Karaoke Forums

Hi, can you tell me what to look for in a quality wireless mic. I know price isn't everything. I want something with good range as well as excellent quality of sound. What is your opinion on Hisponic? I'm looking for one but don't want to give up my first born. E-Bay is good but I need to know what specs are important. Can you help?

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"Where You Are The Star!"

Oh but price is everything. You get what you pay for sweetie. I love my shure 58 wireless handheld and headpiece. Stay away from the cheese stuff there is ALOT of it out there.............

Well, my Audio Technica wireless (@$100.00) does just fine... I've had it about three months now, and it's never failed me. I've MORE than got my money's worth!

I've got an audio-technica 3000 series and love it. It retails for about 750.00, but you don't want to pay that much for em. Its great. A couple things I'd look for is UHF vice VHF (if you're going to use it at different venues-less problems with interference etc.), Multi-frequency so that if you do run across some interference you have a chance to get away from it. If at all possible, listen to it before you buy, or one like it, so you have an idea of what you're getting. But when you do, realize what it's hooked up to and through as far as mixers and processing equipment that may be different from yours - it may sound significantly different through your system. Hope that helps some. Oh yea, one other thing, stay away from the cheap stuff. Its true you get what you pay for. You can often pay much more for something than its worth, but very seldom will you get anything for much less than what its worth. If you shop around, you can get good quality without having to go "high end".

I bought one of those Audio Technica wireless mics from the local Radio Shack, @ $99.95 works great has a slightly deeper sound, can be easily fixed with eq, but not bad for the price most kj's i know use the sure sm58 wireless version. I also know a dj that uses the nady wirless mike says he' had no problems with it.....i have read that uhf and vhf both have there advantages...the main thing is if you can try it before you buy it, it seems like everbodys voice preforms a little differently...so get the one that makes you sound the best...later cal

I bought Vocopro's four-way set-up. (Three hand helds and a headset) They worked out great. Keyword... "worked" one of the mics got dropped accidentally from about two feet and now it's dead... DED... dead! Also, the battery compartment/connection is quite cheezy. I'm in the market for a multi-mic wireless now myself, so I'll be watching this thread. I'm leaning toward NADY though. Any input about the NADY multi-mic wireless systems?

I had that same vocopro set up and liked it at first. Never really did use the headset mic because of the lack of quality with it. Then, had problems with one of the handhelds pretty quick. Used the other 2 for about a year before starting to have problems. And, yes it was with the battery compartment. Although I liked the quality of the sound out of them, once I got the audiotechnica, I immediately saw the difference, and would not go back.

everybody I've ever talked to about NADY says unless you get their top of the line units, they bite the bigggg one!

Just food for thought. Personally, I'd rather have a single good quality (as in super) handheld cordless, then a great corded mic for duets, than to have a multiple mic cordless system if you're going to sacrafice any quality on the sound of the cordless for expense. You can get 3 or 4 great quality corded mics for the cost of one cordless. At that rate you can use one cordless and one corded, with another corded mic as a backup.

I just got the Sennheiser wireless from Santa, and I must say I love it. It just blows away by corded SM58 mic. I have also heard reports that the wireless SM58 sounds better than the corded version. At any rate, for $400.00 with all metal construction on both the handheld unit and the receiver, it's hard to beat the Sennheiser wirleless unit. This unit is UHF not VHF which makes the price to value appeal even higher.

I agree with everyone above, the $99. Audio Technica is a great buy. I saw it at Radio Shack and considered buying it once. I have sung on it and I like it (especially when you consider the price) The SM58 is always a good choice, but it is 3X the price. If you want to get the most bang for your buck consider the Sennheiser. It's nice to hold and is very sleek looking.

Hi,
Sorry I took so long getting back on line...been away on holidays and just got back. Since I'm a newbie on this site I am thrilled to see the number of responses to my question. This is awesome.
The Shure cordless I presently have is awesome sounding but doesn't have very good range. Can someone explain the difference between UHF and VHF? Sorry to sound dense!

_________________
"Where You Are The Star!"

VHF is pretty much any frequency from 100 mhz and 200 mhz.. very crowded band.. and does recieve a lot of interference at times from alarm systems, neon signs, two way radios.. the like..

NOW...

UHF is a much nicer place..

This world contains.... (doing my game show announcer bit)

A less crowded space from 400 mhz to 2 ghz
and most units cost more but usually sound cleaner and usually have less interferance.. these models come with up to 200 frequencies to choose from and can be purchased for anywhere from 400.00 to 1,200.00 MSRP

Thanks Brian,
Going back to my initial question though, what are the most important specs to look at when buying this mike... ie: audio bandwidth, signal noise ratio, dynamic range, RF power output Gee, what does that all mean?

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"Where You Are The Star!"

Being a Broadcast Engineer.. "By Trade" I'd lose you in a second.. and my definations would be way too much for you to comprehend.. lets just say, the bandwidth on a vhf mic is more compressed than a UHF mic.
Signal to Noise ratio varies from mic to mic.. sepending on the transmitter.. depending on the price.. Dynamic Range dependa again on how much it is compressed and the capsule that is on it and the frequency that it's transmitted on. And RF power can't exceed more than a certain specified agreed upon international sprcification (here in the US it's regulated By the FCC) not to interfere with any broadcast or other wireless transmission uses.

Hopefully with that defination I didn't lose you. If not ask an professional audio Wireless Microphone manufacturer.. and I can give you a Phone number or an e-mail to a few .. Just e-mail me and I'd be glad to help.

THAT WAS AS CLEAR AS MUD
WHEN IT COMES TO THE TECHY STUFF, I'M NOT TOO CLEAR. SOUNDS LIKE AUDIO TECHNICA IS THE WAY TO GO AND A PRICE TAG OF ABOUT $750 FOR A CLEAN, CRISP MIC THAT WILL LAST. THANKS FOR THE HELP GANG! CHEERS FROM YOUR CANUK KJ

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"Where You Are The Star!"

Superstar..
Exactly as I have said all along.. it's better not to have me explain it..
just to try it for yourself, and experience the proof "in real life between your ears" Ask Ron.. I had him hooked in minutes in the AT-3000 wireless.. and we just bought 4 of the upgraded AT-5000 for the live systems. Which are out of the realistic price range for karaoke.