So two weeks ago I received the Senal AWS-2000 and have been playing around with for a while. This past weekend I had to fly out for a gig in Memphis. While there the camera crew helped me out and we shot a review video on some down time.
After a day of this video being up on youtube it was quickly made known to me that the Sony UWP-D11 also has a transmitter with a USB power port. Disregard that portion of the video. That’s my bad.
One thing that the video does not really address is the build quality other than referencing it is made of metal. That is because I wanted to really talk about it in more detail here in this blog post. The housing for the AWS-2000 is metal but the end caps to the metal chassis are plastic. The kit is durable but not rental house/college equipment locker durable. What I mean by that is if you are a HEAVY user or loan your gear out to people a lot this kit may not hold up.
I often will have Sennheiser G2 units on my workbench that I’ve been hired to SMA mod that are easily 10+yrs old. I’m not too sure if in 10yrs we will be able to say the same about these units. The G2/G3 are solid diecast 2pc housings. BUT that said, if you are an owner operator than you know you always treat your gear a lot nicer than the gear coming from VER and Bexel (rental houses). And in that situation, this kit is plenty durable. It’s definitely a step up from the RODELink in every single feature and 1000x more robust then anything Azden is making.
There is just one more issue too gripe about when it comes to the AWS-2000 and isn’t about the product so much as it is the company, Senal. The AWS-2000 is only sold at B&H Photo AND it’s only sold as a kit. Now you can buy the plug-on TX as an additional item but that’s it. I would like it if you could buy extra receivers without having to buy extra transmitters, carrying cases and accessories. This may not become a go to wireless audio kit for full time professional sound mixers but it could be a great camera hop solution for people who don’t like buying used gear. I would also love to see more dealers added like the local audio shops that most sound mixers prefer to buy from. Currently Senal gear is listed on Amazon but only their headphones are listed there.
Overall I really am happy with what the feature set is, the size/weight, and the overall user experience is when using the kit. I don’t think it would be crazy to say that the Senal AWS-2000 might be the best wireless microphone kit in the SUB-$500 range.
About the Author
Andrew Jones is a location sound mixer based in Los Angeles. He started in the TV and Film industry in 2004. You can email him at Andrew@HoldForSound.com
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