@Sangye I may have missed some of the technical stuff here, but are you primarily concerned with going hard wired with lavs and making sure they don't come unplugged, or do you want to also be able to monitor the audio? I think I've heard of solutions where people have a recorder with a wired lav attached, but also have a wireless transmitter on the recorder. So you listen with headphones to the wireless transmission, but the recorded audio is actually from the wired lav going into the recorder. That way you get the best possible audio and avoid any wireless interference, but you're basically able to monitor the audio to make sure you're getting what you need.

This is something I remembered hearing about awhile ago, so my memory on the technical stuff here could be off. Maybe try googling it. Good luck.

(BTW, I shot a feature using hard wired lavs, and used Tram TR-50s going into Roland R-05 recorders and I didn't have any problems with the mic getting disconnected. If interested, get the Tram TR-50 with the 1/8" Sennheiser plug. It plugs right into the Roland 1/8" mic input and works perfectly)

Since in The Uk we have switched over to Channel 36 I have had no end of Issues with the Sennheiser Radio Mics so I ended up buying Canford Adaptors for the ME-2 mic's off the Sennheiser Evolution G3 series for sit down interviews.

Canford Also do Lots of adaptors for different mic fittings.

http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/20-769_CANFORD-ELECTRET-MICROPHONE-ADAPTER-3.5mm-jack

I would like to second htinla's method, that's exactly what I use and it is very good setup. You cannot monitor during record but as long as you are plugged in correctly, set the limiter to control unexpected peaks, do a level and sound check before filming and don't forget to hit record, the sound is very good indeed; though the actual mic will be your bottleneck in terms of fidelity. I've only heard good things about the OST lavalier so it should be a very good option.

A tip for for mixing lavalier in post: I use Zynaptiq Unfilter to unlock lost frequencies due to the inherent FRC of lavalier mics and it really opens up the sound. Trick is to control how much you mix back in with the original signal and then to add corresponding room verb. I do this to match lav tracks to boom with very decent results.

@fosterchen Why would you want to convert a mono lav track into stereo? All dialogue tracks are mono unless you're going for some freaky LSD dream sequence vibe...

Here is a Vers Video On lavs

@Hooke The lav came with an old Audio Technica wireless setup I have but don't use much anymore.

@Roly I do really like my Oscar Sound Tech lavalier, and want to keep it. They offer it hard-wired to an XLR power adapter, but unfortunately I wasn't aware of this when I ordered it and bought one with a Sennheiser plug, instead. Røde is great, having owned an NTG-1, NTG-2, and several VideoMics I do like their sound, but there are a lot of other older lavs out there that don't have XLR connections. Most of them were designed for use with wireless transmitter packs, but I can't afford a wireless transmitter, and honestly for what I need it for (controlled interviews in a sit-down setting), wireless isn't necessary. And the rule of thumb is that a balanced XLR cable is always going to be higher quality than wireless, so theoretically I should be getting better sound this way.

I used to run my OST lavalier directly into my Tascam DR-05, and plant it on the subject. This gave me good quality sound, but as I said, there have been instances when it came unplugged, and not being able to monitor it, I didn't immediately notice. That's very bad, obviously. I like the idea of hooking up a cheap wireless transmitter to a small recorder's headphone jack, for monitoring. I hadn't thought of that before -- that way you get great quality recordings because you've plugged the mic directly into the recorder, but you still get monitoring wirelessly. But if you hear distortion or interference, I guess you couldn't be sure without checking the recorder whether it's because of the wireless monitoring setup, or between the mic and the actual recorder. Still, that is a creative solution.

My DR-60D arrived today, and I'm not having the issues as bad anymore. I think the main problem was the iRig PRE, which either is a bad copy, or doesn't supply the right phantom power voltage that my Provider Series calls for. Maybe it's just shy of 48v, maybe it's over 48v. But that issue is resolved with the DR-60D.

The Provider Series adapters are a little finnicky. Sometimes they won't work at all. Often I can fix it by unscrewing the plug tip and screwing it back in 3/4 of the way, but not always. Both of them have this issue, so I can't recommend them. Sennheiser makes an adapter too, but it's $150. There are some other smaller brands that make XLR to lav adapters, but I don't have experience with them.

@Sangye, I have the Beyer equivalent (CVU 16) of that Sennheiser adapter ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/387918-REG/Sennheiser_MZA900P_MZA_900_P.html ), and it works perfectly.

I recently was looking at these: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6062836127.html and am wondering if anyone has experience with them?

"The adaptor is also a quick solution if a microphone is to be used for both wired and wireless applications. It can also be used as a cable tester for XLR microphone cables. Perfect for connecting tie clip lavalier / headset bodypack transmitter microphones to a mixer / amplifier / PA system. Features & Specifications:
Robust metal chassis
Admiss. ambient temp: 0-40c
Phantom power: 10 volts - 52 volts
Input: TA3F Mini XLR
Output XLR-3Male"

Thanks!

Lav usage tips