3 ms·

Just curious. How many wireless mics and made by whom? 20+ batteries a day seems like quite a lot even for wireless mics

by Sven7 12y ago

btgeekboy 12y ago
Small corporate user's conference: 4 rooms, 2 mics per room, 2 AAs each = 16 batteries. 20 is not that far-fetched.
anigbrowl 12y ago
I'd typically have 2 Sennheiser EW500s, with the receivers and transmitters using 2 AAs each, plus 2 or 4 for a portable recorder, which is feeding 48v phantom power to a condenser microphone or occasionally to two as well as its onboard condensers that I usually have going as a backup. On a long day I'd expect to run down two sets of batteries. It's not very efficient as I often just leave stuff switched on when it could be off, but then you'll usddenly be ready to shoot at short notice and you don't want to be the person holding everything up while you switch 5 different devices back on.
- Havoc 12y ago
  Never heard of phantom power being supplied by batteries. Is this common?
  - mschuster91 12y ago
    Yep, condenser mikes don't work at all without phantom power.
  - anigbrowl 12y ago
    In field recording, sure. Film work often means going to remote locations and while generator or vehicle power is an option it may not be available if there's no night work. Additionally, running off AC power, even in an interior, means having another cable to wrangle - a pain in the rear every time the camera position is changed or there's any sort of traveling shot. It's better to have everything in a bag or mounted on a small wheelie truck. Ideally I'd like to everything wirelessly (plug-on transmitters can supply phantom from a 9v battery) but radio has its own downsides. The current requirements are not that high so it's just a matter of a small step-up transformer for the preamp. Some older pro microphones also use T-power, which requires only 12v but delivers a somewhat less good signal/noise ratio than the 48v phantom standard.
    - Havoc 12y ago
      ah - we're coming from slightly different worlds. I (was) used to mixer boards which have mains feeding into it. I guess those aren't suitable for mobile stuff.

Just curious. How many wireless mics and made by whom? 20+ batteries a day seems like quite a lot even for wireless mics

by Sven7 12y ago

Just curious. How many wireless mics and made by whom? 20+ batteries a day seems like quite a lot even for wireless mics

btgeekboy 12y ago

Small corporate user's conference: 4 rooms, 2 mics per room, 2 AAs each = 16 batteries. 20 is not that far-fetched.

anigbrowl 12y ago

I'd typically have 2 Sennheiser EW500s, with the receivers and transmitters using 2 AAs each, plus 2 or 4 for a portable recorder, which is feeding 48v phantom power to a condenser microphone or occasionally to two as well as its onboard condensers that I usually have going as a backup. On a long day I'd expect to run down two sets of batteries. It's not very efficient as I often just leave stuff switched on when it could be off, but then you'll usddenly be ready to shoot at short notice and you don't want to be the person holding everything up while you switch 5 different devices back on.

Havoc 12y ago
Never heard of phantom power being supplied by batteries. Is this common?
- mschuster91 12y ago
  Yep, condenser mikes don't work at all without phantom power.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  In field recording, sure. Film work often means going to remote locations and while generator or vehicle power is an option it may not be available if there's no night work. Additionally, running off AC power, even in an interior, means having another cable to wrangle - a pain in the rear every time the camera position is changed or there's any sort of traveling shot. It's better to have everything in a bag or mounted on a small wheelie truck. Ideally I'd like to everything wirelessly (plug-on transmitters can supply phantom from a 9v battery) but radio has its own downsides. The current requirements are not that high so it's just a matter of a small step-up transformer for the preamp. Some older pro microphones also use T-power, which requires only 12v but delivers a somewhat less good signal/noise ratio than the 48v phantom standard.
  - Havoc 12y ago
    ah - we're coming from slightly different worlds. I (was) used to mixer boards which have mains feeding into it. I guess those aren't suitable for mobile stuff.