Hey fellow sound geeks. So I’m having a really weird issue with my Lectrosonics SMV transmitter. I bought this particular transmitter 6 months ago and have been having intermittent issues with it since then. I’ve had a SMQV transmitter for 6 years and have had zero issues with it ever, so I’ve just kinda assumed that my SMV troubles have been user error. It’s to the point where I really need to get this resolved.
I shot a quick phone video of a receiver during one of the times when the transmitter was acting up. We were all sitting in a car together driving in a rural area: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mkwRalwsb4IMAHGXXl2qW-ER-klRcm8U/view?usp=sharing
And here’s what it sounds like on the SMV (not synced to the phone video, but the same general time): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sy-m2rX_wMHMaVvOrv5dtUclF48TR_yx/view?usp=sharing
And just for a baseline, this is the exact same TC as the above audio file, but from another talent wearing the SMQV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12EPSokoonnVGbRdGN0MxyjVRL0xGUh9m/view?usp=sharing
Mics are both Sanken COS11.
It seems like it might be a RF dropout thing based on the readout on the receiver, but I’m definitely not confident of that diagnosis. It’s happened in a bunch of different parts of the world and it happens with different receivers. I always do a RF scan and use a clean channel, so that’s not the issue. I swap transmitters back and forth between my UCR401 receiver and my UCR411 receiver and regardless of which it’s connected to, the SMV gives me problems and the SMQV is always perfect.
In the instance recorded in the video, I was sitting right next to the talent who was laved and the batteries in his transmitter were good. This has happened several times at close (within 2-5 feet) range, so this isn’t an issue with the transmitter being too far away. And pretty much every instance I’ll also have a second talent hooked up with the SMQV transmitter and their signal is perfect.
I would so happy accept that the problem is user error, but I’ve had 6 years of 100% successful operation with my SMQV and that makes me a little skeptical of this SMV. I’ve also rented the waterproof Lectro transmitters a bunch and I’ve never had issues with them.
WTF?!
Just for reference, I'm a filmmaker who does sound. I'm not a dedicated sound person, but I have top end gear and I use it in situations where it's critical that it works.
I shot a quick phone video of a receiver during one of the times when the transmitter was acting up. We were all sitting in a car together driving in a rural area: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mkwRalwsb4IMAHGXXl2qW-ER-klRcm8U/view?usp=sharing
And here’s what it sounds like on the SMV (not synced to the phone video, but the same general time): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sy-m2rX_wMHMaVvOrv5dtUclF48TR_yx/view?usp=sharing
And just for a baseline, this is the exact same TC as the above audio file, but from another talent wearing the SMQV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12EPSokoonnVGbRdGN0MxyjVRL0xGUh9m/view?usp=sharing
Mics are both Sanken COS11.
It seems like it might be a RF dropout thing based on the readout on the receiver, but I’m definitely not confident of that diagnosis. It’s happened in a bunch of different parts of the world and it happens with different receivers. I always do a RF scan and use a clean channel, so that’s not the issue. I swap transmitters back and forth between my UCR401 receiver and my UCR411 receiver and regardless of which it’s connected to, the SMV gives me problems and the SMQV is always perfect.
In the instance recorded in the video, I was sitting right next to the talent who was laved and the batteries in his transmitter were good. This has happened several times at close (within 2-5 feet) range, so this isn’t an issue with the transmitter being too far away. And pretty much every instance I’ll also have a second talent hooked up with the SMQV transmitter and their signal is perfect.
I would so happy accept that the problem is user error, but I’ve had 6 years of 100% successful operation with my SMQV and that makes me a little skeptical of this SMV. I’ve also rented the waterproof Lectro transmitters a bunch and I’ve never had issues with them.
WTF?!
Just for reference, I'm a filmmaker who does sound. I'm not a dedicated sound person, but I have top end gear and I use it in situations where it's critical that it works.