Been looking around for the last few weeks at the various wireless options which are priced significantly below the RodeLink, there are a surprisingly large number of them!! :-o

Unfortunately many of these ones are no good, but on the upside it appears wireless has taken great strides forward (all 5 of these wireless sets mentioned are only roughly a year old or less on the market), and I've narrowed it down to four which are cheaper than the RodeLink yet look appealing from what I can gather (here they are listed from cheapest to priciest):

Boya BY-WM6 vs Azden PRO-XD vs Saramonic UwMic10 vs Audio-Technica ATW-1701L

Boya BY-WM6

Is the cheapest of the four by far at only US$140 with free shipping. It uses the 584 MHz-608 MHz frequency range. Includes an XLR output cable. Runs on two AA batteries with a claimed run time of 8hrs. Comes with a portable case for the set. RX has a headphone jack.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Boya-BY-WM6-Lavalier-Wireless-Microphone-System-For-ENG-EFP-Canon-Sony-DSLR-/282001404702

Azden PRO-XD

Second cheapest of the three at US$199 with free shipping. Uses 2.4GHz wireless. Uses an internal battery (can't swap it out.... hmmm... a downside! But on the upside, it is the slimmest of the four, which is a bonus for a wireless system). Battery life is meant to be an impressive 16hrs (with a 3hr recharge time). Has a headphone jack on the RX. Internal batteries are rechargeable over USB (can see this being useful for bag use, to keep all the RX units charged up from a USB power pack. However careful battery management during the shoot will be needed with the TX units)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Azden-PRO-XD-2-4-GHz-Digital-Wireless-Lavalier-System-/171940834701 http://www.4kshooters.net/2015/11/11/azden-pro-xd-new-budget-digital-wireless-microphone-system/ http://cheesycam.com/azden-pro-xd-2-4-ghz-wireless-lavalier-microphone-system-just-199/ http://www.learnlightandsound.com/blog/2015/10/26/good-budget-wireless-lavalier-azden-pro-xd

Saramonic UwMic10

If you squint they look almost the same as the Sony UWP-D11 sets! (it even has an XLR TX option like Sony does with the Sony UWP-D16. Which I am really looking forward to using on the boom pole, to get rid of the cable)

But the Saramonic UwMic10 costs half the amount of a Sony UWP-D11. As it is US$270 plus taxes/shipping to NZ (which does then significantly increase its cost, unfortunately). http://www.saramonicusa.com/products/saramonic-uwmic10-digital-uhf-wireless-lavalier-microphone-system-with-bodypack-tx-and-portable-rx http://www.dslrfilmnoob.com/2016/02/28/saramonic-uwmic10-dual-body-pack-2-channel-receiver-now-out/ http://www.dslrfilmnoob.com/2016/02/15/saramonic-uwmic10-dual-channel-uhf-wireless-system-review/ https://lensvid.com/gear/saramonic-uwmic10-uhf-wireless-lav-review/

The Saramonic is I think the system I'd like to go for, but once the final cost is worked out it ends up pushing up uncomfortable close to the RodeLink to really truly be a "cheaper option than a RodeLink" by a significant margin. Plus it is such a new item to the market that none of Adorama/B&H/Amazon.com are selling it, maybe I should revisit this item in a couple of months time and see if this has changed.

Audio-Technica ATW-1701L

Cheapest price now is $330.79: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1060929-REG/audio_technica_atw_1701_l_system_10_digtal_wireless.html

But it was merely US$220 at Adorama only a month ago: http://dealnews.com/Audio-Technica-Camera-Mount-Microphone-System-for-220-free-shipping/1618268.html

I think that the current prices for the ATW-1701L are just a little too high right now, as it puts it too close in price to a RodeLink, so not much savings there. But if ever see it at that sale price then I'll buy one (two even!) in a heartbeat! http://soundandpicture.com/2014/12/audio-technica-system-10-camera-mount-wireless-review/

Well, I think this now is complete survey of the "good options" which are cheaper than a RodeLink. I've surely left out a few other possibly interesting options, and feel free to point out anything important I've left out, but what I'm left wondering now... is which of these four should I pull the trigger on and buy? Open to any thoughts on my options!

So, I am looking to have a few things sorted out in the sound dept. for a doc I am working on. I have decided that the subjects will have lavs with Tascam DR-05 recording on 16GB cards (enough space for the 12hrs or so quoted by Tascam on battery life with Eneloop Pros) I can't afford wireless, so the recorders are the best combo right now for lavs (opinions welcome on this) I heard samples of Zoom H1 vs the Tascam and the Zoom has too much hiss to my taste.

On camera:

This is where I am finding a bit of a hard time deciding. I want a compact kit (preferably without a rig)

Kit 1: Roland R-26 using all of its mics recording to their own independent channel (thats 2 omnis + XY) AT875r recording into the Roland R26 Since this test showed that the Roland has a bit of a hiss, I thought that using a Fethead attached the already short AT875r will give me a lower noise floor.

• Omni + XY + Shotgun channels to mix in post along with the lavs. --For this kit, I would need to get a cage to have both the Roland and the Shotgun mounted on the GH2.

Kit 2: For a lower price as the above: Zoom H6/H5 w/ SSH-6 mic. This module mic is a XY and short shotgun at the same time, which (with Zooms software) you can then choose how much of each set (XY and shotgun) you can have in your final mix later.

Sample of software and mic tests:

• on this one is that the AT875r takes the bench of gets sold because the module replaces it. The recorder mounts directly on the hotshote (no cage, or rig)
• Not enough samples from the SSH-6 mic out there, especially indoors and with dialogue, so it's a bit of a gamble and I don't know how well the noise floor will be with that combo. -/+ XY and Shotgun only left to mix later in post with the lavs. Hearing samples from the Omni+XY+Shotgun on the Roland leaves me with a bit of nice feeling.

Kit 3: The original kit I imagined I would get.

Tascam DR-70D AT875r

• cheaper than both above
• Dr-70D pre-amps are very nice but could also compliment them with a Fethead
• DR-70D built-in mics may be stereo...but they don't really give a stereo feeling so kind of pointless and the main reason for me to look at the above

That's pretty much what I have right now as options.

I also read about the Olympus LS-100 which has nice quiet pre-amps (for the XLRs) but I was advised by a friend that the 16bit recording may be too limiting if I need to compensate for either noise or for mixing. Any opinions on that?

Sadly enough no shop in London has all of these so I can test them all in one place and see what may fit best.

Also, my doc stuff is multi-field (indoor, outdoor) fly on the wall style 95% of the time so I really like the idea of having mixing options between the lavs, stereo and shotgun.

What do we think??