Buying Omni vs Uni mics

[Labellep]

I have inherited taking care of purchasing for sound for the time being. We currently have 24 channels of wireless all with Countryman B3 mics. We are looking to add another 20 channels, probably Sure ULX 4DQ. We have orchestra monitors folding back on stage.

What DPA and what Countryman mics would serve us best? And I'm also wondering about pros and cons of going uni vs omni?

Thank you

 

[TimMc]

I'll let the DPA owners suggest specific models as I use whatever is provided (no complaints, either). Back when I was buying tiny microphones the MKE II Gold, Countryman B3 were the most popular. I've gotten to use Countryman B6 and rather like them if you can keep actors from breaking them. I've also used the E6 on corporate presenters with good results.

The most frequent comment about small directional mics is that positioning is everything; the sweet spot isn't big and if the mic moves from that spot you'll be making some significant adjustments on the fly. For non-theatre use the standard directional lav mic is the Shure WL-185. Omnis tend to be slightly more forgiving of placement. Directional mics *might* get you the additional 3 or 4 dB of gain before feedback that you can't get with an omni. They're all tools in the kit and having choices is useful indeed.

 

[rwhealey]

I have inherited taking care of purchasing for sound for the time being. We currently have 24 channels of wireless all with Countryman B3 mics. We are looking to add another 20 channels, probably Sure ULX 4DQ. We have orchestra monitors folding back on stage.

What DPA and what Countryman mics would serve us best? And I'm also wondering about pros and cons of going uni vs omni?

Thank you

What level of production is this? In education, I am of the opinion that cardioid headsets/lavs have a huge risk to make things worse because of poor placement.

 

[FMEng]

Omnis are always going to sound better. They are generally smoother in frequency response, far less prone to plosives and have no proximity effect. You may find you don't need foam windscreens for omnis, but cardioids do. Like Tim says, I doubt there is much feedback benefit to cardioid lavs or headworns.

A headworn mic is always going to be prone to less feedback than a lav. The closer the mic is to the actor's mouth the better. The inverse-square law rules.

The DPA d:fine sounds fantastic and seems easiest to put on most people without it shifting around. It is crazy expensive, as are parts. The earhooks de-laminate at $35 a piece, although the cables seem to hold up well. The connector adapter can be handy if you have more than one type of beltpack.

 

[macsound]

The few times I've purchased cardioid mics for lavs for theatre, the result hasn't been consistently better than omni lavs, therefore, I choose omni every time now.
The issues with mics on actors in theatre is you can't monitor what they're doing. The mic may move between costume changes, slide around in their hair etc.
With any directional mic, placement totally affects the volume and frequency response, whereas maybe you lose a couple db when an omni lav moves, but atleast you still have something to work with.

In my opinion, same goes for earsets, no matter the brand. I've had singers, pastors and ceo's wave their hands or some other movement that pops the mic off their ear and hangs on their shirt. If it's cardioid, all you've got is shirt rustling noise. The omni, again, gives you something still.