Sony ECM-W3 MI Shoe wireless microphone kit.

Screenshot-2023-11-20-at-12.40.02-600x469 Sony ECM-W3 MI Shoe wireless microphone kit.I guess I must have missed this while I was on holiday but Sony have now announced a small wireless microphone kit that competes with the small digital wireless microphone kits from DJI and Hollyland etc. While not intended to replace the longer range professional wireless microphones such as the UW-P series these microphones offer a very compact system at a much lower price. Being digital they offer very high sound quality.

Many of us, myself included often use a Sony camera to shoot video blogs or simple productions where we all we need is a basic radio mic system and this is where look to be ideal. The receiver connects directly to the MI Shoe of any Sony camera with an MI Shoe, so there are no wires or cables to get in the way or to get lost. Then the small clip on transmitter with its built in microphone is worn by the subject. 

Screenshot-2023-11-20-at-12.39.37-600x469 Sony ECM-W3 MI Shoe wireless microphone kit.
Sony ECM-W3S single channel wireless mic kit.

 

The single channel system costs £320 GBP ($350 USD) and the dual channel with 2 transmitters around £420 GBP ($475 USD).

The transmitter and receiver come in a small charging case and a windscreen is included for the transmitters. If you don’t have an MI shoe equipped camera there is a 3.5mm audio cable to connect between the receiver and the camera, computer or other recording device.

460x150_xdcam_150dpi Sony ECM-W3 MI Shoe wireless microphone kit.

9 thoughts on “Sony ECM-W3 MI Shoe wireless microphone kit.”

  1. TBH, this seems quite pricey given the existing competition. Have to look into my existing question that is not covered in this article, if this model can make use of the 2 extra digital 24bit audio inputs 3&4 via hotshoe, plus still allowing for external mic on 1&2 analog? Wished Sony made a little 3.5mm based interface shoe (with a small extension cable for relocation) for audio 1/2 and 3/4 where one of those can be used with TC. Or release code to 3rd party

    1. The MI shoe has 2 audio inputs bit these support both analog and digital (the older analog UWP-D units can be used with MI shoe equipped cameras without issue), so you should be able to assign this to channels 3 and 4, keeping 1 & 2 and the built in input free for other sources regardless of whether it is digital or not.

  2. Do you know if this actually works with the Digital MI Interface on the FX6 (or only Analogue MI Interface on the FX6 like the older ECM-W2 version)?

  3. Regarding the FX9 and the MI Interface along with the FX9’s XLR inputs; What is the bit depth and sample rate of the audio file? While recording via the HDMI output to a NinjaV, it seems to be 24 bit and 48khz. Is there a way to have the FX9 output 96 KHz scan rate? Where would I select these options?

    I have a P41D Rx unit that I’m using for the MI shoe interface for channels 3/4 (routing them to 1/2 on the HDMI for NinjaV recording).

    1. The internal audio is 24bit 48Khz and that is the maximum. Why do you need 96khz sampling, most microphones don’t go beyond 20Khz and the P41D only goes up to 18Khz.

      1. All very valid points of why sample rates over 48Hz aren’t needed. The reason I asked is that clients do ask for high sample rates for the film industry because the recording hardware can support it. I just did a test and absolutely didn’t hear any difference via a external recorder vs the FX9 internal audio circuits and then comparing 48hz via the HDMI output and a Tascam DR-701D 24 bit 96khz audio recording from the same audio source.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.