Karaoke Forums

I am new to karaoke, got an rsq222 machine for home use and quite a collection of cdg's . Bought a Shure P58 mic and am wondering how good this mic is and how it compares to the Nady SP-9. Place I bought the machine from wanted to sell me 2 of the SP-9's with 25 ft. cords for $100. Was he trying to rip me off? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

25' cords are too long for your player.
You won't get enough input from your mics to the player.
If you use the 1/4" mic inputs on the player you should keep your cords as short as possible. I wouldn't go any longer than 15'.

I don't know how the Shure P58 and the Nady SP-9 compare to one another, and I don't know what the going prices are for either.
It doesn't sound like the guy in the shop was tring to rip you off, but I think that he wasn't too knowledgeable when it came to recomending 25' mic cords.

Mic specs. are often misleading. Some mics that have a broader range than others may not sound as warm.

Buying a mic can be like buying a car. Some are more suited for some people than for others. Some are better for high voiced people and some are better for low voiced people, and some are better for general usage.
Some are more fragile than others, and some have an on/off switch.
There are MANY factors to consider, but most won't apply to you.

Give it a few days for some of the other regulars here to respond with thier opinion about the mics in question.

In the meantime check the online stores found on the Karaoke Scene homepage.

Kojak

codycain

You have opened yourself up to a lot of "specialized" abuse by asking "which mic"

Go to a music store, demo a couple of mic's and buy what sounds the best to you. I for one like the Nady's, where other people will tell you something else.

Re: cords.
Wireless is reasonably affordable these days. Try to avoid mic leads if you can. Your mic's will be subject to abuse, but trust me, nobody looses a mic a month. Wireless is worth the money. Happy clients can now serenade to their girlfriends. We've been KJ'ing for many moons and have never lost a mic.

I agree with Big JimmyC
The low end Nady is garbage, but anything low end is garbage as a matter of fact. Look at mixers, amps and even cables. Manufacturers have to start somewhere in the market when they try to sell a product, and the only way to enter the market is by cutting cost. How do you do that?????????? Cut the quality, very simple.

When buying a mic, be open minded. Don't let tradition tell you to buy Shure SM58. Once again, go demo, and buy what you like. Try EV for instance.

If you are tight on budget and don't want to splurge on a good microphone, you may want to consider buying an SM58 look alike. After my son "accidentally" dropped my SM58S to the concrete floor and cracked its casing, I came upon a store that sells the ES-58 from GLS Audio for only $29.95.

From a distance, it looks just like the SM58. Since the store offered a money-back guarantee, I bought two ES-58 mics without even trying it at the store. To my surprise, it does sound like the SM58. I did notice that the mic tends to pick up sounds from the sides, meaning it's not unidirectional. I gave one to my son, the budding "rock musician" who twirls his microphone (no kidding, I've seen him do it). He is quite happy with it and I don't mind if he "accidentally" drops it again because it is cheap.

By the way, I don't work for that store and I am not affiliated with it in any way. I went to that store to get a speaker repair kit for my old RSL 3800. Those of you who live in Southern California may have seen those monitors being sold. Roger Sound Labs is long gone but I was happy to find a store that sells repair kits. After repairing the speakers, they sound just like new. For what it's worth, I use the RSL monitors as my main speakers in a surround home theater where we watch movies and sing karaoke 'til our tonsils pop out.



Cheers,

JD

I would use the term entry level when referring to the inexpensive Shure and Audio Technica microphones. They are worlds apart from the cheap mics that are thrown in the package with some players. While we are talking about mics, let me put a plug in for my favorite brand, Sennheiser.
I once did have a cheap Nady, and had it replaced, then the replacement performed worse. It was just unuseable and very tinny. I will no longer patronize Nady. I believe that a company that proudly puts its name on sub-standard gear just to make a price-point, does not hold a high regard for quality and customer loyalty. However, I know many are satisfied with Nady's intermediate line of products.

Cheers

Thanks to everyone who replied. I put my system and my mic's to the test this weekend. Inlaws were here and we sang all night. The difference between the pg58 and the mic I got with my old player(the singing machine) is just incredible. Pure crisp vocals, which I am sure has something to do with the RSQ-222 also. I just can't believe the quality of sound both of them produce. I guess my next question has to do with CDG-s. I have the SAVP and SAVA complete series which the sound is O.K. on, then I have some chartbusters, top tunes, karaoke hits, sweet georgia brown, sound choice and some others from retail stores. I cannot tell any difference between any of them but I have heard a lot of people say there is nothing that compares to the Sound Choice discs. Any replies would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

If you can't tell the difference, I wouldn't worry about the difference too much.
The difference is obvious to most as in the instrumentation (real or synthesized), drum sounds (real or a machine), lyric swipes (on time &?or accuracy), midi (computerized) sounding & does the song sound LIKE the original or just pass off.
I use the SAV series for some older country, but absolutely hate their pop/rock stuff.

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I personally perfer soundchoice over any of the karaoke out there.

They just seem to be better with the sound quality, timing, everything. They also seem to have the best backup vocalists, that don't sound bad with your voice.

I don't think there is any difference in volume (ie how loud the track gets) but they just seem to be the nicer karaoke tracks. Hard to explain. They just seem to be the best put together tracks out of them all.

If you want to hear what an example of what I think a bad track is - get Stupid by Sarah MacGlaughlan, or Everything by FeFe Dobson in the Sunfly Series.

They sound very bad musically, timing wise, and they are very hard to sing with. (That is just my opinion though)!

Hope that helped!

As always mic discussions take back over 30 years ago when we were arguing which mic to use mobile or base. I,ve got a system now I could put an old Astatic lipop on it and it would sound awesome...
http://members.cox.net/n4jk/d104.htm This link might give you a different perspective on mics. It's not about brand it's about impedance and medium level from mics to speakers. Then it's cardioid pattern and different mics for different folks.

The lipop was the best mic to get back to the ranch on our white face Johnsons (strap the 100 ohm in the cathode circuit on the final) The guy in the middle had to hold the mic

I've bought the Top Hits Monthly for the month for the last 2 or 3 years and song for song I'll put them up against Soundchoice most of the time Try Picture Kid Rock.. I'll buy an occasional Soundchoice for a certain song (just got 8862 for God's Will by Martina McBride) After we sang weed with willie about 40 times I got around to comparing Drinkin' Bone by Tracy Not much difference..