Teach me about lapel mics.

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 6:32 am

Ok gang, I'm getting hitched at the end of this month.

Our officiant requested we bring a lapel mic. I'm in charge of sound so I figured I'd buy one and either be shocked by the times it comes in handy or resell it later.

What would be a decent affordable lapel mic? What is the SM58 of lapel mics?

I don't think we'll need to go the extra mile for a cordless setup for it, unless that's more affordable than I imagined.

jhharvest · Post by **jhharvest** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:23 am

The DPA 4061 is a miniature mic that actually sounds great. It will have a lot more applications than just your wedding. Congratulations, by the way.

The more common cheap lavalieres I see around are the Sony UWP and Sennheiser EW series. I'm not particularly keen on either but they work. The (new?) Rode Lavalier sounds pretty nice in samples but I haven't had a chance to try it. Afaik they also give it a 5 year warranty which is exotic for miniature mics.

Alternatively, nofilmschool.com posted a comparison just a couple of days ago where they thought that a $1 Chinese miniature mic sounded pretty good.

wren · Post by **wren** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:44 am

I just typed a long reply, then re-read your original post and realized you weren't planning on going wireless. Which is good - that actually makes your options much better. Wireless is definitely not more affordable than you imagine unless we have very different definitions of "affordable."

I got a pair of DPA 4061s relatively recently and they're absolutely amazing. Total swiss army knife mics - they've quite literally changed my entire approach to recording. Without their filters they're razor-flat 20Hz-20kHz, and you can get all sorts of amazing adapters that can mount them to anything. For recording: they're great as a stereo spaced pair, but they're also great because they're omni and have such a flat frequency response and therefore can literally be, like, gaff taped to an instrument (if you don't have the appropriate DPA adapter) and they'll still sound good.

And they're also amazing for live stuff. For example, I used to hate doing anything with amplified grand piano, but now that I have the 4061s I just use the DPA magnetic mounts and stick them inside the piano at half-stick. Add quite a bit of reverb and you're basically done - requires very, very minimal EQ.

Sorry, that came off sound kind of like an ad, but I really am genuinely that enthusiastic about them. I have some decent recordings I've done with them - if you're seriously interested, let me know and I can send you some examples. I can give you raw, unprocessed files so you can hear what they actually sound like.

And if the DPAs are a little (or a lot) more than you were looking to pay, you can get some of the Sony ECM-series cheap if you look for used (in my experience, the Sony ECMs seem to be the SM58 of lavs in the video production world). Countryman B3s (the SM58 of musical theater lavs) are fantastic-sounding if a little bit noisy and relatively inexpensive new, but good luck finding them used (which does mean they have good resale value). Whatever you get, I'd recommend getting an omni - IMO it'd be way more useful in the long run.

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:02 am

Lavaliers (AKA lapel mics) are entirely inappropriate for a wedding.

What you want is a shotgun mic.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:15 am

And congrats!

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 4:46 pm

The SM58 of lapel mics is the Shure WL-185, kind of big but still a favorite of the guys who do corporate shows a lot.

wren · Post by **wren** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 3:44 pm

Scodiddly wrote:The SM58 of lapel mics is the Shure WL-185, kind of big but still a favorite of the guys who do corporate shows a lot.

If he's not going wireless, though, the WL-185 isn't available to him unless he wants to buy a rare TA3M-to-XLR adapter (and it ain't just an "adapter" in the traditional sense - it's also changing phantom power voltage).

Yeah, the cardioid WL-185 and it omni cousin the WL-183 are definitely the SM58s of lavs if you're including wireless options. I've personally never seen one wired.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 5:52 pm

The wired version is the MX-185.

Or just rent a wireless system. It's not like you're going to get married more than once or twice a year, right?

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Sat Jul 05, 2014 8:28 am

The Scum wrote:Lavaliers (AKA lapel mics) are entirely inappropriate for a wedding.

What you want is a shotgun mic.

Ha, ha! But she isn't pregnant.

Injured Ear · Post by **Injured Ear** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 5:28 pm

I can vouch for the DPA love. Great sounding Lav.

Also, Sennheiser MKE-2 gets a lot of love, though their wires can be a little stiff as compared to the Sony ECM-77 sounds great in many instances.

Voice Technologies makes some Lav's that sound good for much less money than the DPA and Sennheiser mics.

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Teach me about lapel mics.

Teach me about lapel mics.

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