Good General purpose wireless mic

[adessmith]

Hi,
Our church has one general purpose wireless mic used for announcements, prayers, and stuff like that. It is a shure PG24/PG58.
Recently, in a move to a new building it was damaged and no longer functions. The reciever is fine, it shows the mic as "ready" when the transmitter is powered on, but the audio light does not flash and we get no sound. I think something in the capsule is damaged???
We have never liked the fact that it takes 9v, and seems to go through them fairly quickly, but other than that were satisfied with the sound quality. The mic gets accidently left on from time to time, and 9v batteries cost a lot more than a couple of AA's.

Any suggestions for a mic with similar performance in roughly the same price point? Preferably something that takes AA batteries.
If we could get a better quality handset to use with the same receiver that would be even better.

[andrewc2]

The Line 6 products amaze me how they preform in all environments. I can generally push the gain WAY past where I can with an EV handheld, with no feedback or clipping. It uses new digital technology so you get great audio quality for a low price

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Handheld.html

[wvbcsound]

Check Shures web page they have a listing of mics they repair and the cost of the repairs. The prices are pretty reasonable considering when the mics come back they are like new. (repaired to factory specs)

Charlie
wvbcsound

[waynehoskins]

I'm partial to Sennheiser, so I'd recommend their EW135G3 kit. Good quality, dirt cheap (as non-throw-away wireless go).

Your current PG wireless, have you checked to make sure the transmitter and receiver are still on the same frequency? The Ready light would indicate some level of on-channel RF, but if they're sufficiently off, the carrier might be right on the edge of the passband. Check that (sync them), since it's a free fix. Also verify the Mute button; it's also a free fix.

You mention just having moved; is the RF environment there different from the previous location? You might be co-channel with a TV station, which would cause no end of troubles. Check your frequency coordination.

If you're in a metro area, it's just about essential to have fully-frequency-agile wireless, meaning that you can put them on any frequency in the bandsplit, not just a few manufacturer-selected ones. There's so much RF out there that with any considerable number of wireless, you have to do some pretty aggressive coordination.

[adessmith]

We do have 3 line 6 mics for vocals, and we love them, but the channel buttons are too easy to hit. As a general use mic (anyone and everyone using it) I can see this being a problem. It has a lock feature, but it locks the power button also, which wont work for us.
Both units are still set to the same frequency. I cycled the transmitters power on and off multiple times, and every time the "ready light" on the receiver goes on an off properly. I've tried several channels, and I get nothing. I'm thinking about taking it apart to see if there is anything obvious. There is a small dent in the pop filter that I dont remember seeing before, so I think it was dropped on concrete.
The frequency should still be free, we only moved a few miles... I checked sennheiser's frequency page, and it looks like there shouldnt be much difference in the nearby TV stations.

[Tim Padrick]

1) Sennheiser with E935 capsule.

2) Sennheiser with E835 capsule.

3) Line Six.

[greg4god]

I liked my AT 3000 series. The only problem with general use was that people at church were more used to the 1400 series with an actual switch to turn it on. No matter how many time I told them it was already on, they would still try to turn it one (and the annoying "lets bang on the head of it to see if it is one before even trying to talk")

Battery life really impressed me (of course going to any digital one from the older analog 9v systems will probably wow ya). Even generic batteries blew me away at how long they lasted.

I liked the controls, all settings are inside the body (unscrew it get to the buttons), and the main button that worked power and mute, you can disable it, either disable the mute or completely disable everything.

-Greg

[sien]

What's your budget like?

[adessmith]

Originally Posted by adessmith

Hi,
Any suggestions for a mic with similar performance in roughly the same price point?

I think the PG24/PG58 was around $300, but I think I can get approval to spend between $300 and $500. It's one of those churches with no sound budget, we have to bring it up at a business meeting, explain why its necessary, and have people that know nothing about sound to "have a discussion" and then vote on it.
When we bought the unit that just died, they thought $300 was a bit much for a microphone. (one of the council members was determined we needed a VocoPro set with 4 mics with one receiver which was around the same price)
I showed them all the options I felt were "acceptable", complete with user reviews, etc... and of course we settled for the cheapest thing on my list.

The church has grown some, and most of the people in leadership now are more reasonable about things like this. I believe I can make the case for "we went cheap last time, now we are having to replace it".

I know $500 is still dirt cheap by most standards, but I kinda "just know" what will fly and what wont at this point.

[tropicalfish]

Audio Technica ATW 3000 series are pretty good. Cheaper than the Sennheiser ew100s.

[adessmith]

Actually, I just opened it up, and figured out what the problem is.
I made a temporary repair, but I dont know how long it will last.

Apparently it did get dropped. If you unscrew the capsule, there is a disc on the bottom of the capsule, and three little angled prong thingies mounted on the transmitter which make contact with the disc on the bottom of the capsule.
One of the prongs were broken off. I found a piece of 22 gauge copper telephone wire, stripped it, and soldered it in the place where it went. It is working for now, and hopefully will hold out until we can replace it. The ATW 3000 series looks like it might fit the bill.
I'm sort of a fan of Shure mics... What do most people think of the PGX stuff? looks like it might be step up from the current PG series we have, and the price point is still pretty good.

[sien]

I think if you can afford it, the Shure SLX series is the minimum level to get. Retails online for about US$599.