Now in its fourth season, Go Fighting! Treasure Walk exploits the stunning landscapes and local customs of China’s countryside in a popular outdoor reality show created by Shanghai Media Group (SMG). Shooting its complex outdoor scenes presented many challenges for the audio system design, however, until the programme’s team found Sennheiser’s EW-DP wireless system offers clear and stable sound to the show.
In this season – Go Fighting! Treasure Walk - Harmonious Countryside – the film crew visited locations in all regions of the country, from quiet hamlets in the valleys to ancient villages surrounded by mountains. The scenery, crowds and interaction between guests made the programme exciting, but capturing clear on-site audio was challenging.
Xu Mengyu, Head of Audio, was responsible for the season’s sound recording, including vocals, ambient sound and sound reinforcement. After more than a month of field testing and comparison, Xu Mengyu chose 40 channels of EW-DP for its sound quality and stability.
Xu is a long-time user of the Sennheiser EW 112P G4, and he appreciates the audio quality, operability and reliability of the product. However, after hearing about the new EW‑DP and trying it out, he was still more impressed: ‘We tested the EW-DP to its limit,’ he says. ‘It performed amazingly well, and with the same Sennheiser quality as always. The subsequent recording process went smoothly, with the EW-DP delivering clear and stable sound quality, reliability and a great user experience.’
A member of the Evolution Wireless Digital, the EW-DP uses equidistant channel spacing and automatic frequency coordination to identify the best free frequency and synchronise with the transmitter via Bluetooth – 56MHz of tuning bandwidth offers up to 90 channels that can automatically be preset by EW-DP.
Many sources of interference in threaten outdoor recording, often causing frequency dropouts or sound loss. The audio team also required absolute stability from the audio equipment. ‘EW-DP’s stability is so strong,’ Xu says. ‘It is almost completely unaffected by any external signal interference. I no longer need to worry if there are telecoms towers nearby.’
In addition, outdoor programme recording has very high requirements for the security of audio material, so the programme team often record multiple backup tracks simultaneously. At the same time, the executive director needs to listen to the guests in real time. In response to these practical needs, Xu Mengyu’s team designed a radio system for the programme with one transmitter matching four receivers, i.e. one EW-DP SK transmitter paired with four EW-DP EK receivers.
The EW-DP EK receivers use an innovative magnetic stacking system – the first receiver is mounted onto the main camera through a magnetic mounting plate with the second and third connected to two Sound Devices 688 recorders for recording backup audio. Xu Mengyu also modified the antenna of one of these receivers with a Sennheiser ADP UHF passive directional antenna, which further enhances the signal reception range to better ensure the stability of the signal in an extremely complex environment. The fourth receiver was used by the executive director for monitoring.
‘The EW-DP’s user-friendly interface is ideal for programme making. All controls and settings are made on the receiver, and the bodypack transmitter only has two internal buttons, which effectively prevents guests from accidentally touching them,’ Xu Mengyu says. ‘The EW‑DP’s powerful OLED display brings great convenience to our work. It faces the cameraman, and we know the exact runtime of the batteries at any time without having to rely on experience to make an estimate, which allows us to deal with unforeseen situations. This is an unprecedented experience and very important for outdoor reality show recording! There is no doubt about the outstanding performance of the EW-DP. Its flexibility in use has also made our audio system design much easier.’
Xu and his team are already preparing for their next programme, and looking forward to Sennheiser’s EW-DP to help bring another audiovisual feast to the audience.
More: www.sennheiser.com
