Mungo

Way better than loud stinking generators but I fear those will get louder and louder since more power means more and bigger fans for cooling them.

MixPre 10 II with Musician Plugin will serve you well. You get 8 inputs, good audio quality, timecode, mobile design, nice user interface for a fair price. You can even use it as a high quality audio interface for your laptop if you like.

I remember recording a symphony orchestra at different locations around 2010, only with Schoeps ORTF setup directly into a 744T. The quality surprised not only me, it was blasting. I would say still better than MixPre, but nowadays I would like to be ready for more tracks.

Just to understand? That noise is on the processed output and ALSO the unprocessed one?

It's so popular that there seem to be many fake devices around with less functions or less accurate measuring. I was told to be aware and buy only from trusted import dealers.

He (the guy from the lav company) also told me that they usually provide a new lav instead of repairing one that's been sent in. They don't charge the full price, give a quite high discount then

A lav manufacturer recently told me that such musical theatres interpret their lavs as consumables (not the transmitters but the mikes). Sweat and movement, unintentionally taut cables, are so challenging that they have them sent to to service very very often. So having a redundancy during the show makes a lot of sense imho.

Before experimenting, be sure that your transmitter will switch on when the batteries are put in again. All Sennheiser devices I know (I don't know EW-D SK) remember if they had been switched on or off when the power supply was cut. I hope it's the same with the new digital series, I'm curious - please let us know here.

If so, don't get frustrated by experimenting too much and order an isolated converter, make a battery dummy and it will work. It's quite easy. The electrical circuits in the converters are ready-to-use, so you just need to solder the connections.

The specifications of the EW-D SK and EW-DX SK are the same: 

Input voltage 2.0 - 4.35 V / Input current < 300 mA

I guess this one will do:

TIM 2-1210 | Traco Power

8 hours ago, Patrick Farrell said:

Zero delay is indeed impossible but the Lectro Duet system is a digital stereo IEM with 1.6ms latency which is good enough for most situations, although my experience with the system hasn't been stellar for other reasons.

Thank you. I forgot that. Over here in Europe I've neither ever seen this system in operation nor met anyone who has ever used it.

It still seems impossible to build a digital IEM system with stereo transmission with zero delay, long running time and within the specification (50mW max, 200kHz bandwith max).

I guess the MiPro 909 is the only digital stereo IEM system in the UHF band, released nearly a decade ago, but with a latency of 5.8ms which may be too much for musicians and presenters.

There are also IEMs in the 2,4 and 5,8 GHz band (mostly not aimed at professionals).

10 hours ago, henry miller said:

This is my assumption too 

Did you repair it ? All good now? 

A tech has now told me 

The Faders are closed and cannot be cleaned.  

They are not leveling audio,  but send a digital signal to the processor board. Pretty much as mungo said. Mungo how much do you know exactly about fixing the issue DIY? Is it definitely a sound devices service required?

Sorry, no experience with DIY, sent it to repair.

When the issue appears on the 833 I switch it off and perform quick fading from zero to full for half a minute or so. I imagine that blows away the dust inside. But that's unfortunately no solution for eternity.

47 minutes ago, OB1 said:

I can't imagine SD pots are custom in any way. Potentiometer technology is pretty standard. Find out what they are, apply the proper cleaner/lube (Caig, etc.) and hope for the best. 

Report back, too, please. Although my 6 series are backups I'm sure there's a broad audience that would want to know the outcome.

It's no potentiometer but a digital signal switch which seems to be the problem. Many manufacturers have ones making trouble over the time built in their products: Multi dials on cameras (like FS7-2 or FX9) or on big mixing desks for foh or broadcast.

Had that issue on an 833 too. It developed its "own life", fading rapidly, sounding like digital wireless dropouts.

13 hours ago, Fred Salles said:

linears do not need isolation isn’t it? 

Guess so. GND/minus is connected, so there are just 3 pins: in, out, GND. Isolated ones have at least 4 pins: in+ in- out+ out-

Happens with many battery eliminators from any brands, as long as different components are supplied by one power source. You're quite lucky not having this issue with G3 as I had (Sennheiser DC2 converter).

You can get rid of this by isolating. Meaning on the one hand with a balanced audio connection (not always possible and not always working) or on the other hand using a DC/DC converter with galvanic isolation.

DC/DC converters in a chain, meaning first isolating with one converter and after that converting voltage with another device unfortunately may also not work.

For me, I ended up making my "own" battery eliminators by soldering in parts from Traco Power THB series. That always works with any audio device, even with the cheapest consumer Bluetooth dongle.

I would get a system that copes with each and every resolution and framerate, SDI and HDMI - for the future. The Hollyland Mars 4k is not as pricey as Teradek, but definitely works fine too.

The only downside is that there isn't a video thru, so hopefully the video villagers provide a seperate video signal output available for you.

Rare but known issue. Occurs on some units after some time, similar problem with some 833. Unfortunately having the knob changed by SD is the only option that helped in the cases I know.

18 hours ago, Morpheus said:

 

I had the opportunity to hear the Sennheiser D9000 at HRT (Croatian National Radiotelevision), and I must say the sound is perfect (I think it is the only system on the market that is able to wirelessly send uncompressed PCM (with very little delay).

The legend says that Dr. Fritz Sennheiser, the founder, had a last wish: having a perfect uncompressed digital system under his name. His crew achieved that goal and I guess he could experience the success shortly before his death in 2010 at the age of 98.

In fact no one who has got a 9000 system ever uses the HD mode, at least I didn't meet anyone. Everybody is more than satisfied with the compressed, but still extremely good, LR mode (long range), but that HD mode truly exists! 

I've got one from PSC. It's ok but drains a 9v battery within a day.

The best P48 I ever experienced was the Ambient UMP 2. Pricey, but they don't make it any more. Maybe you can get one used.

Might be an issue on the 633. A sound person recently told me about the same problem with his 633. After repair 48V stopped working again after some days. Very bad. I would buy an external P48 supply to avoid oncoming trouble.

When I studied sound they told me: Always have an MD 421 in reach in case the phantom power breaks down. In 20 years in the job no mixing desk or camera never ever had issues with phantom. But now I know they were right. 

23 hours ago, Morpheus said:

Yes it has a built-in limiter and can't be turned off, just like on my SK 50. While my even older SK 2012-UHF also has the limiter, but it can be turned on and off.

One person on the Wisycom forum wrote this about the SK 5212/II.

"Have been using my new MCR54 on a shoot for a couple of days now, these are my observations in case anyone's interested:

- Soundwise on par with my Lectros. I am using MTP41S and Sennheiser SK5212. I like the wisy limiter better than the Lectro for fast transients which I find are more common in dialogue (say a talent starts every sentence with a loud syllable and then always becomes quieter). For slower/longer noises (like when a talent actually breaks into loud laughter or so) the Lectro might be a tad better while still not great, in those instances the Lectros would pump while the Wisycom I find actually distorts. The Sennheiser limiter is probably the best of the three. BTW the SK5212 is also quite a bit smaller than a MTP41S, only downside is not being able to do the IR sync. The sync really saves time compared to the Lectros. I also find I never have to change gain on the Wisys, while on the Lectros it seems more common to have to change gain depending on talent performance.

- I can't really comment on range as I'm on sharkfins all the time and I don't have to worry about range in general on neither Wisys or Lectros. It will be interesting to see how they fare on whips.

- Battery life is just amazing. I don't think 7 hours is exaggerated for the one battery transmitter (Ladda battery). Lasts quite a bit longer than my Lectro SMVs. It really seems unnecessary to consider buying the two battery transmitters unless you want the 100 mW power.

- The OLED display on the MCR54 is bright but in sunlight the cover reflects strongly so it is NOT READABLE. Wisycom should change this in future versions for a matte display cover. My simple Lectro SRa displays are much better visible in sunlight.

- On the display, the RF bar meters are two vertical stacks of bricks next to the battery level meter which is also vertical. However "full" range is not at the same height as the full battery, instead at about two thirds of the battery meter at full, which I find a bit irritating and it doesn't make sense in terms of using the display space well. I think they should change it in a firmware update to show full range at the same height as a full battery, that way it is easier to spot at a glance.

Overall I am very happy with the Wisys even though they should really work on their communication and presentation skills, but I'd rather have great wireless with shitty manuals than shitty wireless with great manuals."

Here's his review. I would also like to add that the SK5212 has IR sync, but I'm not sure if it can be used with Wisycom. 
 
I apologize in advance if I may be looking at this a bit differently (wrong), but then I would kindly ask you to correct me.
Even digital systems use digital compression codec, which to some extent affect the quality, and there's also the sound of preamp. Of course, digital are somewhat artifact-free, but the overall sound color and other parameters are what interest me when comparing. I may not be entirely neutral because I really love analog transmitters. I think the Sennheiser SK 5212-II with the EM 3732-II sounds completely artifact-free to me, and I'm genuinely curious if it's any the same than that digital one (just to clarify, I'm not talking about, for instance, the D6000, but only the EW digital series). The EM 3732-II uses DSP, so I think that might further enhance the sound.
I would be grateful if you could point out if I might be thinking incorrectly and is my thinking even correct at all?
Thanks

Don't get me wrong. I still recommend the SK 5212. I even haven't heard many systems in real life, just Sony DWX, Sennheiser Digital 6000, Sennheiser HiDyn+ (like 5212), Sennheiser EW and 2000 and a bit of Lectro Hybrid, Sony UWP and Shure digital. Of course most of the cheap digital 2,4 GHz stuff too.

All digital systems pass the key test, transmit transients better and have no expanding, which one might notice on low ambiences.

When coming into a situation with a crackling fire in the background, a presenter with extreme sibilants, clanging dishes, shooting arms (and so on) the analogue downsides may become audible. Also music: instruments like a violin or of course a drum set will sound weird through an analogue system and won't probably honor the skills of a professional musician.

So, what I wanted to say, is that you are more prepared for any situation with a digital system. Of course there are artifacts with digital too - and I heard them and suffered - , depending on the system but not so obvious by far. Even worse is delay.

Anyway, no post person ever noticed what I had used and none of them ever said: Well guy you should have used an analogue/digital system instead.

10 hours ago, Rasmus Wedin said:

 

Mungo - Is there really a limiter packed in the 5212-2s that is always on?

 

There is. You can see it working when the power LED turns into bright red. In my ears it sounds like a smooth analogue compressor.

On 10/22/2023 at 11:46 PM, Morpheus said:

Do you think it sounds better than Sennheiser EW DX or EW DP (do they have the advantage that they are digital compared to the SK 5212-II analog...? Because surely the SK 5212-II has better pre amps...).
I only had the opportunity to hear Digital evolution via yt, which is not ideal, but in the reviews they also tested Noise floor, ect.

No, of course not sounding better than digital. Just talked about the analogue EW variants. But in case of ruggedness the SK 5212 plays in another league.

6 hours ago, Martin Lonek said:

Keep in mind the interference is still an issue with all the SK 5212 / SK 5212 II units. They simply don´t use low pass filters at all and the filter can´t be added. Wisycom was adding a low pass filters @ 20kHz/17kHz, respectively to their MTP 40/41 range later, not Sennheiser. For me, only upgrading my TXs to digital 6000/9000 resolved this on sets where that monster (Cinetape) operates.

Since I do mostly ENG/EFP/doc I never experienced any Cinetape issues, but I can say I had some problems with ultrasound marten repellent and induction cookers. Didn't know that there's any full analogue system without this issue. 

On 10/15/2023 at 1:25 AM, EnotsMedia said:

I can’t speak for the Scorpio, but ive been using the CL12 w/ zero issues for over a year with my 833.  Simple USB- USB connection- no external power needed (when using 8 series). I DEFINITELY struggled with the issues you described when using my CL 12 w/ my 664. Constant battle….I’d assume they are the same with the 688. 

+1

flawlessly with 833 and SD Remote on the iPad.

issues with 664/633 and Wingman.

In both cases the app crashes occasionally, but that's a minor problem cause that does not effects the recording. Software starts again by itself immediately.

Been using it from time to time, but only with Sennheiser receivers: EK 6042 and its precessers, so I can't say anything about the Wisy combination.

Still a wonderful TX. If gain is set correctly it sounds definitely good, way better than any HDX system ( EW or Sennheiser 2000 series).

What I especially like is the form factor, the ruggedness, the range and that it runs more than six hours on a single AA battery. Not to forget the internal limiter (which is always on).

2 hours ago, henrimic said:

Exactly. The idea is also to get rid of the PA system. You can always create a sense of spaciousness by panning the different mics. 

Most sound people I know follow the same approach. Main challenge is to get as little PA sound as possible. They end up hanging some 416s straight above the audience at different spots.