Upgrading KWM11 Mics

[Steevo]

Hi,

I've got a pair of Kam KWM11 VHF twin mics that i've had for a couple of years but recently one had cut out a couple of times. I'm not sure if it was due to distance (only 15-20m away) but it doesn't look good to have them cutting out like that so I'm wondering about an upgrade.

Any suggestions? Not looking to spend silly money if I can help it - probably somewhere about the £100-150 mark. I'd like a twin set if possible.

thanks in advance!

[Supreme Soundz]

just had a google

http://www.electricalmate.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=252600

or

http://www.maplin.co.uk/twin-vhf-wireless-handheld-radio-mic-system-43669?c=froogle&u=43669&t=module

or

http://www.djsuperstore.co.uk/Intimidation-iTrans-U216

[surround sounds]

Hi,

I've got a pair of Kam KWM11 VHF twin mics that i've had for a couple of years but recently one had cut out a couple of times. I'm not sure if it was due to distance (only 15-20m away) but it doesn't look good to have them cutting out like that so I'm wondering about an upgrade.

Any suggestions? Not looking to spend silly money if I can help it - probably somewhere about the £100-150 mark. I'd like a twin set if possible.

thanks in advance!

Hi
Kam KWM1940 Dual UHF Radio Mic System around £125..Recommend from someone off this forum..I can not remember who but excellent for the price..

[Corabar Entertainment]

just had a google

http://www.electricalmate.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=252600

or

http://www.maplin.co.uk/twin-vhf-wireless-handheld-radio-mic-system-43669?c=froogle&u=43669&t=module

or

http://www.djsuperstore.co.uk/Intimidation-iTrans-U216Any one of us can google and post results (inc the OP). :confused:

I think the OP is looking for personal recommendations from members.

[Digital Jack]

I have a set of these >>> http://www.maplin.co.uk/twin-channel-uhf-microphone-system-225040.

Not at all top of the range when it comes to cordless mikes , but I find that they are reliable , they sound rather good ,resistant to being dropped , good feedback rejection too .
Fixed frequency though ( UHF ) , may be a problem for some folks.
Take into consideration , as I understand it - all VHF cordless mikes will no conform to new regulations in the coming year.

[Steevo]

Wow, thanks for such quick suggestions!

The Maplin ones suggested by Supreme Soundz are identical to my current KAM KWM11 mics and they were only £65 as opposed to £99 for the Maplins.

Can't say I'm ever a great fan of maplin kit if i'm honest.....

Same goes for Intimidation as well, though I'm happy to be put right on that if I'm wrong. Having owned a pair of Int-115 speakers when I started out and then upgrading to something better the difference between the two is night and day (Intimidations sounded very tinny - though for £150 you can't go wrong!).

The KWM1940s have been suggested to me by several people now and seem like the logical way to go. My only concern is they don't come with a carry case which is rather annoying - my KWM11s come with a great lockable hard carry case which is light and easy to carry.

[Digital Jack]

Near enough all the same under the label , see this >>> http://www.kam.co.uk/index.php?action=product&product_id=115

Is it Kam , is it Maplins , is it supersound . . . .
Don't be fooled by the name , and remember - if it's got PROFESSIONAL written on it , it probably isn't.

[ppentertainments]

The Kam one only has one handheld mic though. I don't like maplins but that does not look like a bad buy for karaoke use.

[paulg]

Trust me, the KAM UHF's are pants.

They suffer from the same drop out problems as the UHF - the mics are not true diversity mics i.e. only one antenna per mic. They also seem to cross talk with other mics very readily and I think they produce a very poor sound when compared to a decent microphone. On the plus side, feedback rejection isn't too bad for that category of product.

These twin sets are all well and good, but you do run the risk of having no mics at all if the receiver fails. I realise this is much more than you want to spend but a couple of Shure PG's (190 quid each) would be a good bet.

Unfortunately, there is no real alternative to a decent microphone.

[Steevo]

Now I'm well and truly confused!

[Daryll]

I use and recommend these.

http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=WARMIC10.
Apart from the odd battery change , faultless , if you buy a pair , make sure they are different frequency's ( 173.8 & 175.0 ).

cheers

Daryll

[Digital Jack]

I use and recommend these.

http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=WARMIC10.
Apart from the odd battery change , faultless , if you buy a pair , make sure they are different frequency's ( 173.8 & 175.0 ).

cheers

Daryll

Remember , to all of you that have a licence for this and a licence for that - these will be unlicensable soon.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Remember , to all of you that have a licence for this and a licence for that - these will be unlicensable soon.

Can you explain what you mean by 'a licence for this and a licence for that'? :confused:

[Digital Jack]

I would have thought some of you would have known about this..........

The frequencies used by cordless mikes etc are being 'shuffled about' by our lovely Eurocrats.
All current VHF frequencies that are being used are going to be allocated to other systems , along with a lot of our currently used UHF frequencies.




https://www.ac-et.com/audio/digital_switchover.asp

http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/radio.htm

http://www.churchvideo.co.uk/audio/radio-microphones-legal-and-usable-frequencies_1208.html

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Frequencies can't be shuffled about. They are taking away channel 69 which is 854-862Mhz and this will be sold off. Channel 70 which is 863 - 865 Mhz will still be used and free, while another set of frequencies (channel 38) will be a licenced channel for radio mics.

I didn't think VHF was affected and in fact it says on one of the links:


The VHF band 174-216 is not yet affected by the Digital Dividend, and there is some interleaved VHF spectrum availability. There are three frequencies within the VHF that can be used license free - 173,800 MHz, 174,500 MHz and 175.000 MHz.

[Digital Jack]

'174-216 is not yet affected' , ah-ha.

There was talk of it being re-used for other services ,well that's what I last read about it.
Looks like ofcom have moved the goalposts again.

I saw (in one of those links) that Sennheiser is supplying info' leaflets on have to go about changing their units to make them conform , that's nice of them.

[Steevo]

Thanks again for the help. For simplicity I'm erring towards the Kam ones...though I'm still slightly put off by the lack of carry case and the odd negative review.

Should I abandon the idea of twin mics?

[DJ Paulie]

Why not use the case you've got ?

[Digital Jack]

What's wrong with twin mikes ?
If you go for 2 X singles you'll have more to lug around / wire into your system.
What's the chances of anything with a twin mike system going wrong weather it's Shure or El-Cheapo ?
If you take care of your gear - your gear will take care of you , don't be put off by stories of my brothers friend has a cousin who had one of those and it packed up halfway through a gig , any part of your setup could go wrong at any time.
If something goes wrong DEAL WITH IT AT THE TIME , don't go thinking you need to carry a trailer with a complete 2ND system on board 'as spare' in case of something not working on the night.

If you like Kam mikes - get Kam mikes , it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about what equipment you choose to buy.
If you're gonna spend around £100 then Kam is as good as any other in that price range , try not to get caught up in the world of 'got to get the best'.

[DJ Paulie]

:agree: and so right he said it twice ! I had a Dual Kam set and it went belly up after about 8 months, have been using a Prosound dual set from Maplins for about 4 years now, with hardly any problems. In fact couple weeks ago was using them nearly 50ft away from the receiver. I always use Duracells and I had to replace the antenna on one side as it broke, but I just took one off an old radio.

[Steevo]

Thanks for the replies. The carry case I currently have came with my Kam KWM11 mics.....and so I'm guessing the 1940s wouldn't fit into it.

That said...looks like the Kam ones are the ones to have then....you can't always find something perfect!

thanks guys!

[Digital Jack]

New York - New York...........So good they named it twice.

Sorry , bad habbit.

[paulg]

What's wrong with twin mikes ?
If you go for 2 X singles you'll have more to lug around / wire into your system.
What's the chances of anything with a twin mike system going wrong weather it's Shure or El-Cheapo ?
If you take care of your gear - your gear will take care of you , don't be put off by stories of my brothers friend has a cousin who had one of those and it packed up halfway through a gig , any part of your setup could go wrong at any time.
If something goes wrong DEAL WITH IT AT THE TIME , don't go thinking you need to carry a trailer with a complete 2ND system on board 'as spare' in case of something not working on the night.

If you like Kam mikes - get Kam mikes , it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about what equipment you choose to buy.
If you're gonna spend around £100 then Kam is as good as any other in that price range , try not to get caught up in the world of 'got to get the best'.

I bought several sets of Kam mics based on recommendation. It barely matters to me what they cost but performance is key. I think I reasonably can say from experience that cosmetically they are excellent. In terms of a decent radio microphone that is where it ends.

It does "matter what anyone else thinks about equipment" otherwise why ask a question on here in the first place. People take the time to offer honest advice and that is something you don't see much of elsewhere. It is not about getting the best either. The Shures I refer to are far removed from the best in fact they only just tick all the boxes for an acceptable radio microphone. The capsule is not the best that Shure offers, the battery life is not excellent either. On the other hand the receiver has internal antenna, the capsule offers good feedback rejection and the build is reasonably robust. Certainly they are wholly better than the Kam's. The extra cost is one gig income at the most. It's not worth cost cutting.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

It does "matter what anyone else thinks about equipment" otherwise why ask a question on here in the first place. People take the time to offer honest advice and that is something you don't see much of elsewhere. It is not about getting the best either. The Shures I refer to are far removed from the best in fact they only just tick all the boxes for an acceptable radio microphone. The capsule is not the best that Shure offers, the battery life is not excellent either. On the other hand the receiver has internal antenna, the capsule offers good feedback rejection and the build is reasonably robust. Certainly they are wholly better than the Kam's. The extra cost is one gig income at the most. It's not worth cost cutting.

I have to agree with this post. I have a couple of the PG58s and they are reasonable. No extra noise and they don't cut out after 20 feet either. Sound quality is good and battery life is very good if you take the 9V battery out in between uses and don't leave it on stand by.

The Kams are OK and nothing more. Sound quality not bad and they cut out too sometimes. I have had both and would recommend the Shure of the two.

A

[Digital Jack]

I bought several sets of Kam mics based on recommendation. It barely matters to me what they cost but performance is key. I think I reasonably can say from experience that cosmetically they are excellent. In terms of a decent radio microphone that is where it ends.

It does "matter what anyone else thinks about equipment" otherwise why ask a question on here in the first place. People take the time to offer honest advice and that is something you don't see much of elsewhere. It is not about getting the best either. The Shures I refer to are far removed from the best in fact they only just tick all the boxes for an acceptable radio microphone. The capsule is not the best that Shure offers, the battery life is not excellent either. On the other hand the receiver has internal antenna, the capsule offers good feedback rejection and the build is reasonably robust. Certainly they are wholly better than the Kam's. The extra cost is one gig income at the most. It's not worth cost cutting.

Why buy Kam mikes if cost is barely an issue ?
If performance is key you would surely by a true diversity system wouldn't you ?
You are contradicting yourself if you think battery life should be better than what you get from Shure wireless mike , because if you spend a lot of money on a cordless mike you would surely change the battery before each gig in order to avoid the embarrassment of getting drop out due to a battery running low.
Shure mikes aren't robust at all , simply changing the battery can result in splitting of the lower handle / battery cover.

How many people on here want to spend IRO £800 on a higher quality Shure radio mike , get real and quit talking nonsense.
When I said it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks , I was referring to the party goers , not the equipment snobs that have the belief that you must spend top money for top flight gear.



Maybe I aught to title this as ;

Ode to another pointless disagreement.

You don't have to look very far to find such posts here do you.

Yadda , yadda , yadda.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Why do you so often find it necessary to be rude and continually put down other members & this forum in general?

(....and before you reply with "I don't" or anything else for that matter, the question is rhetorical)

[paulg]

Why buy Kam mikes if cost is barely an issue ?
If performance is key you would surely by a true diversity system wouldn't you ?
You are contradicting yourself if you think battery life should be better than what you get from Shure wireless mike , because if you spend a lot of money on a cordless mike you would surely change the battery before each gig in order to avoid the embarrassment of getting drop out due to a battery running low.
Shure mikes aren't robust at all , simply changing the battery can result in splitting of the lower handle / battery cover.

How many people on here want to spend IRO £800 on a higher quality Shure radio mike , get real and quit talking nonsense.
When I said it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks , I was referring to the party goers , not the equipment snobs that have the belief that you must spend top money for top flight gear.



Maybe I aught to title this as ;

Ode to another pointless disagreement.

You don't have to look very far to find such posts here do you.

Yadda , yadda , yadda.

TIP: Read a post carefully before using your keyboard.

1. I said it barely matters to me what they cost. £40 or £400 - so long as they perform it barely matters. KAM's don't - coarse high frequencies, muffled low frequencies, signal drop out and cross talk being just a few of the dislikes we have after running 3 sets for over a month. Unfortunately, it was further evidence that it is rarely worth cost cutting.

We had KAM's recommended to us - "they're as good as an SM58" said our amateur (and quite possibly drunk) reviewer. Web reviews looked OK too. Well, we knew they couldn't be quite so good but we thought "what the hell", lets try them. You live and learn. There is always someone willing to take them off your hands. I've kept a set for use at younger children's parties.

2. A decent non diversity system is usually OK so long as you remain reasonably near to the receiver and within sight of the antenna. A diveristy system is, of course, preferable.

3. I never said anything about battery life being better or worse. I said the battery life on the Shures is not excellent. About 8 hours from a PP3 battery or 5 hours from a rechargeable PP3. In my experience it is about 6 hours continuous on the KAM's, not 20 hours as is often stated. Neither are particularly good.

4. Robustness. Take off the capsule and open up KAM. Compare it to a Shure, Sennheiser or similar. You'll see what I mean.

5. Cost. Where did you get £800 from for one, two or even three low end Shure PG's? Based on maths like this, can you lend me fifty quid?

6. Equipment snobs - I wasn't referring to top flight gear. I'd agree with you that there is a sensible limit where extra cost will not give you much audible difference but i personally, believe you should set that limit higher rather than lower. If people want to spend though, it doesn't make them snobs. In fact, the cutting edge technology they buy eventually gets introduced further down the range so everyone benefits. I'm pretty certain that the technology used in the first rolled up cardboard tube has since been passed down into the cheaper end microphone ranges.

Finally, when you are replying to my posts, you don't have to be quite so rude or childish to get your point across.

[Excalibur]

3. I never said anything about battery life being better or worse. I said the battery life on the Shures is not excellent. About 8 hours from a PP3 battery or 5 hours from a rechargeable PP3. In my experience it is about 6 hours continuous on the KAM's, not 20 hours as is often stated. Neither are particularly good.

5. Cost. Where did you get £800 from for one, two or even three low end Shure PG's? Based on maths like this, can you lend me fifty quid?

.

3) I've never had good battery life from Shure mics. ( I don't take the batteries out inbetween, so perhaps I'm contributing to it. :o ) My AT beats the crap out of Shures in this department.

5) I reckon there's a confusion here. I'm guessing Jack is referring to the top of the range models. ( SLX? :confused: ) where you can pay around £800 for one system with one mic.

SLX: £700 http://www.themicstore.co.uk/shure-slx24ukbeta87-condenser-radio-mic-system-3009-p.asp
ULX: £950 and rising. http://www.soundexposure.com/store/Shure_ULXP24BETA58.html

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

3) I've never had good battery life from Shure mics. ( I don't take the batteries out inbetween, so perhaps I'm contributing to it. :o )

Correct.

If you leave batteries in mics, they suffer from something called bleedover I believe.

I have always taken mine out and always got a decent length if time out of them.

I have mentioned this once or twice before....;)

[Excalibur]

Correct.

If you leave batteries in mics, they suffer from something called bleedover I believe.

I have always taken mine out and always got a decent length if time out of them.

I have mentioned this once or twice before....;)

You have indeed. ;)

I have however put a brand new pair of Duracell batteries into a Beta 58 and had them die in two hours.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

You have indeed. ;)

I have however put a brand new pair of Duracell batteries into a Beta 58 and had them die in two hours.

Do you leave the mic on all night?

Perhaps a Beta is different, but on my new SM58 it uses AA batteries and they certainly don't last as long as the 9V batteries in my other SM58s and PG58s, but they last longer than 2 hours.

You must talk too much. :whistle:

[ppentertainments]

You have indeed. ;)

I have however put a brand new pair of Duracell batteries into a Beta 58 and had them die in two hours.

Stop talking so much then. :D
Damn posted same time as Darren. Great minds.

[CRAZY K]

Hi,

I've got a pair of Kam KWM11 VHF twin mics that i've had for a couple of years but recently one had cut out a couple of times. I'm not sure if it was due to distance (only 15-20m away) but it doesn't look good to have them cutting out like that so I'm wondering about an upgrade.

Any suggestions? Not looking to spend silly money if I can help it - probably somewhere about the £100-150 mark. I'd like a twin set if possible.

thanks in advance!

Hmmm-I use a radio Mike in my job all night away from "base" and find the JTS amazingly strong, durable and decent quality NEVER suffering drop out at distances of up to 50 feet. Now 5years going strong.

15 to 20 metres is a heck of a long way to be expecting cheaper Radio Mikes to perform-- :eek:

However I was very surprised at the KAM 1940 I bought from Martin Vectis because the quality is very reasonable and I walked around a venue with one and found it to be fine up to about 30 feet. The only downside is the on off switches which are crackly, however only when switching OFF-- so a quick mute on the mixer sorts that if your near it.

If your requirement is no drop out at long distances I think your looking at Shure or JTS.

[Excalibur]

Do you leave the mic on all night?
I fitted the new batteries to the mic, did a three hour kids party, and the indicator went red at the two hour mark.



Perhaps a Beta is different, but on my new SM58 it uses AA batteries and they certainly don't last as long as the 9V batteries in my other SM58s and PG58s, but they last longer than 2 hours.
And funnily enough, it has been my experience that mics with AA batteries outlast 9v ones. ( Apart from this one case )



You must talk too much. :whistle:

Do you see me arguing? :D :D :D :D :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I have to say that I always use Duracell+, Duracell Procell or M3.

Were yours Lidl's own brand Peter?


:sofa:

[CRAZY K]

Correct.

If you leave batteries in mics, they suffer from something called bleedover I believe.

I have always taken mine out and always got a decent length if time out of them.

I have mentioned this once or twice before....;)

Strangely my JTS doesnt appear affected by being left in--I get 5 or 6 gigs out of a pair of AAs--and I talk a LOT during the evening--thats my job;)

Mind you I go for the top Duracells:D

[Excalibur]

You have indeed. ;)

I have however put a brand new pair of Duracell batteries into a Beta 58 and had them die in two hours.


I have to say that I always use Duracell+, Duracell Procell or M3.

Were yours Lidl's own brand Peter?


:sofa:
Please take the time to read posts thoroughly. Thank you.

Do you really think I would put anything else in a radio mic through choice? In worst case scenarios I have used the top grade of Eveready when it's all I could get, but they're then replaced by Duracell at the first opportunity.

PS. I'm not ruling out the possibility of a fault in my Beta. I bought it s/h at a good price, and it's just been in for a repair/service, so I'll see if battery life improves.

[spin mobile disco]

I use the audio intimidation diversity mics they cost about £200 for 2 mics with a standard 1u 19" rackmount reciever.
Pretty robust and battery life is very good. Range depending on surrounding equipment etc is better than my old kam 1940's I havent measured them but a large room with no pillars they will normally do fine.

The Kam mics I would class as speech only mics, i.e DJ use and handing to people for speeches on an evening. They are pretty robust and cheap to replace if damaged.

I bought these mics simply as cheap alterantives for when clients need to do speeches, presentations etc as they are cheap good on batteries and happened to be the right form factor to fit in my decks unit without to much hardship.
I did have a sennheisser radio mic but the way people treated it made me buy cheap ones as at £200 for a new mic was a bit steep to replace.

So summing up.
If its for general use i.e you go for JTS Sennheisser or shure. They are reliable and should last well. They also have the best feedback rejection something at high spl is very usefull.

If it only for clients for wedding speeches etc go lower end uhf like the KAM or audio intimidation. As they have a true on off swich that saves batteries and the transmitters are relatively cheap to repair / replace. (£5 for a new mic pickup and £35 for a new complete mic)

Worth noting as well the maplin uhf twin mic set are actually Kam rebranded as maplins own brand prosound. So the parts are interchangable should the need arrise in a hurry.

[CRAZY K]

I use the audio intimidation diversity mics they cost about £200 for 2 mics with a standard 1u 19" rackmount reciever.
Pretty robust and battery life is very good. Range depending on surrounding equipment etc is better than my old kam 1940's I havent measured them but a large room with no pillars they will normally do fine.

The Kam mics I would class as speech only mics, i.e DJ use and handing to people for speeches on an evening. They are pretty robust and cheap to replace if damaged.

I bought these mics simply as cheap alterantives for when clients need to do speeches, presentations etc as they are cheap good on batteries and happened to be the right form factor to fit in my decks unit without to much hardship.
I did have a sennheisser radio mic but the way people treated it made me buy cheap ones as at £200 for a new mic was a bit steep to replace.

So summing up.
If its for general use i.e you go for JTS Sennheisser or shure. They are reliable and should last well. They also have the best feedback rejection something at high spl is very usefull.

If it only for clients for wedding speeches etc go lower end uhf like the KAM or audio intimidation. As they have a true on off swich that saves batteries and the transmitters are relatively cheap to repair / replace. (£5 for a new mic pickup and £35 for a new complete mic)

Worth noting as well the maplin uhf twin mic set are actually Kam rebranded as maplins own brand prosound. So the parts are interchangable should the need arrise in a hurry.

Sounds good to me, my only reservation about cheaper mikes would be for Weddings if the distances involved are lengthy i.e. a long way from the dj booth in a massive Marquee--been there done it with the JTS no worries.;)

[CRAZY K]

Please take the time to read posts thoroughly. Thank you.

Do you really think I would put anything else in a radio mic through choice? In worst case scenarios I have used the top grade of Eveready when it's all I could get, but they're then replaced by Duracell at the first opportunity.

PS. I'm not ruling out the possibility of a fault in my Beta. I bought it s/h at a good price, and it's just been in for a repair/service, so I'll see if battery life improves.

I think we mean Peter you were sold duff batteries as in you bought a good make but a faulty batch, I often wonder how long they get left on the racks in the Supermarket--although you can buy the ones with the battery level indicator.

Must admit I have never heard of mikes "going in for a service" what is there to service:daft: :daft: :daft:

My windshield on my JTS looks clogged up but still works perfectly and its beyond economic repair if we are talking a new windshield as its part of the actual mike head :eek: :eek: :eek:

[paulg]

On the subject of batteries I bought some PP3 2800mah, anyway they are supposedly the highest output for a rechargeable battery. These give around 5 hours continuous use on a PG58 but take 26 hours to re-charge!! They give reasonable notice of their impending demise. I am working out losses caused by natural discharge rate. Battery bleed is a new one on me but very useful to know about. I might experiment.

If you are at a very loose end and you want to test theoretical battery life against actual battery life, find the milliamp-hour rating stamped on the battery and divide it by the current rating marked on the device in ma to give battery life in hours.

You could then plot values on a chart or maybe not.