Cordless Microphones

[ddouglass]

To clarify what George said about the same frequency on a multichannel reciever. What you are setting with the "channel" is a base frequency. The unit determines the frequency separation (usually about 10KHz for short range things like microphones) between microphones. The channel setting is really to prevent you getting outside interference or interfering with an outside device.
As far as licensing it is about the same as CB radio. It was ruled in court that the government could not charge for those licenses either.
According to the FCC you need a license unless they operate in the following ranges 49MHz (VHF mics), AM-FM broadcast (FM mics), 902-928 MHz (UHF mics) or 2.4 GHz (UHF mics) band.

[Musicman51]

Thank you douglass, i knew i should've stayed in school. My daughter who is in the US Army in germany, is also a very intelligent person, so was my wife before her passing. They seem to have been carrying me all these years. It catches up with a feller, but i do make a mean possum pie..perhaps this christmas i can send you one....Thanks for being there..George..

[BooBoo]

I've been through several wireless systems myself. Started with Shure 58 and beta. Someone ripped the on off out of the beta, so I moved the beta head onto the 58 transmitter. BUT, I only use this mic in limited situations now because of the batteries.

I have been using Carvin mics with mixed reviews. The reason is they use AA batteries and have a long life. I also use Alkaline hybrid rechargeable batteries from target. They work in any charger and do well. They do not last as long on a charge as non-rechargeable batteries but I can get through two shows before a charge if needed. You can also recharge whenever you like without memory so I replace them with freshly charged batteries before each show.

As for the Carvin mics. (Carvin.com) the UX16-MC does a great job while coming in under $250 but I have had problems with the screens popping off when dropped a few times. I have glued them back on they they keep going, but one has a build up of super glue that I need to scrape out before the grill top will fit back in the groove again. The UX1000-MC is a better mic but it costs more.

Both mics have some of the things you need to look for like quality sound reproduction and adjustable freqs. The 16 has a few that you can dial in and the 1000 has a bunch, but you really don't need all of those. Also, keep in mind that many of the Shure's are fixed freq mics.

[Musicman51]

Great advice BOOBOO. I just love your way of McGuyvering things together..hahaha. I do the same thing with some of my gear. A DJ, i won't call him a kj, because he plays more recorded music, then he allows up singers. But anyway, he has a Carvin wireless system just outside my town up here. I have sang on it, and it sounded just as good as anything else out there. Of course like i mentioned in my thread every situation is different. Not sure if your carvins are "True Diversity" or not, but i bet those mics sound great.

[BooBoo]

As far as performance goes, the Carvin mics are as good as any I have used. They are great as far as feedback is concerned and I have never ever had a drop out. I had one customer take one all the way out the front door one time, which is around a corner wall, and it still reproduced perfectly. They have little to no handling noise as well. The battery replacement is a bit cumbersome on the 16, as you have to remove the head to get to the ejectable battery pack. The 1000 is quality all the way, but I don't like paying $350 for a customer used mic any longer so I just use it myself and let a few people that know what they are doing use it.

Another issue with the Carvin mics is they do not sell replacement parts.

[captnkarl]

Thanks guys....all helpful info. Musicman51, you're right, if it works for me already, why change?? The Vocopro mics aren't cheap nor expensive, but sound just a little on the "muffled" side. I can fix this just by turning up the highs a little and so far I have never had any complaints about my sound. I run entirely a Powered Mackie system...srm450 1501 subs srm350 monitors and a mackie mixer which makes me one of the best sounding systems in the area and I take pride in that. I have often had other KJ's come in and tell me how much better we sound than they do and that just puts the icing on the cake. My main concern is to make every singer sound as good as I can so they come back for more. I work full time in a paper mill on a Southern Swing Shift and have karaoke 3-4 nights a week so I have very little time to research new ideas for cordless mics. I will look into the Sure brand and the Carver brand at our local Music store, but I think the old "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" saying applies to me.

Thanks Thanks Thanks for all your time everybody.