Best Lavalier Microphones for TV / Film

Boston-based Production Sound Mixer Jim Keaney takes us through an in-depth comparison of 6 Lav Mics commonly used on professional TV / Film productions.

Links to products in this video:

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:06 DPA6060
3:06 Sanken COS11D
4:02 Countryman B6
6:52 Tram TR50
8:37 Deity W.Lav Micro
11:16 Deity W.Lav Pro
13:33 Comparison

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[lonzojones]

Tram tr 50 is the only Lav mic Ive ever used in TV. and Features, along with Lectrosonics. Great to see new products because sometimes u just want an update to see what else is going on. Great video. Boom mics are another animal. Have to say I agree that the 11d can be mighty useful in other situations. Keep up great, great work!! Sound u later. Lol.

[mattkokkinn]

I'm pleasantly surprised by the Diety mics. Ive been a COS 11 user for years now. What you have done is made me want a CMIT 5U even more.

[leoribeirop]

Oh my God, Tram TR50 is pretty amazing for a lavalier mic! Thank you so much bud.

[timetoarrive]

1:06 - DPA 6060
3:06 - Sanken Cos11D
4:02 - Countryman B6
6:52 - Tram TR50
8:37 - Deity W.Lav Micro
11:16 - Deity W.Lav Pro
13:33 - Comparison

[fer_fdi]

Note of warning: the 21 (the DPA adapter shown at 2:45) is not the right one for current Lectro transmitters. The DAD3021 is the right one for "UM400" or earlier txs. From "UM400a" onwards ("servo bias input" txs like the SM, SMD, etc) the DAD3056 is the right one to use. (Larry FIsher, from Lectro, dixit).

[TrevorDennis]

I'm listening avidly to this review with earbuds in my ears as instructed, and was half way through before it occurred to me that as a retired engineer, and 72 years old, I have bugger all hearing above 10kHz, and precious little even above 8kHz. As such, I actually preferred the Countryman, and didn't like the boom mic at all! Oh well. At least I don't need to waste megabucks on high end HiFi, because it would be entirely wasted on me.

[lmxtra]

Yerp...TR50 for me, with the COS11D in close 2nd place. Great video Jim🔥🔥🔥Truly, much appreciated!

[ethanrhanielle]

I was a cos11 guy who pretty much will be getting w.lav prod in the future from now on. Easy to hide, sounds amazing, and rustle with the cos11 is much more prominant. Love the review and glad I'm not the only one who sees the potential in the w.lav pro

[myvideoguy]

SUPER HELPFUL REVIEW!! For your voice I do prefer in no particular order DPA 6060, Countryman B6 and Deity W.Lav Pro. Sanken didn't do it for me. The Deity W.Lav Pro was actually my preferred sound. Thanks so much.

[sylvestrisstudios]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[ScribblebytesWorldwide]

So far I'm most impressed with the TR50.

Edit: I closed my eyes near the end and just listened, and every time it was the TR50 that made me pay attention as well as the Schoeps CMIT5U.

[ChrisLeeX]

I was looking into w.lav mics a while back, but was persuaded away by reddit.

You actually owning 10+ COS-11d's and vouching for the w.lav is the strongest endorsement :)

[justinminer]

Tram has the best sound. The sound comes out so clear. Without seeing which mic was being used when you switched mics, the Tram stood out as the clearest to me.

[ebinrock]

I've used a Sony ECM-77B pretty much my whole career (31 years as of this writing). It's been an industry standard at least in broadcast, not sure about film or corporate (but I've always loved it). I don't hear too much about it these days, with the Sanken COS-11D pretty much being the industry darling now. I'm wondering how people feel about the 77 compared to the Sanken.

[TangleWireTube]

This was so well done! What a great shoot out.
Really impressed with the Deity mics. Great value.

[anonymissed]

Benefit if dude address Tram is you can face it backwards but mount the windscreen per usual. Doing both of those things really helps fight wind noise when using unhidden.

[ToddWhirley]

Thanks for the video, Jim. Very, very helpful comparisons

[osmumos]

This video is quite educative! I loved the clear comparison... it helped me make my decision. Thank you!

[djktman]

Great to see a new video sir. I'm glad you are looking at different price points. I myself own the Diety Lav Pro and I kind of fell into the same boat where Covid didn't allow me to use it a lot. I don't know if it's my units but I don't really know if my sound quality is as good as the ones you have. Again, I should do more tests. This is also the first time I've used microdot and I've noticed that sometimes the threads can turn on the connector when the talent is wearing them. I don't know if you have this problem. But good to see you again.

[Dustbrigade]

Thanks for the comparison! Yeah TR-50 is not bad. It was my first mic I bought over the ME2. It sounds good, but a bit more selfnoise than the 4060's I go to normally. Good to hear that they seem to have addressed the Lectro microdot issue they had before.