Karaoke Forums

Hi,

I have been using AKG wms80 wireless mics for several years, and have finally decided to relagate them to a secondary system. Seems like everytime I turn around, some part breaks on one of them (plastic barrels, battery holders, on/off and mute switches, etc. The low battery indicator has never impressed me either. The red LED glows when you turn the unit on, and glows brighter when the batteries are getting low. it's been VERY difficult to judge the battery status unless you turn the mic off and back on to see if it goes from low level to bright light.

Any suggestions for durable mics that pick up the singer, but are less apt to pick up the monitor or close speakers in order to better control potential feedback? Some of my venues are very cramped, and everything is set up in a small area. I'm willing to spend decent bucks for quality and dependability, and will consider all options up to several hundred dollars per mic/base unit package. I use a Shure wireless headset, and am considering Shure handhelds, but there are soooo many different models these days, even from the same manufacturer.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

I finally settled on Shure SM58 Wireless PGX Series

Hard to beat for sound and reliability for Karaoke

I'm very happy with my purchase

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I own a sennheiser ew-135-g2 wireless handheld microphone. I have also wasted hard earned money on other wireless systems such as the samson-stage-55(JUNK) and the mediocre quality (PLASTIC) lower end shures (not bad sounding but cheaply built). the sennheiser is the best sounding, best build quality(all metal construction) of any i've used and comparable to any good wired microphone. In my opinion it is worth the $500.00 dollars that they sell for.  :wave:

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Man Must Know His Limitations -Clint Eastwood

I'm not a kj but one of the better gigs I've been to uses Shure PGX wireless mics and these seem to be perfectly adequate for karaoke.  The one problem with these mics is that they use a 9V battery in the transmitter and most rechargeable 9V cells just don't have the capacity to run them for a whole show, making it expensive to use alkalines.  I recently purchased a Shure ULX wireless system which also uses 9V cells and tried using NiMH rechargeables.  I could only get about 1 1/2 hours out of a charge (with the mic left on).  However, I have started using Lithium rechargeables from iPower which have almost the same capacity (500mAh) as alkalines and these do seem to be the best option.  So, if you do decide to go PGX, I would recommend using lithium rechargeables... expensive to outlay at first, but will eventually work out cheaper than alkalines. (2 x cells + charger over 100 charges = approx. $0.65 per cell compared to $2+ for alkalines).

I've had a chance to sing on a bunch of wireless mics as of late., Shure , AKG, Etc..

My preference for sound quality, feel, and build is the Sennheiser ew335G2  UHF.

This will be the one I will be purchasing for my system as well.

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"Baby, Just Because I Rock, Doesn't Mean I'm Made Of Stone."

I've got to echo the sentiments of the Sennheiser EW-135-G2. And you can't go wrong with the Shure SM58 PGX24 UHF. Speaking as a performer, the quality of these two are unmatched.

Steer clear of the Vocopro cr@p.

Thanks a bunch for the replies so far. I have thinking about the Shure series, but now I'll look into the Sennheiser mics. Your responses have been very helpful.

BTW... If you are looking for good deals on batteries, try http://www.zbattery.com/

They sell the commercial version of the Duracell copper top batteries at a great price. I purchase AAs by the gross from them.

Thanks again for the help.

Bill

  Bill, the Senns are some of the clearest, best sounding mics out there. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM for karaoke, unless all of your singers are professional quality.  The are so clear that they pick up every single mistake a singer makes- completely unforgiving.  If you have any singers that are less than perfect, Senns will make them sound horrible. Stick with the more forgiving Shures- except the BETA series- equally unforgiving.....

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

yeah the Sennheisers are not near as forgiving with mistakes as the shures...I have just given up smoking and until my voice settles down again I think I am gonna go back to my sm58 and leave my Sennheiser in its box

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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 find the Sennheiser cardioid heads like the 835 or even 812 to have some of that forgiving nature. But not the 945 and the other super-cardioids....

funny no one mentioned the audio-technica 700 series.  farily inexpensive ($150-200) and rugged.  plus they sound great.  now that i've said that, i have three audio-technica 200 series ($100 apiece) that have been dropped, stepped on, rolled, screamed into, thumped and patted (y'know, to make sure they're on!), by countless drunks and i've only had to replace one of them.  
i must confess, i use the shure sm58 myself, but i hog it.  i don't let anyone else use it, because let's face it.  i don't want to replace a $400 mic!

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All work and no play make Homer something something