Audio
June 29, 2025
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In this review, we take another look at the Sennheiser EW-DP wireless microphone system. This time we take a close look at the SKP XLR plug-on transmitter. This is a fully digital UHF pro-super wireless microphone system and the SKP is a great addition to the system with its dual analogue to digital converters, wide dynamic range, and 32-bit float recording capabilities.
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Gear used or mentioned in this episode (the links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases):
This episode looks at the Sennheiser EW-DP SKP, the plug-on XLR transmitter for the EW-DP wireless system (recorded live using a Sennheiser MKH50 into the SKP, transmitting to an EW-DP receiver on a Canon C70). I previously reviewed the EW-DP body-pack transmitter, linked separately.
The SKP is a plug-on XLR digital transmitter with dual A/D converters supporting up to 134 dB of dynamic range — about the closest thing to a "32-bit float wireless" transmitter I've used, in terms of transmitted dynamic range. The EW-DP system is really designed for feeding audio from XLR microphones straight into a camera (even one with only a 3.5mm mic input), simplifying setups considerably.
Uniquely, there's no gain setting on the transmitter at all — you set gain only at the receiver, or leave it flat. This effectively means you're very unlikely to clip the transmitter even on loud dialogue or singing, thanks to that wide dynamic range. It can also record directly onboard to a microSD card up to 1TB, in 24-bit or 32-bit float, and can transmit wirelessly while recording locally at the same time.
This is a UHF system, not 2.4GHz like most consumer wireless — more flexible and reliable for professional use, since you can tune around interference; 2.4GHz systems are fine as backups but not primaries for professional work. Being fully digital, audio quality is substantially better than analog systems, and more channels can fit in a given amount of spectrum. Distance testing through multiple walls and roughly 37 meters total showed zero dropouts — impressive for an internal antenna. The Smart Assist mobile app (iOS/Android) lets you scan frequencies and apply settings to transmitter and receiver via Bluetooth, and it's easy to use.
Power options include AA batteries or Sennheiser's proprietary lithium-ion rechargeable; with Ikea Ladda NiMH AAs phantom-powering a mic I got about 4.5 hours, and Sennheiser's own rechargeable claims up to 6.5 hours. There's also a locking 3.5mm input for lavalier mics. Latency is just 1.9 milliseconds — imperceptible.
A few notes: construction is partly plastic (feels durable, with metal reinforcement and an all-metal XLR connector/locking nut) since a fully metal body would block the internal antennas; you can't use the XLR and 3.5mm inputs simultaneously (it's mono, one or the other); and recorded levels on the onboard SD card run fairly low given the huge headroom, needing normalization in post — even shouting into an MKH50 didn't clip it.
Having used several prosumer wireless systems now, if I had to pick just one today, I'd lean toward the EW-DP over the Deity Theos, despite the Theos being more feature-rich (dual-channel, timecode, etc.) — the EW-DP's audio quality is noticeably better, it uses less spectrum per channel, and I've experienced some intermodulation issues running more than two Theos channels together that I haven't seen with this system. Get out there and make some great sound, and we'll talk to you again soon.
