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Danno13
19-05-2008, 02:56 PM
It seems that anyone you give a hand held mic to, for a speech, seems to think their voice comes from their groin.

So, I was thinking of getting some Lavalier mics instead?

Good idea? Do these go loud enough without picking up feedback? What makes/models would you recomend?

Thanks.

JAMdisco
19-05-2008, 03:07 PM
I find the best bet is to have a word with them before they do the speech and remind them that the mic needs to be no further that 4 inches from mouth otherwise the guests won't hear them.

I know what you mean though, it's really annoying when they turn and look at you when the guests are shouting "can't hear you".

Personally I wouldn't spend extra on (pressumably you mean wireless) lavalier mics just because they can't use the mic.

Danno13
19-05-2008, 03:09 PM
Yeah, I always give people a microphone use briefing (even 4 inches is too far.. i always say 2 finger widths).. but they never listen. I'd rather just provide something that was totally fool proof, as its an extra service as part of my all-day wedding package, so it needs to work! Its not just like handing a mic over for a speech at a birthday party.

JAMdisco
19-05-2008, 03:14 PM
Not a bad idea but then you have the rigmaroll (spelling?) of fitting them with mics and transmitter packs, how would you do this? For example, there will be probably at least 3 people wanting to speak, Best Man, Groom, Father of Bride, and maybe more.

This, IMO, would be a right pain in the rear!

Danno13
19-05-2008, 03:22 PM
Hmm... could be a problem, but I reckon you'd just need to tell them to stick the transmitter in their inside pocket and clip the mic to their tie/shirt whatever, no need to thread the wires through the shirt, or anything fancy like that.

Hopefully someone who does this or has tried it before might be able to advise on the practicalities?

Paul James Promotions
19-05-2008, 03:32 PM
Dan, I use the Sennheiser ones.

They are ok, IF you are on hand to control the volume level when in use. It's not something I am keen to provide without an operator present.

Danno13
19-05-2008, 03:35 PM
Thanks Jamie, yeah, I'd always be there. Which Sennheiser ones do you mean?

Surely with the mic being fixed in one position you can pretty much leave the volume set? Would running the mic mixer through a comp/limiter before going into my DJ mixer help?

Paul James Promotions
19-05-2008, 03:55 PM
Which Sennheiser ones do you mean?

e100 series



Surely with the mic being fixed in one position you can pretty much leave the volume set?

Sometimes you'll get away with it, if the people speaking are good at it! More often that not though, you'll get at least one person who is very quiet, and you will probably need to 'ride the fader' to get as much as possible out of the mic at all times.




Would running the mic mixer through a comp/limiter before going into my DJ mixer help?

No, but a feedback destroyer might. Not something i've experimented with though.

chorleyjim
19-05-2008, 07:03 PM
i do PA for a church, there are people jumping up to speak all the time who don't listen to any mic training we give and treat the microphone like its going to give them a disease.

we have a couple of these
http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/mod_1.12/pages/mod_1.12.1/pages/mod_1.12.1.1/pages/index.php?sku=1.1.6.5.1-44-11148

and one of these

http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/mod_1.12/pages/mod_1.12.1/pages/mod_1.12.1.1/pages/index.php?sku=1.1.6.5.1-44-11148

through one of these to combat feedback

http://www.behringer.com/DSP1124P/?lang=ENG

the handheld is really versatile, we can crank it right up when we get a mic-phobic user and never worry about feedback.

sleah
20-05-2008, 10:38 PM
It seems that anyone you give a hand held mic to, for a speech, seems to think their voice comes from their groin.

So, I was thinking of getting some Lavalier mics instead?

Good idea? Do these go loud enough without picking up feedback? What makes/models would you recomend?

Thanks.

Normally I'd say unless you're doing theatre or corporate conference... DON'T DO IT!!!!

However, for something like a wedding where the speakers (people) don't move too far and aren't trying to compete with music (like a DJ), then they may well be OK.

You have a much higher gain with lavaliers as they are much further away from the mouth so will feedback before you can say "feedback":D
If the people speakers are far enough away from the PA speakers, then it should work reasonably well.

;) Trantec do some good quality budget mics, the 4.4 range.;)

Ajaysdisco
21-05-2008, 10:20 PM
through one of these to combat feedback

http://www.behringer.com/DSP1124P/?lang=ENG



On a slightly different subject, I’ve been thinking about getting one of them because although I’ve got a wireless mike, people tend to stay in one spot near the speakers.

So if you don’t mind a couple of quick questions:

Do you connect the feedback destroyer in-between the mixer and the amp?
Does is reduce the sound quality?
How good are they?

sleah
21-05-2008, 10:46 PM
On a slightly different subject, I’ve been thinking about getting one of them because although I’ve got a wireless mike, people tend to stay in one spot near the speakers.

So if you don’t mind a couple of quick questions:

Do you connect the feedback destroyer in-between the mixer and the amp?
Does is reduce the sound quality?
How good are they?

Ideally between the mic and the mixer. A good quality one shouldn't affect quality, even a cheap Bellringer one should be OK as it's for speech.

I've only played with the first Bellringer one that came out and it is cr@p.
When I do sound for school productions, I just use a graphic eq and notch out the frequency(s) that feeds back.

chorleyjim
21-05-2008, 10:58 PM
Do you connect the feedback destroyer in-between the mixer and the amp?

Effectivley yes, although depending on your mixer if you do this you will be running everything output from your mixer through the feedback destroyer, so if you play music whilst using the mic it could kill some frequencies.

The setup we use the feedback destroyer with has a mixer with sub groups, so only the mic channel group goes out to the behringer and back into the desk.

As you are using wireless mics you could run the mic straight into the behringer then onto your mixer.

its important to remember that (quoting from behringer) 'no processing device can overcome mistakes made in when placing microphones'




Does is reduce the sound quality?

I have never noticed any drop in sound quality with this particular model, we used have a cheaper one before this which sounded awful!


How good are they?

For what we use it for, in a large hall with rubbish acoustics, with users who will not hold microphones near their mouths its a godsend (well it is used in a church).

However unless you have real issues with feedback, and can't get around it with different placement of microphones or speakers then IMO its not worth it for a mobile DJ.

A1DL
21-05-2008, 11:30 PM
it will probably also be worth looking at gating the mic channels, to eliminate unwanted background noise picked up by people wandering around with open mics.

Boogie Boy
23-05-2008, 09:34 AM
it will probably also be worth looking at gating the mic channels, to eliminate unwanted background noise picked up by people wandering around with open mics.

No it wouldn't. Gates are very tricky beasts to get right, especially with quiet sources (i.e. wedding speeches and the like).

Personally I wouldn't go down the lavalier route. Unless you use omnis (not a good idea for PA, unless you have perfect loudspeaker placement and a relatively dead acoustic) you're still going to have major problems when the speakers turn their heads to acknowledge people, or through simple mis-placement of the lavalier capsule. If you have more than one wireless microphone being used, just adhere to the simple rules of having the microphones at least one metre apart and turn the gain down on any microphones not being used, so that only one microphone is open at any one time.

A good PA system with decent wireless microphones fixed in position (i.e. on stands) should give you plenty of gain, even for quiet speakers.

Danno13
23-05-2008, 01:32 PM
A good PA system with decent wireless microphones fixed in position (i.e. on stands) should give you plenty of gain, even for quiet speakers.

Thanks for the advice, mabye I should upgrade.

Solitaire Events Ltd
23-05-2008, 01:54 PM
Thanks for the advice, mabye I should upgrade.

Yeah, get rid of your crap MA.:p

A1DL
23-05-2008, 02:18 PM
No it wouldn't. Gates are very tricky beasts to get right, especially with quiet sources (i.e. wedding speeches and the like).

which isn't a reason for not using them, is it?

Boogie Boy
23-05-2008, 03:38 PM
As someone who used gates for nigh on 20 years (in a much less hostile situation than a wedding reception etc) and remember spending hours just trying to get snare/kick/tom tom gates to open and close properly (very loud, precise sources), I'd say stay away from 'em. They really are a whole heap of trouble.