Thomas Farmer Posted January 3, 2020 Report Posted January 3, 2020 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! Quote
Trey LaCroix CAS Posted January 3, 2020 Report Posted January 3, 2020 Don’t go with anything 2.4ghz. AVX included. It’s just too unpredictable. Docs rarely do a take 2 so a dropout could be devastating. is the G4 really an upgrade to the UWP? They always sounded and performed similarly to me. I’d try and get some used lectros (400s, 200s, etc.) Quote
IronFilm Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 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 Quote
Thomas Farmer Posted January 4, 2020 Author Report Posted January 4, 2020 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. Quote
Trey LaCroix CAS Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 50 minutes ago, Thomas Farmer said: same with G3's, I've run into many problems with them). The G4 100s and the G3 100s are identical on the inside. Quote
JoshuaT Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 I just read that 600-692 is good there. Quote
joinwooHK Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 u can probably using any freq if u want , there is law to reg this ,but no one enforce or care. We all do that in HK Quote
IronFilm Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 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 Quote
Erob Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 If you check out the Want to Buy- Want to Sell page here there are currently some pretty good deals on some Lectro's, could be a good starting point to upgrade (saw some 200's that were within your budget). Quote
Trey LaCroix CAS Posted January 4, 2020 Report Posted January 4, 2020 If frequency allocation isn’t a concern in Hong Kong then you could hypothetically buy some “soon the be illegal” lectros for a steal! Quote
IronFilm Posted January 5, 2020 Report Posted January 5, 2020 6 hours ago, Trey LaCroix said: If frequency allocation isn’t a concern in Hong Kong then you could hypothetically buy some “soon the be illegal” lectros for a steal! Wouldn't be any good though once he returns to Dallas Texas Quote
Trey LaCroix CAS Posted January 5, 2020 Report Posted January 5, 2020 9 minutes ago, IronFilm said: Wouldn't be any good though once he returns to Dallas Texas Oh yeah, didn't think that far ahead. Got distracted by the heavenly thought of having carte blanche to use any block you wanted. Quote
Mike Westgate Posted January 5, 2020 Report Posted January 5, 2020 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 Quote
joinwooHK Posted January 5, 2020 Report Posted January 5, 2020 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 Quote
Eric Posted January 15, 2020 Report Posted January 15, 2020 I was in HK 2-3 years ago. I was using Lectro block 21/25 without issue. G3 (A band) for camera scratch track. Things could have changed since then. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.