NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" is now using Sennheiser SK 5012 bodypack transmitters, a small microphone setup for guests who want the equipment to be as unobtrusive as possible.
"Most of [the guests] are not used to wearing lavs anyway. We figure the smaller we can get [the mics] the easier it is to get them to wear them, so we can put them on in the right position," said "Tonight Show" audio engineer Pat Lucatorto. "And the female guests, who come out wearing next to nothing sometimes, want to wear the smallest mic possible."
The miniature bodypack transmitter is approximately two inches square and less than an inch thick. The transmitter incorporates current PLL technology, has 16 switchable channels and uses Sennheiser's HiDyn plus noise reduction system, resulting in a better than 110 dB(A) signal-to-noise ratio.
