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Beware of fake/counterfeit/aftermarket Sennheiser products. I learned the hardway. A couple years ago I bought some HD25 II. The cord was too small, so I bought a replacement coiled cord from Hard To Find Records. I purchased many vinyls from them in years past, so I didn't think anything of it. When I got the cord, which I paid a lot for, I noticed that the audio had some degradation. I didn't think anything of it.

Well, that cord went bad several weeks ago. I called Sennheiser and purchased a replacement cord from them last week. When I received the cord, I noticed it was VERY different than the one I got from HTFR. The cable was thicker, heavier, and most importantly, the connectors were different. But the big difference came when I heard the sound. The quality was amazing. There was a HUGE difference. Needless to say, I paid the same amount buying a legit quality product direct from the manufacturer, than a buying a fake/aftermarket product from a 3rd party.

Lesson learned. Buy replacement parts directly from Sennheiser. Even Sennheiser warns you on their website.

They might make good earphones, but Sennheiser is the most overrated brand for microphones. The king of (audible) feedback issues when using their wireess mics.

Hahahaha oh yes! I learned that lesson too.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveT They might make good earphones, but Sennheiser is the most overrated brand for microphones. The king of (audible) feedback issues when using their wireess mics.

Which model do you have? I've been using Sennheiser mics for at least 18 years and never had issues with them. Wired and wireless.

Well, I should point out that I'm talking more specifically about their lav mics. Which models? I dunno off the top of my head, but they were $500 mics, if not more. And if it's just 1-on-1 setup, you won't have issues. But you use them in an environment with a lot of other electronics, other wireless devices, etc, and have to boost the gain any more than a tad bit, a high chance of having feedback issues through the speakers.

This wasn't only something we noticed in-house. We'd go to events where the production company running it would have all kinds of the same issues and have to change to a different kind of mics. We'd notice just about every time it was sennheiser lavs being used.

At Comic-Con in July, I had to go setup a webcast on the USS Midway to do some big Star Trek-ish event with Will Shatner in San Diego. They hired a production crew who decided to use sennheisers lavs. When we saw the stage setup and everything we warned them about the issues that could arise. Didn't listen. It took about 15 seconds after the event started and Will looking over like he wanted to murder people. Luckily, I had two other Sony mics on me and after five minutes of them trying to hopelessly fix it, I just shoved it in front of their sound guys face. They switched the mics, everything worked great. It was pretty funny in the end.

Sennheisers are great when they work. I just think they are overrated. Maybe it's the frequencies they use? I dunno. I have had the fewest issue with the Sony lav mics, and still not as much with Shure.

Last edited by DaveT on Nov-10-2010 at 22:39

quote:

Originally posted by DaveT Well, I should point out that I'm talking more specifically about their lav mics. Which models? I dunno off the top of my head, but they were $500 mics, if not more. And if it's just 1-on-1 setup, you won't have issues. But you use them in an environment with a lot of other electronics, other wireless devices, etc, and have to boost the gain any more than a tad bit, a high chance of having feedback issues through the speakers. This wasn't only something we noticed in-house. We'd go to events where the production company running it would have all kinds of the same issues and have to change to a different kind of mics. We'd notice just about every time it was sennheiser lavs being used. At Comic-Con in July, I had to go setup a webcast on the USS Midway to do some big Star Trek-ish event with Will Shatner in San Diego. They hired a production crew who decided to use sennheisers lavs. When we saw the stage setup and everything we warned them about the issues that could arise. Didn't listen. It took about 15 seconds after the event started and Will looking over like he wanted to murder people. Luckily, I had two other Sony mics on me and after five minutes of them trying to hopelessly fix it, I just shoved it in front of their sound guys face. They switched the mics, everything worked great. It was pretty funny in the end. Sennheisers are great when they work. I just think they are overrated. Maybe it's the frequencies they use? I dunno. I have had the fewest issue with the Sony lav mics, and still not as much with Shure.

Lavs in general can be a nightmare in a live situation. The Sennheiser models MKE2's are still widely used in live theatre. There is a trick to making those sound awesome. What kind mixing console are you using? What I normally do is add a parametric eq into a group out. Route all the mics to that group then send to the outputs. If you're using a digital console you can patch a parametric eq onto the mix out. Pretty much the same way with an analog mixer. In theatre, the performers usually wear the mics under their wigs or around their ear.

Where I work we use lavs everyday. How I build my mix with a lav is I'll start bringing it up in the pa. Once I start to hear a little feedback I'll sweep frequencies on my parametric to find which one it is. I like to start a narrow q as well. I'll notch the frequency a couple db and continue bringing it up. If I notice any air or other harmonic sounds I'll open up the q to a wider cut. Continue bringing the lav up in the pa until I hear more feedback. Then continue the eq process. I continue this process until my lav input is about 3db over 0.

Another thing it could be is the input setting on the pack itself. If it's set to high it will feedback. Also check attenuation on the pack if it has it as well. Also make sure the receiver looks good on input and output.

Some other mics I use live is either the DPA 4066 or the Countryman E6. Another one of my favorites is the Crown 311. Not the ideal choice for broadcast but works well on an active singer.

Seen MKE2's shoved into beards, too, hehe..

Anyhow, Interesting. I wasn't our sound engineer. We hired a real one eventually as our productions grew since I know video production more than audio production, hehe. He did everything for us after that from creating all the music pieces to running the board unless he needed a break or something. He was laid off when I was, though. Boo!

That said, I wouldn't call myself a beginner. I wish I could've taken the Universal Audio 2-1176 Twin compressor I bought for the old office.

I'm sure in a theater the MKE2's are fine. Not as much chaos (various electronics from TVs to videogame consoles among other things!) to cause interference on those types of stages, hehe. Our control room would kinda be "mobile" and pretty sure we used a 24 channel Mackie Onyx board.

I'll have to remember what you do if I am ever in a similar situation in the future! If there's time. Half the time it happens it's all fine in testing then goes nuts when the event actually begins. Always that kind of luck, lol.

Last edited by DaveT on Nov-10-2010 at 23:25

Another to consider with Sennheiser lavs is they don't always play nice with certain wireless systems because of their sensitivity. Especially if the system isn't high quality. Sounds like your were getting traffic stepping on the frequencies that were being used. That something which the production company should have ironed out during set up. If you go to www.fcc.gov you can get a copy of what frequencies are open to use in your area.

By any chance, were these mics transmitting in the 700mhz range?

Let me know if you ever need help on that. One suggestion I would make since you're using an Onyx. I would recommend getting an external parametric. Mackie boards typically only have a sweepable mid which if I remember correctly only sweeps from 400 to 2k. Some feedback from lavs typically take off in the higher frequencies.

I don't know. I don't remember. These are events ranging from a few months ago to several years back. And in recent events/years, we just didn't use Sennheiser mics ourselves because the Sony mics just never gave us the same issues and it was work in pretty much a chaotic, news room setting, so we played it safe. Our stuff was for the internet and sometimes TV, so the highest quality of sound wasn't always the focus point.

The Sony mics do have their issues, though - the short XLR connector connecting the wireless receiver to the mic input on the camera or sound board would always go bad and have to be replaced.

quote:

Originally posted by djkatmaus Let me know if you ever need help on that. One suggestion I would make since you're using an Onyx. I would recommend getting an external parametric. Mackie boards typically only have a sweepable mid which if I remember correctly only sweeps from 400 to 2k. Some feedback from lavs typically take off in the higher frequencies.

Will be sure to remember your info and forward it along to my old peeps!