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Sennheiser ew100 g3 with bad background noise
I’m having an issue I can’t resolve. I have 3 Sennheiser ew100 g3 eng sets all using the lavalier mics. What’s happening is that 1 of these picks up way too much background noise while the other 2 isolate and focus on the subject. I have each mic setup exactly the same on different frequencies. Additionally, on that 1 particular mic, the higher frequencies distort even when AF levels set accordingly.
Another issue is that when I connect a handheld mic, utilizing that plug in connector, I hear the same result. This makes post production a chore as I have to process the audio a lot to achieve my results. Suggestions on where to begin and what might cause this?
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4 Replies
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Have you checked all (ALL!) the transmitter and receiver settings to confirm that they are configured identically. The channel/frequency is only ONE of the many user settings. And assuming you have everything in the audio system “gain staged” properly (since you say you have two kits that are operating properly).
Since you have two working examples, you have the ideal opportunity to swap different parts of the kit. For example use the microphone from one of the good kits on the bad transmitter. Does that change anything?
Or use the receiver from one of the good kits with the bad transmitter. Does that change anything?
Doing that kind of “differential diagnosis” will help you narrow down the exact location of the problem in the chain.———————————————————————————
Recording audio without metering and monitoring is exactly like framing and focusing without looking at the viewfinder. -
The first thing I tried was changing components but that doesn’t change anything.
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So if you get the same noise with a different microphone and a different transmitter, that strongly suggests that the receiver is broken.
But that doesn’t correlate very well with your statement “picks up way too much background noise”. Only the microphone itself can “pick up background noise”. And you said that you used a different microphone with the same symptoms. So either you have two broken microphones, or else what you are hearing is not “background noise” but “electronic noise” from the transmitter or receiver.
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Recording audio without metering and monitoring is exactly like framing and focusing without looking at the viewfinder. -
Is this new behavior or has it been like this since you got the units? If it’s new behavior, what did you change that resulted in the new behavior? Anything at all — new mic mounting technique, new radio setting, mounting on someone you’ve miced before, mounting on someone new, etc.
What microphones are you using? Are all three of the microphones the same make/model (verify it with physical inspection of all three)?
What batteries are you using? How “fresh” are they? When in doubt try fresh alkalines (not rechargeables) and see what happens.
As Richard suggests, standard trouble shooting in these cases is to swap components to narrow down the trouble spot. If you swap mics between your troubled system and a working system, and the trouble stays put, it’s not the mic. If you then swap out the transmitters and the trouble stays, it’s not the transmitter. That leaves the receiver.
If the trouble follows the part when you swap something out, the problem is with the part you swapped out.
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