Wireless Microphones - Earthworks Ethos for Narration

I have been asked whether I've reviewed any wireless microphones. Well no, and yes - as the capsules are the same (near enough) as wired versions that I have reviewed... but what about the rest of the gubbins?
00:00 Introduction
00:14 Which Mics Are Available?
01:20 My Experience With Wireless
02:55 The Bane Of Batteries!
04:01 Web Info
04:21 Analogue vs Digital
06:02 Wired vs Wireless Capsules
08:47 'Thomann's' Video Test - Senn e945s
09:14 Some Wireless Specs - Earthworks SR40V
11:31 An Unsatisfactory Wireless Experience
12:37 Ultimate Quality
14:54 Summing Up

[okay]

I just love listening to this voice, and in many respects, this is about the best bass sound reference to check any monitoring system., for voice. A really lovely channel for thinking and planning and evaluating microphones. You never really think about it, until you have a need to consider what else you can do to improve an audio chain for vocals. i.e - We definitely need to take a look at the microphone., cos once captured, it cannot be improved upon, so it starts from the microphone.

What I also love about Anton, is his display of intelligence, everything is logical, not based on voodoo thinking. And his tests are the gold standard.

A dapper gentleman

[MeatDiva]

I have two sennheiser g3’s with se v7 mc2 heads on them and love them, although I just recently purchased the Shure Slxd sm58 and the sound is so close to a wired mic, cannot wait to get an earthworks capsule for it when I can get the money together. Love the vids man.

[adrianocneanu]

Sennheiser makes plug-ons which have phantom power, and in particular I checked with Sennheiser that their EW4-500 series (that is the pro series for filmmakers) work with the SR40V and SV33. The voltage is 48V and the maximum current allowed for any mic is 10mA, thus 480 mW. That is what SR40V and SV33 use. The plug-on or handheld emitters last 8 hours on 2 AA batteries, or 12 hours on the Sennheiser battery pack., typically using 180mW. As you say, phantom power is power hungry, and makes consumption (180+480)/180 about 4 times bigger, so a set of batteries should last 2-3 hours.

That should work, since few singers can sing more than 2 hours without a break...

The SR40V exists in capsule form called WL40V. It fits on a Sennheiser handheld with an adapter made by Ambient Recording.

However, not all Sennheiser wireless systems have phantom power or have enough phantom power for EW or Neumann capsules. So one should ask and check.
Thank you again for your absolutely wonderful reviews.

[GospelMusicCentralOfficial]

Great info, Anton! I agree. Here’s my experience.

I much prefer the quality and ease in choice of mic with wired, but in my position as a music director, I have to move around a lot and mix the other vocals/musicians in front of the house speakers. With that, I will use a wireless mic to be able to do so. Sometimes, I just use a long cable on my mic of choice to do that.
The wireless systems I currently use have had no issues, the Shure QLXD systems. Sounds pretty close to a wired from my experiences. I still notice some differences, especially on my voice, but the audience certainly wouldn’t.
Love the sound quality of the Sennheisers but the systems have given me trouble in my location, I likely would need to move up to their more pro systems like the 6000 series, but that’s too high for my current budget. 😄
Audio Technica had some great systems I still use in the discontinued 4000 series with the ae5400 capsules. Their new systems sound good, but the on/off switch is not easily accessible which is why I don’t have any.
On any weekend, I run around 7-9 wireless units on vocals so I have experimented with different brands and capsules. Hope this info may further help.

[Crazycanuck]

Thank you very much for taking the time to do all the research and make this video Anton. There is some wonderful information here and I really appreciate it. I read and watched the Shure whiteboard session and I was grateful for my background in engineering. lol If I may, I have a follow-up question. Do you (or anyone else reading this) have, or know where I could find, a chart of which mic capsules are compatible with various handheld mic transmitters? I found a Sennheiser chart from 2019 which includes Neumann but I can't seem to find the same thing for the Shure handheld transmitters. Once again, brilliant work!

[adrianocneanu]

I thought that the wireless mic plug ons have to be put at the end of the mic, which is what newspeople do for interviews. That would change the balance in hand of the mic when singing..
The Sennheiser EW4-500 plug on, which I just got, comes though with a holder attached, upside down, to the belt. So the wire of your mic starts normally but ends up from below, by your belt...
By the way, a pair of usual rechargeable batteries last about 3 hours in the plug on, with a power hungry SR40V attached. As I had computed beforehand below...

My SV33 also came, and it is wonderful. Thanks for the reviews.

While the Electrovoice RE20, which I had before, eliminated the proximity effect but also cut much of the lows, the SV33 manages to also eliminate most of the proximity effect but very much including a great bass for a full picture. Which is much harder.

[andremook]

It seems that Earthworks have discontinued the Earthworks Sr40v, any idea why?

[alexmegavolt]

oh, if you're going to survey radio microphones, you have a lot of work to do, especially in order to buy them))