Vocal mics

rsvmark

Our singer wants to get a decent mic. We tend to hire in stuff for gigs but she fancies going wireless. I forgot to ask what she wants to spend and I know nothing about mics so can anyone recommend me options in low, medium and high price points?

maltingsaudio

Check ebay out for a Sennheiser EW100/300 secondhand they are still legal if you use frequency range between 863.100 and 864.900  try to avoid cheaper end of market as they sound horrible and you get loads of handling noise, and always use proper batteries as opposed to rechargeables

bob21

^ what he said.

At the budget/sensible end of the price range, the Shure stuff just doesn't stand up to the Sennheiser stuff at all..

I wouldn't go cheaper than a used Sennheiser EW, just not worth the drop in quality and reliability. Also worth trying to get G2 or G3 models as they run on AA batts rather than the older G1 which run 9v.

If you want a slightly more premium option, buy a Sennheiser EW (whichever model) with a 935 capsule - a worthy upgrade to the cheaper 'standard' 835..

If you absolutely must have Shure (some people just 'have to have' a 58) - I wouldn't go lower than QLX-D in their range - quality and reliability just aren't as good below - certainly not close to the Sennheiser.

meltedbuzzbox

another vote for Sennheiser 

rsvmark

Thanks all, that's helpful

simonk

Watch out for fakes if buying on ebay - it's riddled with them!

Danny1969

simonk said:

Watch out for fakes if buying on ebay - it's riddled with them!

That's good advice, most people are aware of the Shure fakes but not so much the Senn's ..... it's getting to the point now where you have a 50 \ 50 chance of getting duped buying a mic on Ebay

My band have 3 x Senn EW 100 \ 945 - absolutely superb flawless wireless mics

bob21

There are nowhere near as many wireless fakes as wired mics - though it's worth being careful. In general, it's only the newer stuff (or date-less stuff like wired mics) that gets ripped off - should be pretty safe with G1/G2 EW stuff..

crunchman

I've just been looking around at wireless mics for our church.  We need one or two more.  I'll add my two pennies from previous experience and recent research.

Firstly, I'd echo the comments about avoiding the cheap rubbish.  Also, avoid anything VHF.

Apart from VHF, there are 3 frequency bands that you can use.

863 - 865 MHz (Channel 70) - no licence needed.
I've heard stories about interference from 4G mobile phones in this range but I don't know how common this is.    Shure have stopped making mics that use this band.  That's worrying.  Having said that, we've got two mics at our church that use this channel and haven't had any problems.  We haven't been using the channel at the bottom end of the range though.  I was at an event at my daughter's school recently though where they were getting noises that they blamed on interference from mobiles.

606 - 614 Mhz (Channel 38) - licence needed at around £75 per year
Not worth the money for the licence unless you are a hiring company or venue running multiple devices.

2.4GHz - WiFi frequency - no licence needed
It's digital and uses the same frequencies as WiFi devices but is designed to be ok with devices around.
It's quite a recent development.  Line 6 were the first with this around 2010.  The heavyweights are now jumping in.  Shure and Sennheiser both have systems that use this now although they are not the cheapest.

We've got a Shure Beta 58 in our church that's pretty decent.  I like the look of the latest version of this with the digital 2.4Ghz system.  It has USB rechargeable Li-ion batteries as well so you would save money on batteries long term if you do a lot of gigs.  I think that was aorund £385 new last time I looked.

We've had an AKG system that was a bit cheaper (around £250 I think) that has been pretty good - not as nice as the Shure or Sennheiser stuff but probably as good as a wired SM58.  It's a plastic case on the mic which is less robust but it is very light - which some people like.

I'd be wary of second hand stuff.  Even without fakes, you don't know how it's been treated.  If it's been repeatedly dropped then it's not going to work well.  I prefer to get mics new.  You can sometimes get a replacement mic and keep the receiver, but that's probably only with the more recent stuff.  We had a G1 Sennheiser where the mic died, but we couldn't get a replacement mic that would work with the receiver.  Looking on Ebay a lot of other people had the same problem.  There were loads of receivers for sale but no mics.

I'd be interested if anyone has any experience with the Line 6 stuff.  The reviews I can find are quite positive but there aren't many of them.

bob21

Actually the standard problem with G1 is the receiver dies, well before the mics - it's down to some ceramics used in the RF side that are not cost-effective to replace (£80 each, and there's 3 of them!).

I wouldn't worry too much about the condition of 2nd hand mics - the decent stuff will be fine.. I've got 15 year old Shure & Sennheiser mics in stock that have had a hard life (dry hire, rock and roll, etc) that are absolutely fine.. Don't get me wrong, throw one at a brick wall and it'll fail - but you'll see that a mile off. As long as they're not bashed to hell, they'll be fine.

impmann

Line6 wireless mics are superb... our old singer used one for ages and never managed to break it (which is an acheivement for him - he's a mad bugger).

They also sound great - go for the G50 or higher, though. The G30s are pretty good but rely on a lot of plastics...

I'd avoid s/h - early  versions had a fragile battery carrier/cover that could break easily and rendered the mic unrepairable.

rossyamaha

I'm obviously going to second the Line 6 suggestion but it's a very valid one and something that is seriously overlooked in vocal mics.

Singers should always try several mics out to see which one suits their voice. The huge advantage with the L6 systems is you have access to a number of mic models so she can see if her voice suits a 58, a 767 or any other ones that are in there.