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G3 Radio Mic as i.e.m?


simon forbes

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I need to buy an I.e.m. and since many people use the G3 sennheizer system I think I'll go with that one, although I notice that the radio mic kit is significantly cheaper than the i.e.m kit whilst seemingly only lacking a twist volume control. It seems to me to make sense to buy the radio mic kit and use the front panel buttons as the volume control thereby giving myself the option of a spare mic for emergencies and a spare £100 too. Have I missed something?

 

All the best

 

Simon Forbes

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There is nothing like the proper tool for the job. The iem offers a proper amp to drive headphones and the volume knob which makes it simpler to adjust headphone level. Do you really want someone going into the menu and adjusting the level and when they mess something up like another setting they are going to blame you for it not working.

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​Hey Derek,

have you used that tour guide version? it's €100 euro cheaper here. 

I have both a few tourguide rx and the regular iems. The tourguide has a wider frequency band, but there are only fixed frequencies which can be switched as, I think, 39 channels. 

Access to the menu is locked by default, which is useful, except for the channel setting which js not useful as the channel gets changed easily. 

It's a mono receiver, but outputs audio to both sides of headphones. The IEM js stereo/dual channel. The IEM also has more options in their menu. Most of it is not all that relevant if used as a Comtek replacement. I have only used them for a few months, but they work fine. They work with all the same tx as the other G3s

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The IEM receivers can quite happily tune into a G3 radio mic transmitter (for a Mono signal, of course) and far more practical in a bag than the half-rack-unit IEM transmitter. The G3 on-camera receiver is quite cumbersome and low-powered into most headphones, but quite acceptable as a guide-track hop to a camera. Therefore you can combine the systems to good effect - buy a G3 ENG set, and as many individual IEM receivers as you need for IFB use. I do smaller multi-camera concert recordings like this, EW100s on the cameras and EW300 IEM pack for director. Works great.

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Keep the UWP-D system from Sony in mind. Of course it's mono, but you get a cheap solution for many purposes. The receiver has a powerful headphone amp and you can use it as an additional radio mic. Receiver and transmitter can be powered by AAs or USB so it's even possible to use a cheap AC adaptor for always-on applications.

Sound quality is ok, but not as good as on higher priced equipment.

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I have both a few tourguide rx and the regular iems. The tourguide has a wider frequency band, but there are only fixed frequencies which can be switched as, I think, 39 channels. 

Access to the menu is locked by default, which is useful, except for the channel setting which js not useful as the channel gets changed easily. 

It's a mono receiver, but outputs audio to both sides of headphones. The IEM js stereo/dual channel. The IEM also has more options in their menu. Most of it is not all that relevant if used as a Comtek replacement. I have only used them for a few months, but they work fine. They work with all the same tx as the other G3s

​Thanks for that Constantin and Derek, might pick one up as €495 for the regular G3 IEM is too much for me these days....

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has anybody ever tried hooking a portable headphone amp to a G3 receiver?

i had a FiiO E11K for a while but never thought of using it for that purpose. obviously not the best choice on properly budgeted films and a bit clumsy (there are cheaper ones that are more compact too) but might be an idea to get by until you get there.

chris

Edited by chrismedr
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I found you could fit a G3 receiver and Fiio headphone amp into one Comtek pouch, which wasn't too sloppy looking. But then you had multiple cables prone to disconnecting, and batteries dying at different rates. Ultimately I found buying the IEM models to be the best solution. As mentioned above, right tool for the job.

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The IEM receivers can quite happily tune into a G3 radio mic transmitter (for a Mono signal, of course) and far more practical in a bag than the half-rack-unit IEM transmitter. The G3 on-camera receiver is quite cumbersome and low-powered into most headphones, but quite acceptable as a guide-track hop to a camera. Therefore you can combine the systems to good effect - buy a G3 ENG set, and as many individual IEM receivers as you need for IFB use. I do smaller multi-camera concert recordings like this, EW100s on the cameras and EW300 IEM pack for director. Works great.

​+1

I use a SK2000 ENG system as camera hop and an EW300 IEM pack for the reporter, set to the same frequency. When we shoot with two cameras I have a G3 Receiver on the second camera, also set to the same frequency. Works great!

As Nick says, the output on the G3 receiver is a bit weak for headphone usage. The IEM pack has proper headphone power, a built in adjustable limiter and a treble shelving EQ which makes it easier to hear the dialogue in noisy surroundings (it's not pretty sounding, but does the job). The volume knob is large and easily accessible and I always tell the reporter to turn it all the way counter clockwise to turn off the receiver, when not in use, to save battery.

Like Mungo, I've also used the Sony UWP-D ENG-kit for IEM monitoring and the headphone is strong enough, although the volume is a bit fiddly to adjust. The good thing is that it's a pretty decent wireless system as well. One time I had to go look for the reporter and found him 50 meters away, several walls in between the place we were filming. He was so happy to hear what was going on and just left us to do our thing. :-)

With the G3 IEM system using the half-rack transmitter, you can make to separate mono feeds for let's say two actors or presenters, having one IEM receiver each, panned hard left or hard right. Which is nice. Or simply use it as stereo in-ear-monitoring.

 

Cheers

Fred

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