A New Era
We’ve been using the Sennheiser G3 for all of our video work over the past couple of years. When Sennheiser reached out to us to see if we’d like to review their new G4 for them, we, of course, said yes.
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The Sennheiser G3’s were the industry standard for many professionals. The real question now is: is the G4 a worthy upgrade? That’s what we’re going to test here today. For some, you might be fine sticking with your G3. But for others, the new features on the G4 might make you want to switch. Like the smaller, more responsive mic, or the longer wireless distance.
It’s also good to note that the G4 is FCC compliant since they just released new restrictions on wireless band transmissions. Make sure you check them out in your area for more information.
The True Test
In our tests, we are going to see how the new G4 ranks compared to the G3 in different test environments. We’ll test the noise floor of each of these mics, how they respond in a windy situation, a normal outdoor situation, and a controlled test environment.
You’ll be able to decide for yourself if it’s a worthy upgrade.
This is some reference material that Sennheiser provides with its MKE 2-2 Gold mic which is the same mic found on the G4 wireless lav system. As you can see, this graph is extremely hard to read! So I suggest you go and watch our YouTube video where we break down what all these different lines mean.
Basically in a nutshell, the mic comes with different accessories or caps that you can put on the mic. This will increase or decrease the presence within the 5-20kz range. This means your speaker’s voice will sound fuller and louder as the presence increases. So with the MZC2-2 (large cap), you will hear more presence than with the MZC2-1 (small cap).
The Final Say
Ultimatly, the decision on whether or not to upgrade is up to you. If you do work where hiding mics are difficult, the smaller form factor of this mic might be appealing to you.
Or if you work with long range distances, the better frequency response and longer range might be appealing to you. If you’re concerned about the longevity of your G3, know that the G4 does have updated bands to comply.
