Microphones, anyone?

Early B.

I have to purchase a microphone for my church, but don't know anything about them or what to look for. Unfortunately, the budget is only about $100 - $150 NIB. We'd prefer a wireless mic. The mic will be used for speaking and for singing.

Does anyone know which brand is good or what attributes I should be looking for?

Thanks.

VR3

150 is a hard budget to work with.

However I can meet it (and we do online orders, hint hint )

Nady makes one for 129 (handheld, lapel, headset) that is UHF, trudiversity and single channel.

The tru diversity works good because if your preacher or whoever is using it is mobile, if the signal drops on one antenna the other will pick it up. I know several people that use these units and for the price they can not be beat.

Stay away from VHF stuff, VHF sucks. Especially stay away from Audiotechnica's VHF line up. It really is bad.

The Nady UHF line up is a steal for the quality it presents. Very good mics, the only downside is that single channel. But thats normal for wireless mics in that price range.

Behringer has one for 199.99 - stay away from it. It "explodes" occasionally with static.

Jim Shearer

I would warn against any low cost wireless mic. I have heard cheap R-S wireless mics that sounded like crap. When we bought them for our church, we spent about $700 each. Part of that cost was having a guy come to our church & try out the system to be sure there wasn't any interference. A friend whose wife is into theater says they recently bought a new multi-channel wireless mic system. Cost worked out to $500 per unit after buying the whole thing--it was designed so you add mics by slipping another board into the receiver. very slick.

Cheers, Jim

VR3

Jim,
Sure wireless mics will be better if you can spend 500 bucks (Audiotechnica 3000 series come to mind)

But, if his budget is 150 - there are definitely options out there that can meet and exceed his requirements and do it well.

Early B.

OK, so for my budget, would you recommend a wired or wireless mic? Does it matter?

How about this one: http://www.zzounds.com/item--SHUSM58

Early B.

Or this one...: http://www.zzounds.com/item--SENE845S

Jim Shearer

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote:

Jim,
Sure wireless mics will be better if you can spend 500 bucks (Audiotechnica 3000 series come to mind)

But, if his budget is 150 - there are definitely options out there that can meet and exceed his requirements and do it well.

Since he's mentioned using it for singing, I assumed that quality would be a significant consideration.

For wired mics (back when I was doing more recording for myself) I used AKG D200E (IIRC.) I liked the quality, and it had fewer proximity effect issues than others.

Cheers, Jim

Demiurge

I use AKG for my home recording.

petrym

I use a pair of AKG 1000s condenser mics for my quartet, very versatile and rugged, but a bit above your budget, I think you can get a single for $199.

The Shure SM58 is the standard mic that everybody knows how to use: up close to the mouth and it lasts for a very long time. It’s a good deal for what you want to use it for. A quality wireless mic for singing will bust your budget long before you get anything worthwhile.

Early B.

petrym wrote:

The Shure SM58 is the standard mic that everybody knows how to use: up close to the mouth and it lasts for a very long time. It’s a good deal for what you want to use it for. A quality wireless mic for singing will bust your budget long before you get anything worthwhile.

Thanks. I'll go with the Shure SM58.

Demiurge

No knock on Shure, but the AKGs are top quality for the price. Just a thought. You're better off not cheaping on them at all, but if you have to cheap on the price go with the AKG...