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Best Wireless Lavalier Mic?

Stereo lavalier mics would be hell...believe me you want mono for dialogue...no point of stereo lavs...most stereo isn't really more than two mono channels with very small differences anyways unless its X/Y, Mid-side, binaural, etc. mics.
 
nateo200 said:
Stereo lavaliere mics would be hell...believe me you want mono for dialogue...
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I did not even think of stereo lavaliere. That really would be horrible to deal with. Not only would the persecutive be backwards (from talent's not audience persecutive) but it might move around.

If there really did exist a stereo lav. mic. the only way to deal with it would be to sum it to mono. No wonder no one makes them.

Stereo microphones from the camera's persecutive do have a place.
 
ChrisA said:
I did not even think of stereo lavaliere. That really would be horrible to deal with. Not only would the persecutive be backwards (from talent's not audience persecutive) but it might move around.

If there really did exist a stereo lav. mic. the only way to deal with it would be to sum it to mono. No wonder no one makes them.

Stereo microphones from the camera's persecutive do have a place.
Click to expand...

I dont think they make them at all...

And yes stereo mics do have a purpose on a camera I wasn't arguing simply outlining the fact that allot of the time the mics are so close together and spaced in a way that makes them essentially dual mono with almost no spread. That can be good or bad...X/Y Mics are nice but certainly not something that works 100% of the time.
 
best 3.5mm wired lav mic with stereo

i use a canon 7D to record auditions for local actors and myself. my current wired lavaliere mic that plugs directly into the camera with a 3.5mm end is recording in mono only, and i have to use iMovie because this is not for 'movie quality, ' but, rather, audition quality: good sound & lighting. right now, there is mono and a lot of hiss that has to be fixed in post in iMovie.
-->i need a stereo recording that is as hiss-less as possible. i don't mind a wired lavaliere mic. i just want it to be stereo and without so much hiss. and the mic needs to be a 3.5mm male end.

i don't want to bother with audacity or the quicktime fix that i have read about (it fixes it to stereo, but would like to NOT have all those extra steps).

ps, if i use just the canon 7D with the firmware upgrade, i get stereo sound without a lot of hiss, but i HAVE to have the main sound on the person on camera, not behind the camera (which is what i get if i just do the audition without a mic plugged in).

any suggestions are welcome - we are constantly busy, and i need to just make things as easy and efficient as possible. thank you in advance!
 
jegoldston said:
i use a canon 7D to record auditions for local actors and myself. my current wired lavaliere mic that plugs directly into the camera with a 3.5mm end is recording in mono only, and i have to use iMovie because this is not for 'movie quality, ' but, rather, audition quality: good sound & lighting. right now, there is mono and a lot of hiss that has to be fixed in post in iMovie.
-->i need a stereo recording that is as hiss-less as possible. i don't mind a wired lavaliere mic. i just want it to be stereo and without so much hiss. and the mic needs to be a 3.5mm male end.

i don't want to bother with audacity or the quicktime fix that i have read about (it fixes it to stereo, but would like to NOT have all those extra steps).

ps, if i use just the canon 7D with the firmware upgrade, i get stereo sound without a lot of hiss, but i HAVE to have the main sound on the person on camera, not behind the camera (which is what i get if i just do the audition without a mic plugged in).

any suggestions are welcome - we are constantly busy, and i need to just make things as easy and efficient as possible. thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

I think you can read in this thread why a stereo lavaliere microphone is pointless. Yes a stereo microphone on the camera can work.

I think maybe you don't want stereo, just sound in both channels. Is that it? Sound on both sides? Some camera have a setting to record to both tracks and all post process apps, even iMove can pan mono to stereo. iMovie makes it so easy you might not know you are doing it.

What you REALLY need is to kill the "hiss". First you red to know where hiss comes from. What's happening is the mic is not so sensitive as you'd like you so either you (or the automatic gain control if left on auto) will crank up the gain. The hiss comes from a preamp this is running at high gain. The solution is to do one or both of these:
1) Use a better quality preamp that has less self noise
2) Use a microphone that is more sensitive that does not need so much gain.

Both 1 and 2 cost money in the low triple digits at least. You are not going to fix this problem with some $49 gadget. You spent good money on the video camera and some lights, you just have to do the same for audio. There is not short cut.

The suggestion to use the Sennheiser MKE2 is good and it the type of microphone to get and about what yu should spend.

But I'm using a borrowed Tram TR50 and it is just fantastic going into the zoom recorder. It's is completely professional quality suitable for major productions.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=tram+tr50&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

There are many microphones in this class that work as well. Just remember you have to plug them into a GOOD recording system to make them work.
 
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Need 1/8"

ChrisA said:
I think you can read in this thread why a stereo lavaliere microphone is pointless. Yes a stereo microphone on the camera can work.

I think maybe you don't want stereo, just sound in both channels. Is that it? Sound on both sides? Some camera have a setting to record to both tracks and all post process apps, even iMove can pan mono to stereo. iMovie makes it so easy you might not know you are doing it.

What you REALLY need is to kill the "hiss". First you red to know where hiss comes from. What's happening is the mic is not so sensitive as you'd like you so either you (or the automatic gain control if left on auto) will crank up the gain. The hiss comes from a preamp this is running at high gain. The solution is to do one or both of these:
1) Use a better quality preamp that has less self noise
2) Use a microphone that is more sensitive that does not need so much gain.

Both 1 and 2 cost money in the low triple digits at least. You are not going to fix this problem with some $49 gadget. You spent good money on the video camera and some lights, you just have to do the same for audio. There is not short cut.

The suggestion to use the Sennheiser MKE2 is good and it the type of microphone to get and about what yu should spend.

But I'm using a borrowed Tram TR50 and it is just fantastic going into the zoom recorder. It's is completely professional quality suitable for major productions.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=tram+tr50&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

There are many microphones in this class that work as well. Just remember you have to plug them into a GOOD recording system to make them work.
Click to expand...

THANK YOU! This is the explanation i've been looking for. Yes, you are correct, I need sound in both sides.

i'm not using a preamp, I literally just plug my mic into my 7D. my mic is actually so sensitive that i have to point it downward with a tiny foam windscreen, and i still have to clip it quite low on shirts...which actually works since i don't want it to show in the clips ('medium chest up' to 'close-up head & shoulders' are the visual range of audition vids).

i'll check out the MKE2 - thank you so much for taking the time to explain.

I shoot actor head shots with my 7D also, so I didn't purchase it only for auditions, but it ended up that i'm so self-sufficient ;-), that i didn't want to have to go to someone 20-30mi away who will do exactly what I can do at home...so, i have been shooting my own and a few actor friends who live near me :).

again, THANK YOU, Chris A!

(Edited from here)
I visited the MKE2 & it is going to be more complicated than just plugging directly into my 7D, unfortunately.

The other one in the first reply has a 1/8" end so it will work... Will I be able to get sound out of both sides with that??

If not, or if I can get sound in both sides now with iMovie now, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. (The raw vid with my current lav is only coming through one side). ...Clearly, I need help in the audio department:/.
 
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jegoldston said:
If not, or if I can get sound in both sides now with iMovie now, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. (The raw vid with my current lav is only coming through one side). ...Clearly, I need help in the audio department:/.
Click to expand...

You need to change the pan on your audio track in the editing software to center the channel.

The lack of audio control on the 7d is one of the major drawbacks. I always use either a tascam or zoom h4 to record audio when shooting with the 7d and just sync it up in post.
 
i'm not using a preamp, I literally just plug my mic into my 7D.
Click to expand...

You are using the preamp that is built into the Canon 7D. It is not very good and that is the root of your problem.

You will likely never get good sound with anything that you plug into the 7D. Buy a Zoom recorder or something like that. These recorders will have XLR inputs and supply phantom power. Then you can get an actual "professional" microphone.

It is very easy to combine the video and audio later. And then after it is sync'd up you move the "pan" control to place the mono sound in the center of the stereo field. (or to one side if the actor is to one side of the frame.)

You should expect to spend about as much on audio gear as for video gear. After all, audio is half the show. Maybe even the more important half.
 
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