Karaoke Forums

I hope this doesn't turn into a Gemini bashing thread cuz I really don't think that's the problem but here's the scoop...

Just received my new dual cordless mic set up - Gemini 2064m which is a dual handheld cordless mic system.  Before my gig last night, I set up my equipment earlier in the week for testing and everything sounded great.  The mics do sound clear and I was surprised at how little mic "handling noise" there was.

Cut to last night...First 2 1/2 hours are great...people are loving the cordless mic situation and a few were even brave enough to go out and take advantage of not being tethered to the system.  There was no misuse of the mics at all and last nights crowd was rather sedate to be completely honest.  Without warning, I noticed that at random moments while people were singing, the sound from the mic all of a sudden had a popping or overmodulated almost "paper flapping" noise for lack of a better description.  At first I thought that the singers were just holding the mic too close but at one point I sang myself and it still did it a couple of times.  

I swapped the mic that the singers were using and it still happened here and there.  I thought I blew a horn on my speaker!  The music still sounded great so that could not be the problem.

I sang one more song at the end of the night and the problem seemed to disappear.  Tomorrow, I'm going to set up my system again and try and recreate what happened.  Until then, I've been scratching my head trying to figure out what could have caused it.  

1.  Battery problem?  Do brand new batteries really die after 2 1/2 hours?
2.  Mic is defective but that would seem unlikely cuz they both did it and then they were fine at the end of the night.
3.  Speaker problem - I use Mackie SRM 450's and much has been made about the thermal shutdown issue.  They did NOT go into thermal shutdown but one person that I spoke to about this problem said that the speakers may be going into "power compression" at the end of the evening because they're getting pretty hot.  I think this is unlikely as the speakers weren't actually that hot nor  do I crank the system that much because the room is quite small and it's not necessary.  

Anyone else experience this?  I realize I may find out a bunch more stuff tomorrow after I do some testing but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case someone knows what's happening.

I was test driving a seinnheiser cordless the other week and the same thing happened. I put it down to a failing battery. I was borrowing one that belongs to the hotel and have no idea when the battery was changed. It is a disconcerting thing to have happen, especially when with the seinnheisers the sound is so darned crystal clear, you hear everything.
Back to the Gemini I tried the mic in a store cos I was interested in purchasing too...what I liked about it was the lack of sibilance in my voice both speaking and singing. Sibilance is a bit of a prob for me.
Let us know how you get on with your testing I am very interested.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Morgan, is it the freeport wireless you are talking about? if so the batteries are suppose to last 10 hours.  I just got one for myself. Can't beat the price at www.musiciansfriend.com on the mike.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Kevin,

   I have a couple of the UH-8264 model ( single version of your duals).  I ran into this with one of them on two occasions, different answers for the same problem. One answer was the switch, which had sorta loose contacts, would pop when the mic was moved too violently- replaced switch, all fine for months.

   The problem showed up again, this time due to flattened battery contacts from use causing battery jiggle- hooked and pulled the contacts ( VERY CAREFULLY) back into shape. Since then, no problems going on 2 years with that mic.

 I would check the battery contacts ( and battery''s terminals for that matter) first..

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

To be honest Danny I dunno . We dont have musicians friend here and pay at least double but most times more than double for anything you do...we may have low crime rate but we have expensive audio equipment

_________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Don't have one near me either got mine online.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Vicki, I was looking at getting a Shure cordless last year, but when I checked it out, I realised that the operating frequencies are different depending on which country you purchase in... ie, if considering buying on-line, you may find that a mic you buy from a US website is not legal to use in NZ.  I know, it sucks, especially when I could have purchased a Beta for US$450, and the same mic is over $1200 in NZ.

thanks Murray at least you understand the difficulties imposed upon us over here. Cordless mics are prohibitively expensive. The army band recently upgraded to cordless shures and to be honest they dont like them that much, you have to be hard on those mics or the sound drops off substantially. I think if/when I purchase it will be a Sennheiser Freeport cordless. I think that is what we have at the hotel. I intend to borrow one a few more times before making a decsision but if it is the same as the one I have looked at online, the sound is crystal clear and the gain so much greater than my old sm58 that I have to turn my vocals wayyyy down. I just wanna be sure that the popping noises that started last time I used it were indeed due to the battery wearing down. I can purchase one of those for $525. still darned expensive

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I don't know where you plan on getting it, but I just bought a Freeport for $150 in the U.S., free shipping. Perhaps you mean the next higher model...

Morgan, before you buy one through the method you were using go to musician's friend and get it for $149.  Their regular price is still half of what you are planning to spend.  It is free shipping as well.  I splurged and bought the two year warranty on it but I feel it's worth it.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Ooops I thought you were in the us. That explains the differance is prices but the freeport is suppose to list at $499.00 but that might be afffected by currency rates between the us and New Zealand. I feel so stupid now.  My girlfriend use to married to a musician and all they used were sennheiser mikes. So I decided to try one.  Will let you know how it works out.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

thank you Danny I look forward to hearing from you xxx
Maybe if I get to the states either to or from UK next year I can pick one up then, but the power supply is completely different here also...so I dunno

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

The power is a 13vdc 300ma wall wart with a 1/8" plug, so I would think any old universal 12v adapter would work.

Vicki, the folowing info may be of use:

Please see http://www.med.govt.nz/rsm/licensing/gu ... 6-806.html   for our  UHF Microphone General User licence.  You have to meet the requirements of the licence if you want to use or supply UHF Microphones in New Zealand.

so what are the frequencies that US mics are set at?

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I found some information that may or may not be related to the noise problems being experienced.  It is possible that TV interference could be a cause of the problems.  Here are two examples of intermittent noise:

An audio signal that is periodically exposed to interference from an analog television signal.
http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/ic ... rummen.wav

An audio signal that is periodically exposed to interference from a digital television signal.
http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/ic ... oerung.wav

Vicki, I found some info re the US frequencies of some Sennheiser systems:

freePORT fp 35-C-US 500594
Frequency range 742.5 - 744.5 MHz

EW series: 518-554, 626-662, 740-776, 786-822, 830-866MHz

I emailed Sennheiser in the US to see if they can confirm compatibility.  Are you able to find the specs for the freePort you have at the hotel.  Maybe I could compare to the ones available in US.

murray you are freakin fabulous I want your children xxx
will try and find out this morning

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

UPDATE!

I was able to recreate what happened a few days ago...I use an Alesis vocal enhancer and for whatever reason having it on certain settings and on different levels gave it a buzzing, bad sound.  I flipped through a few different settings and found one where this didn't happen and left it.  We'll see how it turns out Friday night.  

The only thing that still puzzles me is that it took nearly 2 1/2 hours last Friday for it to first show up...sounded great until then.  When I recreated it at the storage unit, it showed up immediately.  Hmmm...speakers are fine...not blown or anything strange like that.  I'll keep you posted.

I have a small alesis mixer with built in efx and recently had to have it fixed because a faulty mic or cord belonging to the army band blew one of the channels causing a really bad hum. It was still under warranty but the warranty was void because the tech said whatever was plugged into that channel was faulty. Cost me almost as much as I paid for the mixer to get it fixed. It may be the hum you are experiencing didnt cause the prob with the mic but the mic caused the prob with the alesis
Just a thought

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

So after my adjustments last week on the vocal enhancer, last night was nearly flawless.  Only at one point did I get that strange sound again and it was due to someone holding the mic waaaaay too close to their mouth.  They were practically eating it!  I used it immediately following him and sang and used it properly and could not make it happen again.  I'm guessing an even higher quality mic would nip this in the bud and it wouldn't be an issue at all but it seemed to do well.