As an award-winning filmmaker, Alex Schwindt knows the importance of crisp, clean audio. His ASM media agency, based in Raleigh-Durham, NC, has made its mark telling powerful stories through powerful commercial, documentary, and nonprofit film and video production. Schwindt has also been a church video team leader, so he is the ideal person to share his experience with audio gear that could make all the difference in your church video productions. He recently put Sony’s UWP-D27 wireless bodypack microphone package to the test, paying special attention to how it might benefit churches.
Headphone monitoring at the receiver unit is a great feature when using cameras without direct monitoring capabilities.
Schwindt wanted to see how Sony’s wireless audio package measured up in real-world situations, so he set up the UWP-D27 system on two separate filming days in professional filmmaking settings in different environments. “My plan was to run the mic system through the typical documentary filmmaking setups it was designed for,” says Schwindt. “That offered me the opportunity to evaluate the dual-mic interview setups utilizing this one wireless system.”
Alex Schwindt, a former church film team leader, is the founder and creative director at ASM, a boutique media agency, based in the Raleigh-Durham area, specializing in commercial, documentary, and nonprofit film and video production.
The UWP-D27 package is a complete wireless audio system designed for on-camera interviews and live presentations. Designed to capture crisp, clear sound and set up with minimum effort, ECM-V1BMP omnidirectional lavalier microphones connect to the light, compact UTX-B40 bodypack transmitter. Audio is transmitted wirelessly to the URX-P41D 2-channel portable receiver, which uses wireless pairing between transmitter and receiver.
Schwindt was pleased with the quality of the components right out of the box. “It was clear that this package is professional, industry-standard build quality, and very rugged,” he said. “It’s built to see filmmakers through 10+ years of daily, continual use.” Along with the build quality, he appreciated the unit’s fast power-up, wireless connectivity between transmitters and receiver, and the stability of a diversity antenna system.
For his test setups, Schwindt ran the UWP-D27’s receiver into a Canon EOS C70 Cinema Camera utilizing XLR-to-mini-XLR adapters. “In my testing, the UWP-D27 system produced consistent, professional-quality sound,” he said. “The system can provide very clean and focused audio for your productions. Plus, it can run two wireless mic systems to a single receiver, utilizing dual XLR outputs for independent channel control and additional flexibility.”
Regarding the ECM-V1BMP omnidirectional lavalier microphones, Schwindt noted that output focuses on the typical voice signal range, making them a good choice for most environments. “The pickup pattern is very solid,” he added, “picking up the voice no matter which way the head is turned, even through shirts.” For his testing, he made use of the headphone monitoring available at the receiver unit. “That’s a great feature when using cameras without direct monitoring capabilities,” he said.
Schwindt also called out some of the user-friendly features of the system, including very fast NFC (near field communication) device syncing and the system's friendly signal scanning for handling different environments. “The system offers multiple gain structure options,” he says, “so you can easily dial in a setting to best match the camera or field recorder you are using.”
The Sony UWP-D27 can run two wireless mic systems to a single receiver, utilizing dual XLR outputs for independent channel control and added flexibility.
“Sony's UWP-D27 wireless could be a fantastic option for one-man-band video producers who need completely dependable results, and need them immediately,” he says. “Its design allows a single producer to quickly run audio and monitor two-person interviews into a single camera.” Additionally, Schwindt sees additional benefits for filmmakers using Sony cameras with the optional Sony SMAD-P5 digital Multi Interface (MI) Shoe adapter. This allows users to mount the receiver directly on some Sony cameras, eliminating the need for connecting cables. The direct digital audio connection between the receiver and camera skips the receiver's D/A and camera's A/D conversion stages for superior 24-bit audio quality and low noise.
Schwindt was pleased with the performance and quality result delivered by Sony’s UWP-D27 audio package, but recognized that its price tag of $1,229 might be a stretch for church teams on a tight budget. “The cost is really not unfair when compared to the highest-quality professional lavalier systems,” he says. “Jumping in at that level is the type of cry-once investment that serious video producers ultimately make, once they realize just how crucial high-quality, dependable audio is to successful content creation. Filmmakers utilizing Sony cameras that integrate directly with this system would be very hard-pressed to find a better wireless lavalier solution for filmmaking.”
