and have them terminated in Sony 3.5mm for my UWP transmitters and then 4 more and have them terminated in Sennheiser 3.5mm for my Tentacle Sync TRACK E's. At $100/lav, that's pretty inexpensive, depending on how much it costs to get them terminated. I've never hired someone to do that before, so I'm not sure how much that costs or where I would get that done at. Maybe Gotham Sound? They've built custom audio cables for me before. Since you own a W.Lav Pro, would that be with it in your opinion, or would I be better off buying a few Countryman B3's in Sony and a few in Sennheiser mount? That would cost me $190/lav which might not be all that much more after getting the $100 W.Lav Pros terminated. Buying only 4 W.Lav Pros with the standard microdot is obviously the cheapest route as I could use them on either my Sony transmitters or my TRACK E's, but if the microdots are an issue with them, then I wouldn't go that route.

I do usually do that, but for most of these projects, they are passion projects. I make my living doing commercial/corporate video work, but I get my creative fulfillment from shooting short film content from the river or the woods. As such, the person paying to replace lost mics is me! I also do have a great insurance policy for all of my gear, but the deductible is $500 which at that point is more than the cost of replacing a COS-11D. As such, you can see why I want to find a different alternative for these types of projects.

I own a bunch of Sony UWP series transmitters and receivers that I use with my FX6/FX3 cameras. I do a lot of commercial and corporate work, so most of my lavs are Sanken COS-11Ds mounted for Sony. I also have a HIXMAN CA117 adapter that allows me to run my Sony mounted COS-11Ds to Tentacle Sync TRACK E's for those occasional times where I run into interference issues. I love the sound of my COS-11Ds and find that they are far better than the Sony stock lavs or even the lavs that come with the Tentacle Sync TRACK E's (which I believe are essentially Sennheiser ME 2 mics), as they should be since they are pro level mics. In addition to my commercial/corporate work, I occasionally do projects in the hunting/fishing industries, more recently fly fishing. I love shooting projects like these since I'm an avid outdoorsman myself. That being said, I'm not a fan of using my COS-11Ds for this kind of work. Outdoorsman are typically rough with gear, especially lavs, yanking them around, taking them off and tightly wrapping them around the transmitter, etc. Plus, you're taking gear out into the elements with projects like these where you'll often find yourself in rain, snow or dust, or you'll even have the occasional bass fisherman who will fall off their boat while being mic'd up. As you can imagine, I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of trashing my nearly $400 Sanken lavs, so instead I usually end up using the Sony stock lavs (Sony ECM-V1BMP) which I don't really like the sound of. Plus, these lavs are relatively big making them harder to hide under clothing. In addition, they don't handle being under clothes as well as a brighter mic like a COS-11D which is an issue since oftentimes we are out when the weather is cold and we end up having to hide a mic under a thicker layer of clothing. All of this to say that I'm in the market for some new lavs. I'm looking for something brighter than the Sony's (or the ME 2s) with more punch to their sound so they handle being under clothes better. I'm also wanting these mics to be relatively waterproof since they could take a drink in a lake/river, or at the very least get wet with snow, rain or dust. A lav with an IP57 rating or better would be great. I'm also wanting these lavs to be relatively durable considering the conditions we are taking them in. But, I'm also not wanting to drop $300-500 for something like a Sure DL4 or a Countryman B6, both of which look great (especially the DL4), but I can't stomach the thought of trashing those mics which is all but sure to happen at some point. Through my research, the lav that seems to fit the bill the best is the Deity W.Lav Pro. It's dirt cheap at $100 and can be used on both my Sony transmitters and/or my Tentacle Sync TRACK E's thanks to the microdot connection. The W.Lav Pro also has an IP57 rating and looks to be really durable based on the video I linked below. I also read (and listened to what I could find online) that the W.Lav Pro sounds pretty decent and is a bright mic which is perfect for hiding under thicker clothing like I do with these types of projects. I also have read/heard where it could sound not too far off of a COS-11D with a little EQ work. Plus, I like that it is really small (4mm capsule), similar in size to the COS-11D. Lastly, I like that you can get Bubblebee Lav Concealers for them which is my go-to mount for hiding mics. I have read that the microdot to Sennheiser mount by Deity isn't the best, but Tentacle Sync makes one that looks to be better. I can't find many reviews on the Sony microdot connector made by Deity though which could be concerning. Overall, the Deity W.Lav Pro looks like the exact mic I need (assuming the Sony microdot connection is good), but I have zero experience with it. I wanted to see if anyone on this board can give me their experience with this mic, how it holds up against a COS-11D, how durable it has been for them, and whether or not you feel it would be a sizable improvement over the stock Sony ECM-V1BMP lav or the Sennheiser ME 2s. Or, if you have a suggestion other than this lav mic, I'm all ears! Thanks in advance!