smalljoshua Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I have been looking to augment my current wireless Mic system and being on a budget of about £150 I was going to get another Freeport (to accompany the one I already own) but then I saw CPC's Brochure and spotted the Trentec S4.4's and they look remarkably similar. I was wondering is are they OEM'd by one company? Allot of the Trantec's take the same form factor as the S4.4 but the Freeport is the only Sennheiser, that I know of (don't quote me on this), not be in the very Square case normally associated with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinE Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I know the Freeport is an uncharacteristically cheap semi-pro system, most un-Sennheiser-like. If anything, Trantec are more the OEM people, as they make (or used to) mics and RF components for other big names like Beyer. But the way things are going I would guess that all the low-end stuff is chinese OEM made these days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 So in other words I can pay more and get the Sennheiser Branding or not be a brand snob and save some money with the S4.4's! :) Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunk_1984 Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 The 2 systems are very similar in appearance and quality... I would say go for the Trantecs if only for the larger array of frequencies and the screen on the receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 I'm talking about the s4.4's not the 4.16's that I believe you are refering to. The 4.4 only has a dial for the 4 frequencies although now that you mention it I might go for the 4.16's instead they seem alot better for only a bit more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinE Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I cant comment on performance at this end of the market, no matter what badge they're wearing. There's more to a decent radio mic than an LCD screen, and if you want license-free then a multitude of frequencies is not really much use as they have to be dealer-restricted by law for sale in the UK. All license free mics are power-limited to comply anyhow, I'd be more interested in both the type of capsule fitted, (for sound and feedback performance), the soundness and robustness of the transmitter body (for drop-proofing and handling noise) and whether there's RF diversity (for good dropout performance) over and above a badge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunk_1984 Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Yes sorry I was thinking of the S4000 series. Overall between the 2 systems, go for the cheaper, as I said before they are very similar in appearance and quality. So save your money :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 if you want license-free then a multitude of frequencies is not really much use as they have to be dealer-restricted by law for sale in the UK. All license free mics are power-limited to comply anyhow,Where has this information come from? Trantec and Sennheiser don't seem to have heard? Tranec's newer 4. series have 10mW output on the de-regulated channels and licence required channels, and Sennheiser have 30mW output on all G2 packs, as have Trantec on the 4000 series. There is no licence requirement at point of sale, so it is up to the user to be legit or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 I will probably go for the 4.4s because they are currently £117 each from CPC :) ! Might get one of those cheep headset mics paulers was on about as well. ThanksJosh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan slv-tech Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 just to tidy up trantec do make the freeport hope this clarifies things Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted October 27, 2007 Author Share Posted October 27, 2007 just to tidy uptrantec do make the freeport hope this clarifies things DanThanks this Clarifies things alot [edit]I have just been looking into the future of wireless mics and according to This Guide to the Digital Switchover (on page 2) Chanel 69 is to become Licence Exempt :) so I am going to buy the S4.16's because they will have the ability to work on CH69 once it becomes Licence Excempt. also they can be connected to an antenna splitter.[/edit] Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 according to This Guide to the Digital Switchover (on page 2) Chanel 69 is to become Licence Exempt so I am going to buy the S4.16's because they will have the ability to work on CH69 once it becomes Licence Excempt. Firstly, that is only a proposed change; it's not yet set in stone (to the best of my knowledge). Secondly, if it does go licence exempt, it calls for a not a . Everybody & their dog will be able to use it for anything they want, which will make it next to useless for radio mics. This really isn't a good time to be investing in new kit until the future plans for the spectrum are finalised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted October 27, 2007 Author Share Posted October 27, 2007 according to This Guide to the Digital Switchover (on page 2) Chanel 69 is to become Licence Exempt so I am going to buy the S4.16's because they will have the ability to work on CH69 once it becomes Licence Excempt. Firstly, that is only a proposed change; it's not yet set in stone (to the best of my knowledge). Secondly, if it does go licence exempt, it calls for a not a . Everybody & their dog will be able to use it for anything they want, which will make it next to useless for radio mics. This really isn't a good time to be investing in new kit until the future plans for the spectrum are finalised. While that may be true I would be happy to use them because even now I can use every frequency in the unreg band. I don't have any problems with using unreg frequencies and don't believe that there will be any crowding issues. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmatthill Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 I once owned an older Beyer Dynamic Handheld system , s5000? I think. It was a trantec made receiver and transmitter fitted with a Beyer Condenser Mic head. All of course branded Beyer Dynamic. I would suspect this would be the case with freeport system , only differnce between the two will be the Microphone capsule which I presume will be a low end Senheiser one ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 While that may be true I would be happy to use them because even now I can use every frequency in the unreg band. I don't have any problems with using unreg frequencies and don't believe that there will be any crowding issues.Being in the US I am more familiar with the situation here, but the whole world is going through this frequency reallocation issue. The problem with using frequencies that are becoming unlicensed is that they are being made available to radio services that previously were forbidden to use those parts of the band. The big money that is buying up the spectrum is RF data and communications companies. Here in NY recently many Broadway shows had to change over their wireless mics because Qualcomm lit up a data transmission system for testing that had previously been banned from that space. As broadband data and cell services move into the space, wireless mics are going to have to move out. Now would not be a good time to buy into a band that may become useless soon. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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