Sennheiser G2 EW 100 vs. Shure SLX

[mbenonis]

Has anyone played with either the Shure SLX series or the Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 series wireless systems? If so, can you please describe your experience with them and which you prefer (if you've used both systems)?

[mbenonis]

*Bump* Anyone?

[The_Guest]

Looks like your not getting much help, I have no experience with the new Shure SLX series, nor the G2. However I have worked with the Sennheiser 100 Series Lavs several times. I'm currently using 10 of these for a summer musical. They're performance is pretty good for the price, probably the best bang for the buck wireless rigs out there. I've personally never delt with Sennheiser, but I heard there support is rather cruddy. Although I've never used/heard the SLX series, I'd prefer the sennheisers over them simple because the SLX series use plastic enclosures for all the equpment. While, the 100s have all metal enclosures, and I really like the sennheiser packs a lot. They have a nice plastic cover for all the buttons, which is pretty helpful because most lav techs in HS don't understand the concept of "power locking". The sennheiser seem to be a nicer buy (I believe better performance too), the SLX just feels like shure released it based on capturing more of the market by making a low end selectable frequency wireless system. Just to clear things up, I'm not necessarly a sennheiser guy, I actually prefer shure simple because it's more user friendly and just comes more logical to me. I really like the U and UC series, the ULX series isn't bad but they're plastic enclosures which generally aren't a good long term purchase. Shure are my favorite for the most part, sony I like a lot too, they're actually the hardest to figure out but I've been really impressed with the system's performance at my main facility. But they're really pricey, but they have the most amazing range and clarity.

Anyway, I'm a little off topic. To sum it up, I vote for the G2s.

[Wildcat]

I have found shure a bit more reliable on the frequency side of the issue, as for quality of the actual product, I would say they are about the same. (Handhelds are about on an equal level, but as for lavs Shure has the upper hand, Sennheiser has annoyed me with fixing cable shorts all the time, haven't fixed my Shures yet.) Shure SLX frequency scan is better. With Sennheiser's products they have multiple frequencies, but only one frequency seems to work well with the transmitter. The rest of the frequencies seem to be for looks.

My two cents on the issue.

Josh - Central Washington University

[The_Guest]

Thats one thing I forgot to mention, the Sennheiser mic cables break easily. I don't know if it was just from ware from past productions, but the summer musical I used them we must have replaced 6 mics. I had to take three trips to a repair center during this production. I've never experienced any of this with the Sony's at my main facility, but we generally take better care of our lavs and our wireless is about a year or two newer. But I like the sennheiser mic capsules better, they seem to be smaller and work just as well. They seem to win me over cosmetic-wise. Many shure capsules are huge, they're much larger than some of the really really small Sony mics. Others however are quite tolerable, but overall I'd have to say shure generally has the best wireless performance, not sure about the SLX series though. Sennheisers performance is performance is generally good for the money.

[MikeJM]

Just to help The_Guest clarify (I was the sound designer for that same production) it wasnt actually the mics breaking and having flaws in the cable, but it was in fact the connection. The connector that comes with the mics are rubber, very cheap and are not removable. When they were repaired a nicer plastic connector with a gold plated jack was put on, and they can take a little more wear and tear.

You also have to remember that these mics were taking the most serious of abuse. They have been rotated often during productions, they are already a few years old and they are being dropped, and mistreated by high schools actors/actresses despite the best effort of the sound crews.

The Sony Wireless that we have used at the other facility have not experienced any problems with the connectors, (these microphones are newer and are not used nearly as much also) but the cable is more cheap than the sennheisers and i can see several knicks were the underlaying copper cable is visible and a couple of our mics.

[WhitePony]

have 8 of the sennheiser wireless and the only probs so far were frequency issues... but that was taken care of quickly... very very nice mike... use them for singing, easy to EQ allow for a goood range of singers

[Kruton]

Well I have 14 ULX WL 93 Shure Mics & BODY PACKS and Work Perfectly, (7 m1 w/distribution and 7 j1 w/distribution.

Also I got 4 Beta 58 ULX Wireless mics as an add on and work great. (Just mics, no receivers)

It did take some time to set 14 frequencies because of all of the tv the surrounds me, but they work great. As for the microphones, i have had 1 connector fail, due to exxecive abuse.

Last I like the omni W93's for theatre, they hide and work nicely. Also i DO NOT Recoment the 185 Mic for theatre, they pick up way too much wind when placed anywhere other than the tie area. Overall they all sound great, and have no cons about them. I only Wish SLX was out when i purchased ULX a year and a half a go, (METAL!!!, Ulx plastic )

[mbenonis]

The SLX series transmitters are also made of plastic - only the receiver is metal. I believe the product information is a bit misleading in this respect.

Btw, our two SLX series mics are working great.

[Andy_Leviss]

Even with metal-bodied Shures, Sennheisers as a general rule are built much more solidly. I'll take a Sennheiser over a comparable Shure any day, given the choice.