Karaoke Forums

I am sure you guys use some cordless. I am having trouble with mine.
They eat batteries like I own DuraCell. Is this common?
It seems I have to change them every other week.
They are only used by the people I know will take care of them, so they are only used sparingly, as most of the time I use the corded on stands.
Thanks, Blue

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The main difference between monkeys and man..............
Thumbs

One thing you can do is use a mic that requires AA rather than 9 volt batteries.  This is a HUGE savings.

   I also discovered that Walgreen's brand alkalines are equal to Duracell at 1/2 the price.  10 AAs @ around 5.oo   Even the 9 volts are 2 for 4.98.   Of course this doesn't hold true for many store brands, but a bit of experimenting may yield BIG savings... I stay away from rechargeables- too unpredictable.


  I do use wired mics at venues where they are appropriate. Not only do you save on batteries and have better sound in most cases  ( with equal quality mics ) but you save wear 'n tear on the wireless....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Since I got my new Senn's, I am using the wired mics more, but on my wireless that use a 9volt, I have a 'unique' situation....

My set came with 2 wireless mics- an orange banded and a blue banded one. I set them up the same every week- Blue to the right of the TV and Orange to the left. NO ONE uses the Orange unless it is a duet! That battery has lasted nearly 5 months now! The other (blue) lasts about 2- 2.5 shows. I just wait till they have the hurricane relief days and batteries go on sale and stock up for the year....

Thank goodness for Costco/Sams....

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

I find it isn't the cost of battery *use* that is a problem -- I find it is the cost of battery misuse.

I've taken to using cheap carbon 9v from Walmart, 2 for 94c. I replace it before every gig and throw the old away.

They last at least a gig's worth, and the big risk you run with alkalines -- leaving the mic on and burning a whole $3.00 battery -- is minimized.

Not sure what type of rechargeables you are referring to Joe.  I do not have a cordless mic, but I do have a digital camera that chews out alkalines after only a few photos.  I can usually get at least 50 - 200 photos from the rechargeables.  Forget about using NiCads.  I have three sets of nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) rechargeables, (Duracell, Energizer and Quest) which I use in various equipment.  I actually find the Quest batteries to be better and they are 5 years old now!

NiMH batteries do tend to have a short shelf-life... ie If they are charged and then left sitting around for a while before using them, they will run down fairly quickly.  But the good thing is that they can be charged and left in the charger to maintain their charge without damage to the batteries, so I always have a set fully charged.   Compared to alkalines, the initial cost is relatively expensive (charger and batteries), but they have saved me a lot of money over the 5 years I have had the camera.  

I found this source on the net:

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/quest_2100_nimh.htm

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-nim ... 4_109.html

While I have had no experience with 9 volt NiMH rechargeables, I expect they would give similar performance results to the AA's.  

As you would be in a position where you could have a charger plugged in by your mixer, you would only need to have two sets of batteries (one in the Mic, one in the charger) in order to ensure you had a full charge ready to go.  Of course, if you were paranoid about having a 'dud' charge, you could always have one set of cheap alkalines handy for emergencies! But I'm sure you would find that, like me, you would never buy another alkaline battery!

  You're makiing me think, Murrlyn. I hate that  LOL .  I do use NiMHs for other items of personal use, just not for shows. My mics can actually be recharged from their receiver.  My problems came from both NiCad and LiOn.  Who knows?  I guess I'm gonna have to give the NiMHs a try.... Thanks!

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

NiCad....  never really liked them.  They get the dreaded "memory" problem, which NiMH don't.  That's another advantage of NiMH... you don't have to fully discharge them before recharging!

LiON... the battery in my multimedia player is LiON and I have had no end of problems with it!  unfortunately it is a dedicated battery, not 'one off the shelf'.  This "portable" can now only be used with the power adaptor.

What do you mean by this ? I just bought a cordless & it was eating batteries like crazy too so we went to rechargable . Does it damage something?

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Kelley
Star Sounds Karaoke & Mobile Recording Studio


[shadow=black][scroll]You have to respect your audience. Without them, you're essentially standing alone, singing to yourself....KD Lang[/scroll][/shadow]

  I did, as well as crapping out when I'm working- at least in regard to NiCad and LiON batteries. But M's very informative posts have convinced me to give NiMH batteries a try...

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Just found this very informative page on the Shure website:

http://shure.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/shure ... _topview=1