COS-11D (XLR Terminated)

Depends on your wireless system, some capsules require more power than others. You can't go wrong with Deity W.Lav Pro, Countryman B3 or a Sanken COS11-D, those will serve you a long time and they all sound good (specially the Sanken). Those capsules I mentioned start from 100 USD (without adapter) and they all work with consumer and prosumer wireless like the Røde and DJI, just make sure to get one with the right connector, if you have Sony wireless, you need a connector with the Sony spec (different wiring than Sennheiser and the rest of brand that use 3.5).

I use both Sanken and DPA. I find that DPA sounds more natural, but to my ear gets a touch dark if somebody has a deep voice, while the Sankin “pops” voices out a bit more, though can be slightly sibilant if somebody has a higher pitched thin voice. However, I’ve had a couple of DPAs go DOA on me now, but have some Sankens that are a decade or more old and most are still working! (and when it was time to get a couple new lavs, I went with Sanken instead of DPA. One of my DPAs now has intermittent problems, and another one was ruled to be non-repairable).

The best professional quality? That would be a current Lectrosonics, Zaxcom, Sound Devices, or Wisycom wireless system. There are many models of transmitters and receivers, but for argument sake let’s say Lectro DBSM and DCR822. As for lav mics themselves? DPA 4060, DPA 6060 or Sanken COS-11D. All great. (There’s tonnes of other options top, those are just too of mind). Boom mic will sound better in general though, and best would be a Schoeps CMIT5U or miniCMIT or SuperCMIT for exteriors, Sanken CS-3e for very noisy locations that need a laser-like focus, and a Schoeps CMC6 MK41 or Sennheiser MKH50 for interiors. Best would be used with a plug-on transmitter like a Lectrosonics DPR-A or HMa, and the paired receiver running into either a Sound Devices, Zaxcom, Sonosax, or Aaton recorder with maybe a Sonosax or old Cooper 208D mixer in front of it. (Again there’s tonnes of somewhat equivalent options for mics, transmitters, and mixers, I’m just illustrating a point.) Then presuming that’s all utilized properly and recorded well (meaning proper wirelesss signal distribution and power distribution and proper gain staging), it would be a matter of taking the best of both worlds, the open natural sound of the boom and combined it with the up front body of the lav, using Auto Align Post 2 to phase align the two. Then some in depth editing of cut/fill/fade, layer in additional ambience, foley, library effects, sound design, etc. and mix using EQ/compression/reverb/etc.. with a high degree of automation across many parameters written in through a physical control surface for fader moves. Listening while moving a physical control gives way better and faster results than drawing automation lines and curves on with a mouse. or wait… did you not actually mean THE BEST MOVIE-LIKE QUALITY for realsies? People seem to get okay results with the DJI for a cheap, social-media-quality, streamlined, user friendly system. [If you learn](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk55CEmjflkbEK-P8jag5pqZ1CpbjaVwZ&si=5dkXp77d7NCOQdaG) how to do a half decent job in post production you could probably squeeze a lot more life out of it too. Or if you can tolerate a little more complexity in operation, a Sennheiser G4 system would probably sound better. Best upgrade you could do for it is to replace the kit mic with something better like a Sanken COS-11D. Just gotta make sure it’s wired correctly. Recording separately from the camera and syncing up afterwards also will help since camera audio inputs typically have terrible noise floors. A cheap entry level recorder like the Sound Devices MixPre series would be where to look for that. Again increasing complexity. Sorry, didn’t mean to be snarky at the start, but it’s extremely unrealistic to expect the BEST or MOVIE-LIKE out of inexpensive consumer/prosumer grade gear. The truth is that there is an unbelievable amount of cost and skill that goes into getting that movie sound you’re talking about. There’s a reason it’s a whole department.

I have a pair of lectrosonics with cos11d’s. Then I have a pair of sennheiser G4’s with Oscartechs, and my DJI Mic2 Pros

Complicated question to answer. I just got off work on a show so I have a second before I get 8 beautiful hours of sleep. Lectro’s are always a great choice. Upgrading your receiving antenna setup will likely get you better distance provided you aren’t getting squashed by local RF. As far as mics, I rely on Sanken COS11 Lavs. When I started we used trims, trams, millie mics, all sorts of shit with every contraption every sound man ever made to combat clothing noise and wind. When Sanken came out with that mic it changed everything for me. It really matches well with the Senn MKH50 boom mic. Good luck with your film. Don’t stop doing!

Indeed it’s a complicated question to answer, and it ultimately depends on the person’s voice, but If you’re asking “best” lav mic without a boom, and you’re renting, I would say get DPA 4060’s or 6060’s. COS 11-D’s are great as others have said, and they’re workhorses, but in my experience the DPA’s generally surpass it in quality, and arguably have the same tonal quality as a nice boom mic would.

Lectros and COS11s with yagis or bowtie antennas. Get the antennas up ten feet and you’ll get more than 100’ of range.