Noisy sennheiser G3 lav mic

[David C jones]

Hi Eric,

Dress shirts made out of satin or silk can reek havoc on your sound. There’s not a lot you can do about it except try and tape down the shirt around the mic so it [the shirt] doesn’t move (or have the subject change shirts).

It’s also possible you have a bad cable going from your receiver into the camera. I’ve heard of this, and have personally experienced it with the Sennheiser G series. whenever the cable is moved (even slightly) it causes a sound much like clothing rubbing against the mic.

Dave J

[Ty Ford]

Hello Eric and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

In addition to David’s excellent advice, try positioning the mic so it’s pointed down and not at the face. It’s an omni, so even though it’s directional at some high frequencies, that should solve the popping problem. You’re using the metal pop filter caps on the mics, right? You can also get additional foam filters.

About the shirts. Yes they can be really noisy. CEOs who must bee seen in stiff white shirts are the worst for lavs. At some point, I give up and tell the producer the shirt’s the problem and there isn’t anything I can do about it.

Sometimes a late afternoon shoot means a 3 o’clock shadow on the neck and that means head turns cause a scraping noise where teh collar meets the skin (and hair).

You can try mounting lower on the chest to get away from the scraping if the ambient noise level allows that.

Could also be rubbing noise is mechanically transferring up the mic cord. Make a loop close to the lav and use a piece of gaffers tape to stick it inside the short or jacket.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Eric Olson]

Ty, David,

Thanks for the responses. I think you may be right in that the cable is the problem. I’ve made sure that the microphone itself is clear of the fabric. I usually do the loop the cable back into the clip but I’ll also try the gaffers tape.

Also of note, the ME4 is actually a cardioid mic. So I don’t think I can point it away from the subjects mouth without losing a lot of signal. It uses a mesh screen which I haven’t seen in other mics, so a foam windguard might help (although it would add to the mics size on screen)

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/217486-REG/Sennheiser_ME4_ME4_Lavalier_Mic_for.html

Thanks again,

Eric

[Ty Ford]

Eric,

Right you are. Cardioid. Why use it? Since you seem to be online, if you have skype, try me right now. I’m tyford.

Regards,

Ty

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[Eric Olson]

Hi Ty,

The cardioid was just the mic that came with the wireless set. Any recommendations for something that would work better?

EO

[Deleted User]

Affordable?: Countryman B3
Smaller?: Countryman B6
Top-Rated Sound & Expensive?: Sanken Cos-11

John Moore
sound.flyingmonkeystudio.com

[Ty Ford]

Eric,

That’s a little strange. The ME2 is what normally ships with the G3. I wonder if someone did some creative swapping out with your kit. A cardioid will most certainly be much more sensitive to popping and wind noise.

The ME2 is OK. The MKE2 is better all around. And if you want to hide the mic, get a Countryman B6 fit with the proper plug for the G3. And/or get it with “the link”; an extra set of connectors and a Countryman Power supply so you can use the B6 as a hardwired mic when that works better for you.

The B6 has a smaller diaphragm than the ME2 or MKE2 so it’ll be a little noisier, but way more easy to hide.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

Hi John, You’re spot on. And I heard a Tram 50 the other day in a comparison and thought it sounded great.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Jordan Wolf]

There are a few different kits available. For a recent church revamp, I ordered a kit that has a cardioid lav, as the omni pattern wasn’t tight enough for both the “liveness” of the room and the gain-before-feedback that I needed for sound reinforcement. (Some of the above doesn’t apply for audio-for-film, but is handy to know)

Depending on which kit they OP ordered, they might have a stock cardioid lav ship with it.

Wolf
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[Ty Ford]

Jordan,

Gotcha. Eric may have ordered it to solve a particular problem, not realizing that cardioid lavs (as most cardioid mics) are more prone to popping.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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