Karaoke Forums

I recently bought the GTDAudio G-380 4-mic wireless set from Amazon for about $140 shipped:

http://www.amazon.com/GTD-Audio-G-380H- ... B00HLVOO2G

They were so cheap that I wasn't expecting much, and the Amazon reviews were so glowing that I figured they had to be written by people being paid to write them or by people who don't really know what a decent mic sounds like. But I just used them for a long karaoke session and I'm completely blown away by how good they are. I tested them side by side with a good ol SM58 and they sound almost identical, to me at least. A common criticism of these mics is that you have to be really close to them and their sound drops off quickly as your mouth moves away, and in testing *maybe* I can notice that, but I sure couldn't notice it once we started singing. I wonder what a pro vocalist would say about them though.

The rack mounted base station is awesome too. Nice and solid and the independent level adjustment for each mic works beautifully. And the range is amazing: I tested up to a couple of hundred feet away and only got a couple of dropouts, even without the antennas extended. And when the range gets spotty it simply drops out to silence as opposed to getting staticy or making weird noises.

I had to change the batteries (two AA's) after about 4 hours on one of them, but I was using the crappy batteries that came with it. I'm hoping for slightly better battery life from name brand alkalines or lithiums.

Mine is the VHF version, which I've read may be susceptible to wireless interference, but I never heard a peep. If I was going to be using these professionally at a lot of different venues I'd probably get the UHF version just to be sure though:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HLW1A5O

I think the UHF model also lets you swap frequencies if you're getting interference.

I'm glad I got some colored windscreens to differentiate each mic, and to mask the dreaded and fairly strong "new mic smell". I bought these, which are cheap (50 cents each), but they're also a bit thinner than most mic windscreens I've used.

http://www.amazon.com/Bluecell-Purple-H ... B007E69TPA

Bring a label maker and label each colored mic on the base station so you can easily turn people up/down.

Anyway, highly recommended. And it sure makes setup and takedown a whole lot easier.

I echo all the good things you've said, and add the following:

I routinely get two full 4.5 hour shows from each set of batteries. I've actually gotten three, but that can be "iffy", so as a precaution I change after every second show.

I love the anti-roll feature... The base of the wind screen is ... what's the word?? - octagonal?? It has flat sides so the mics don't tend to roll around like round ones do. All hand-held mics should have this feature.

_________________
Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

Nice, I didn't notice that. Indeed, a nice feature.

In other news, I loaned the setup to a friend and he said the wall transformer blew up! Like literally spat out flames for a moment and then died. Luckily it didn't damage anything else. A few of the Amazon reviews recommend upgrading the power supply since its under powered at 500ma @ 12 volts and can cause hum, but alas none mentioned it being a fire hazard... I replaced it with a 1amp @ 12 volt power supply and all seems well. This one for example should work and have plenty of extra power:

http://www.amazon.com/Amamax%C2%AE-Wall ... 00KZ2ZQE8/