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Best options for wireless lav sets for a shoot in Hong Kong


Thomas Farmer

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Hey guys, I've got an upcoming doc shoot in Hong Kong. This will be my first time using wireless mics on a shoot outside the US. Been performing my research and trying to find out as much as I can. Biggest thing I'm worried about are international frequencies (so if anyone has any further resources on this that would help too!). Last thing I wanna do is get caught using a frequency I'm not supposed to.

 

I've got one set of Sony UWP's but I've been thinking about upgrading those for awhile now and I figured this would be a good opportunity to do that. The Sennheiser G3's or G4's seem to be the most common pick. But I have also been seriously considering the Sennheiser AVX's and so far leaning more towards them. The shoot would require 2 subjects to be mic'd a most times and follow them through city areas. 

 

Just wanted to throw out the question! Relatively new-ish to location sound mixing (2-3 years on/off from producing, 1 year taking it more seriously though) so I've been posting to these forums more recently because of everybody's great advice and experience. Thanks!

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2 hours ago, Thomas Farmer said:

I've got one set of Sony UWP's but I've been thinking about upgrading those for awhile now and I figured this would be a good opportunity to do that. The Sennheiser G3's or G4's seem to be the most common pick.

Oh hell no! The G4 is *not* an upgrade from the Sony UWP! (assuming you've got the UWP-D11 here, or perhaps the new UWP-D21 model) In fact I'd say that to get a G3/G4 would be a moderate half step backwards.

Upgrade the lav mic from the stock one, or if you can swing it, get a set of Lectrosonics or Audio Ltd A10

 

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1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Oh hell no! The G4 is *not* an upgrade from the Sony UWP! (assuming you've got the UWP-D11 here, or perhaps the new UWP-D21 model) In fact I'd say that to get a G3/G4 would be a moderate half step backwards.

Upgrade the lav mic from the stock one, or if you can swing it, get a set of Lectrosonics or Audio Ltd A10

 

Thanks for the heads up! I haven't personally used the G4's but just heard mumblings about them. I didn't actually want to get them but thought I would ask anyway (same with G3's, I've run into many problems with them).

 

The Lectrosonics are a dream kit for me but unfortunately just can't snag them at the moment. Which is why I'm looking for the best possible option $1000 or under if I can (such as the AVX's). Not trying to settle for quality, just trying to work within my current limitations. 

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3 hours ago, Thomas Farmer said:

Thanks for the heads up! I haven't personally used the G4's but just heard mumblings about them. I didn't actually want to get them but thought I would ask anyway (same with G3's, I've run into many problems with them).

 

The Lectrosonics are a dream kit for me but unfortunately just can't snag them at the moment. Which is why I'm looking for the best possible option $1000 or under if I can (such as the AVX's). Not trying to settle for quality, just trying to work within my current limitations. 


The best option under $1K is (in my personal opinion, of those I've used) is a Sony UWP-D11. Then put any spare cash into upgrading the lav mics themselves.

 

If I broaden the scope a little to include options I haven't used personally (but I've read / heard reviews of them, and got feedback from friends who love them, etc) then I'd put Deity Connect Wireless near the top of the list to consider as well, plus also of course the Sony UWP-D21 (which are the latest edition of the UWP-D series). 


If we broaden our range of options even further to consider secondhand deals, then check out 200 and 400 series Lectrosonics. (this is the "upgrade" path I took myself from the Sonys) But do your research thoroughly beforehand, for instance you'll likely want a BDS for your RXs and lots of high quality rechargeable 9V batteries for your TXs

 

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3 hours ago, Mike Westgate said:

Trey

 

I spent a week shooting in HK 10 years ago

 

I guess a lot of HDTV stations have eaten up the 500/800 areas by now

 

Best ask our HK member what frequencies he is using to avoid TV or from where you can rent

 

mike

as far as i can tell , anything above 700 mhz may be problem , i am using 500-650 mhz for 5 m 6 yrs here without any significant interference problem .But Hong Kong is a crowd RF area ( as i mentioned no one care the regulation on RF FREQ (many illegal operation of RF ), which u really need to have good gear esp RF filter for this 

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