VHF, UHF or 2.4ghz Wireless Microphone

[rth_discos]

I'm in the market for a new wireless microphone.

I have a cheapo wireless mic that I use for anyone that wants it when drunk, and that does great. But it does offer suffer from interference.

As I'm about to start providing audio for the wedding speeches, I want something more reliable.

I'm not massively hung up about sound quality, as I know most people won't even use the microphone properly, but as long as it doesn't sound bad.

What I'm more interested in, is what form of technology is most reliable for getting a good signal back to the base unit. Is it VHF, UHF or the newish 2.4ghz mics?

My current wireless mic is UHF.

I'm fairly certain from memory that VHF is rubbish, so was wondering what experience anyone has had with 2.4ghz - and is UHF better with a decent system?

Would ideally like to spend between £100 - £200.

Thanks!

[TONYTIGER]

Have a look at http://www.justmics.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=14238487&AccID=98616&PGFLngID=1&gclid=CMnyus2Wn8oCFRQ6Gwod4w4MAQ for the money very good we have several in our hire stock and never been a problem,orginally made by another company does no eat batterys and have 4 frequencys.

[RobKennedy]

If it helps I've used one of those Trantec mics at least once a week for over the last year and never had a problem, much to my amazement.

Part of the job often involves wandering off round the venue with it and even this has been fine.

[CRAZY K]

I know KAM offer some very decent quality radio mikes, we have an old one here from Mr Need a Disco that was used only last night at a Corporate for speeches and despite a noisy on off switch on ours amazingly good quality and value.

Personally I would up the budget if wanting something possibly a bit better for Weddings and go for my fave--JTS.

Had one for 10 years and the other about 5 years, no issues except the new one has a battery carrier that can allow the batteries to move slightly and affect connection, only happened once, same night I had my first puncture for 10 years, only a problem if you are using the microphone as a tool of trade with it moving around rather than to announce last orders at the bar:rolleyes:

Totally reliable in all situations except near Naval Installations, in particular Portsmouth where I had a problem years ago at the David LLoyd Club.

Go for UHF whatever you buy. Make sure there is a warning when battery running low.

Check effective range also, I work up to 50 feet away from base unit in crowds of dancers-- no problem.

Have a look at type of batteries--I prefer the ones with 2x AA. How easy to change quickly on a gig?

Ideally road test on a gig before buying--see what the sound feedback is like--very important, I find nowadays using my Ultimate Speaker Stands to elevate speakers makes feedback redundant even in front of them.

[Excalibur]

Nowadays, I don't know what I would recommend. :confused: I'm finding what I take to be interference a problem at some venues. Normally, it manifests itself as dropout, although I did have one occasion where it was an awful intermittent noise.
I think the airwaves are becoming quite crowded, and I'd suggest whatever you get should have as many available channels as possible.

[CRAZY K]

Nowadays, I don't know what I would recommend. :confused: I'm finding what I take to be interference a problem at some venues. Normally, it manifests itself as dropout, although I did have one occasion where it was an awful intermittent noise.
I think the airwaves are becoming quite crowded, and I'd suggest whatever you get should have as many available channels as possible.

Do you think your unit is faulty Peter, surely you shouldnt get dropout from a quality Radio Mike unless a vast distance between the transmitter and receiver.

I did have a shedload of trouble though with my EV Radio mike that NEVER worked properly, background noises and cracking noises--if the DJ shop where I won it in a customer raffle followed my instructions it will now be at the bottom of a river somewhere where it might be of some use :daft::daft::daft:

I think the JTS has more than one frequency on the new model but have never even bothered to think about it as never had any problems other than Naval bases.

ALAN

[yourdj]

My Kam ones are great range and quality. Great pick up so you talk over it rather than into it, very handy for wedding speeches when it ends up at the speakers crotch.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjyybWV5J_KAhUB1BoKHfKUD64QjxwIAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaudioworksuk.com%2Findex.p hp%2Fkam-kwm1960-hh-dual-wireless-microphone-system.html&psig=AFQjCNFY6bHdNMCnPZn0dwunPExRBeIAsA&ust=1452533776489880

17634

[Corabar Steve]

Nowadays, I don't know what I would recommend. :confused: I'm finding what I take to be interference a problem at some venues. Normally, it manifests itself as dropout, although I did have one occasion where it was an awful intermittent noise.
I think the airwaves are becoming quite crowded, and I'd suggest whatever you get should have as many available channels as possible.


Do you think your unit is faulty Peter, surely you shouldnt get dropout from a quality Radio Mike unless a vast distance between the transmitter and receiver.

Not unless all of ours (Kam & Shure) have the same problem. Fine 99.9% of the time, 2 venues where they are no end of trouble.

[CRAZY K]

Not unless all of ours (Kam & Shure) have the same problem. Fine 99.9% of the time, 2 venues where they are no end of trouble.

Steve, is that dropout over short distances--also what sort of venues are they--I once worked in an old Village Hall which had dodgy electrics and caused noises--but no drop outs--

Certainly I have had trouble near Forces ( Navy) Installations.

I really have no idea as its a pretty complicated subject as you cant see anything physical of course.

Actually I had a drop out last night--forgot to screw in the two aerials on the back of the unit--silly boy --(gives himself a slap) :rolleyes:

[Corabar Steve]

Both 4 Star hotels.

[Excalibur]

Do you think your unit is faulty Peter, surely you shouldnt get dropout from a quality Radio Mike unless a vast distance between the transmitter and receiver.


No. More than one unit, Alan. One Shure Beta 58, one 58, one PG Headset, and one Audio Technica. Different problems, different venues. :confused: One evening, the Beta was unusable for the first half of the night, and perfect for the second half. :daft:


Not unless all of ours (Kam & Shure) have the same problem. Fine 99.9% of the time, 2 venues where they are no end of trouble.
More than two venues for me, but different units have problems in each venue. Hence my theory that it's something like interference, as I'm guessing the fault affects different operating frequencies in each.

Didn't Toby have problems with his 2.4Ghz mics in built up areas?

[Nakatomi]

It could be 4G phones/dongles (too far away from the base station, so they crank up their output power), or being too close to a base station.. or your laptop, or a leaky microwave (800-900Mhz splatter, bye bye radio mics!)... or any number of things. It needn't even be because you're too far away from the mic receiver either (for that read, even some expensive radio mic system receivers are easily overwhelmed by signals they're not even tuned to). Without a fancy RF spectrum analyser there's not really any way to know with any certainty what's going wrong when you lose signal & hear weird noises over your PA. If you were a legitimate radio system user back in the day you could get the DTI's Radio Investigations Unit to look into it for you. Not so likely now.

Moving to CH38 might help. I'm not sure 2.4GHz is a good bet just because of all the other stuff using the 2.4GHz band these days.

As for VHF - if I remember right the only real problem was that the band was crowded with other mic users, and only really mobile radios like taxis were causes of interference.. but how many people still use VHF mics, and don't the vast majority of taxi drivers just use phones now? ;)


No. More than one unit, Alan. One Shure Beta 58, one 58, one PG Headset, and one Audio Technica. Different problems, different venues. :confused: One evening, the Beta was unusable for the first half of the night, and perfect for the second half. :daft:


More than two venues for me, but different units have problems in each venue. Hence my theory that it's something like interference, as I'm guessing the fault affects different operating frequencies in each.

Didn't Toby have problems with his 2.4Ghz mics in built up areas?

If memory serves he had issues with his AKG dual mini system on CH70 but has been okay since switching to a KAM. Go figure ;)

[Excalibur]

For two reasons, Justin, I agree with every word.
Firstly because you know whereof you speak, and secondly, because it tallies closely with my experience. Makes sense to me.

Re VHF, well I long ago considered that VHF might begin to make a comeback for exactly the reasons you outline. Biggest downside I remember with VHF was its unpredictability. I've known mine work in a castle fifty yards away, through foot thick stone walls, and I've known them fail at twenty yards because a person was in the way of the signal path. :daft:

[rth_discos]

Thanks all,

Am looking in to options suggested so far.

Something else I've seen is 1.8ghz. It needs a license from Ofcom for it, which is just £75 per year.

Has anyone else used this frequency? Usually anything that's licensed is much less congested = less likely to have interference.

[rth_discos]

OK so the JTS mics as mentioned look good.

Also, as a name I've heard of before, how is Sennheiser rated.

Particularly this one - especially as it's cheaper than a lot of their stuff:

http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Sennheiser-XSW65-GB-Wireless-Vocal-Set-Channel-38/IO8

[TONYTIGER]

OK so the JTS mics as mentioned look good.

Also, as a name I've heard of before, how is Sennheiser rated.

Particularly this one - especially as it's cheaper than a lot of their stuff:

http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Sennheiser-XSW65-GB-Wireless-Vocal-Set-Channel-38/IO8

You can not go wrong with Sennheiser,probably the worlds leader in radio micropones,the one i suggested ( Trantec ) was orginally made by them under freeport but they lost the licence worth noting this one has 12 freqency options unlike the Kam which has much fewer.

[AndyMD]

It could be 4G phones/dongles (too far away from the base station, so they crank up their output power), or being too close to a base station.. or your laptop, or a leaky microwave (800-900Mhz splatter, bye bye radio mics!)... or any number of things.

Yes 4G is the problem. Did write about this about a year ago! We used a twin AKG unit and have to turn off 4G on our phones when DJ ing (which is a pain if there is no wi fi about). I'm not sure which Channel it is but it's 100% 4G thats the problem. It only happened after the location of a regular venue we use was upgraded to 4G

You can indeed by an OFCOM licence and buy the kit that uses that frequency. At one club we DJ at their house mic are on an frequency which isn't public as it's mainly supporting live bands who may be using the public frequency and it save the mics clashing. If you can afford it, it's a good way to go as if anyone does clash your frequency, it's them that's in the wrong!

As far as I personally recommend, I have always been a fan of Sennheiser. Their build quality is second to none. The important bits, like jack sockets and power sockets have never failed since I've own them. Yes the initial expense is higher, but ours are well into 100 gigs old which works out at £3.50 per gig.

Andy

[mattydj50]

You can not go wrong with Sennheiser,probably the worlds leader in radio micropones,the one i suggested ( Trantec ) was orginally made by them under freeport but they lost the licence worth noting this one has 12 freqency options unlike the Kam which has much fewer.

Thought it looked familiar. I have a Sennheiser Freeport (so that's how long I've had it) and have had no problems whatsoever from it. I use it as a second mic to hand out for speeches, presentations, raffles etc. Its fine for that and not toooo expensive, so if Mr Numpty was to drop it or damage it, its not the end of the world.

I would probably use it for my main mic (it does act as the spare at the moment) but the only thing for me is the on-off switch is on the bottom which makes it less user friendly that my Shure mics.

[TONYTIGER]

Thought it looked familiar. I have a Sennheiser Freeport (so that's how long I've had it) and have had no problems whatsoever from it. I use it as a second mic to hand out for speeches, presentations, raffles etc. Its fine for that and not toooo expensive, so if Mr Numpty was to drop it or damage it, its not the end of the world.

I would probably use it for my main mic (it does act as the spare at the moment) but the only thing for me is the on-off switch is on the bottom which makes it less user friendly that my Shure mics.

Hi Matty,yes the Trantec is the same as the Freeport and one of the bargins to be had nowadays,the price on Radio Mics has come down a lot i was one of the first djs back in 71 to use the Reslo and it cost over £ 500 then but it was very good.

[CRAZY K]

OK so the JTS mics as mentioned look good.

Also, as a name I've heard of before, how is Sennheiser rated.

Particularly this one - especially as it's cheaper than a lot of their stuff:

http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Sennheiser-XSW65-GB-Wireless-Vocal-Set-Channel-38/IO8

Certainly have a good look at JTS nothing has gone wrong with either of mine ( use both 5 year old and 10 year old alternatively) they get a lot more use than usual as Im talking most of the evening.:rolleyes:

Its a bit disconcerting reading all the experiences of different people and worrying as well---some of us need to be away from the disco /mixer controls, should this happen at a Wedding or the MDs speech at a Corporate--Embarrassment City :o:o:o

So the only practical advice is buy a good Radio Mike with plenty of alternative channels ---but also take a very long lead and a HAND MIKE.

Perhaps better start researching hand mikes as well.

Connected to this --excuse the pun--I wonder if it will affect the new wireless bluetooth speakers--which they thought we had at the gig Saturday-- for Corporate speeches in a different part of the venue-----er no sorry--- heres Darrens active EV speaker and a microphone, perfect.:D

[dicky]

I seem to remember last time we had a post like this it was me asking the questions and I also think it was Mr Excalibur's advice (and one or two others who posted on that thread and this thread also) that led me to purchase a Sennheiser Wireless mic that to be honest I wouldn't like to be without these days in terms of it's reliability and performance. It was not what I would call cheap or even what I set out intending to spend/purchase but it certainly does the job flawlessly (and probably holds a good % of residual value should I ever decide to part with it ;) )

Don't know if that advice helps but it certainly did for me

Rich

[rth_discos]

My Kam ones are great range and quality. Great pick up so you talk over it rather than into it, very handy for wedding speeches when it ends up at the speakers crotch.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjyybWV5J_KAhUB1BoKHfKUD64QjxwIAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaudioworksuk.com%2Findex.p hp%2Fkam-kwm1960-hh-dual-wireless-microphone-system.html&psig=AFQjCNFY6bHdNMCnPZn0dwunPExRBeIAsA&ust=1452533776489880

17634
That is very handy - after all, the average person uses a microphone completely incorrectly (usually moving the microphone further away as I push up the volume so they can be heard!)

[Nakatomi]

I seem to remember last time we had a post like this it was me asking the questions and I also think it was Mr Excalibur's advice (and one or two others who posted on that thread and this thread also) that led me to purchase a Sennheiser Wireless mic that to be honest I wouldn't like to be without these days in terms of it's reliability and performance. It was not what I would call cheap or even what I set out intending to spend/purchase but it certainly does the job flawlessly (and probably holds a good % of residual value should I ever decide to part with it ;) )

Don't know if that advice helps but it certainly did for me

Rich

Which model did you go for in the end Rich? XSW 35?

[Excalibur]

Which model did you go for in the end Rich? XSW 35?

Ahem. The search facility is a wonderful thing, embrace it. (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?42740-Mic-Advice-please&highlight=microphone)

OK, I'm a smartbottom sometimes, but it did come up top of the search results. :)

And yes, Dicky shelled out for the Senny.

[Nakatomi]

Ahem. The search facility is a wonderful thing, embrace it. (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?42740-Mic-Advice-please&highlight=microphone)

OK, I'm a smartbottom sometimes, but it did come up top of the search results. :)

And yes, Dicky shelled out for the Senny.

Yup. Pardon my laziness. I could remember Dicky saying he got the Sennheiser, but not which one. Oooh look, a dealer not too far from me has it and its condenser counterpart in stock, and not badly priced either. D'OH. Only on channel 38.

Edit: Seems GuitarGuitar aren't recommending anyone buys a channel 70 system anymore. They stock either CH38 or 2.4Ghz systems. Now that's a thing, isn't it?

[Excalibur]

Edit: Seems GuitarGuitar aren't recommending anyone buys a channel 70 system anymore. They stock either CH38 or 2.4Ghz systems. Now that's a thing, isn't it?

And we can hazard a guess why, can't we? :whistle:

[AndyMD]

Edit: Seems GuitarGuitar aren't recommending anyone buys a channel 70 system anymore. They stock either CH38 or 2.4Ghz systems. Now that's a thing, isn't it?

Which is strange as 4G uses 800Mhz as does channel 70 :confused: