Cheap lavs?

Schniapereli

Active Member
Our school will have a very limited budget next year, and we need to buy a new lav with an 1/8" TRS connector to a Sony WRT 805 transmitter.

Any suggestions?

(The budget would be about $600 for our 2 shows (Hello Dolly, and West Side Story) and that bugdet is for everything for the whole year.)
 
I would order Shure WL93's with TRS connectors - any reputable sound house should be able to sell you these. Total cost per mic should be about $70-$80.
 
the 93's are your best bet. They have great quality and are nearly disposable.
 
We use those mics for our other Shure SLX system, but I did not know if they could come with TRS connectors.

The Shure 93's we have use the TA4F connector (if that is what it is called) where it is like the mini-XLR, but with 4 prongs. Why does it need this 4th prong? (if that is the right word.) That has always been something that has confused me a tad.
 
The Shure 93's we have use the TA4F connector (if that is what it is called) where it is like the mini-XLR, but with 4 prongs. Why does it need this 4th prong? (if that is the right word.) That has always been something that has confused me a tad.
They are usually referred to as pins. The configuration is explained on the product info page under the Specifications tab.
WL93
 
We use those mics for our other Shure SLX system, but I did not know if they could come with TRS connectors.
The Shure 93's we have use the TA4F connector (if that is what it is called) where it is like the mini-XLR, but with 4 prongs. Why does it need this 4th prong? (if that is the right word.) That has always been something that has confused me a tad.

You can get 93's pinned to just about any manufacture out there.
 
That's a good thing, because they come apart fairly easily.

Did you have the actual head split? I have seen this happen once. Usually the head gets gunked up with hairspray and makeup way before the head splits.
 
If you only need to buy one, go for something decent. If you need several, or more than one, instead of buying crap (and that is just what those are), buy one decent one and rent a few. Do that each year. Even if half of the cheap lavs that you could purchase still work next year, they won't last much past that. This way, in a couple of years, you will have a good supply of good mics.

The only time that I recommend renting is when you absolutely have to, and from your budget, I think that you are in that boat.
 
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If you only need to buy one, go for something decent. If you need several, or more than one, instead of buying crap (and that is just what those are), buy one decent one and rent a few. Do that each year. Even if half of the cheap lavs that you could purchase still work next year, they won't last much past that. This way, in a couple of years, you will have a good supply of good mics.
The only time that I recommend renting is when you absolutely have to, and from your budget, I think that you are in that boat.

Really though, for HS kids your best bet is to get the cheaper mics and just budget to replace them every other year. I know that sucks, but if you go out and buy a B3, they will last longer, but I doubt they will last as long as they would in a professional enviorment. HS mics get hairsprayed more often, makeuped more often, and switched off and taped more then anything else. I would much rather lose a 70 dollar mic every show then lose a B3 every show.
 
I 2nd the WL93 for High School use unless you're a performing arts magnet school and have a really kick ass pa system. (I'm guessing you're not if you only have a budget of $600)

Treat the WL93's like light bulbs - use them til they burn out then buy another one. Plus if you buy extras of them you can put a lav on everyone who needs one and then just transfer packs around as needed. Much of the abuse High school wireless mics suffer is due to the fact that most schools ony have a few wireless units so they get switched around during a production & those are generally a quick change backstage. The mics are often pulled by the wire to get the tape off & other things that will cause premature failure.

Having enough mic elements to put one one everyone who needs one cuts way down on the rough handling and they can be put on more securely since they don't have to come off til the end of the show.
 
I don't know what the model was but I got some nice low end Audio Technicas for a little over $100 a few years ago and they worked great for high school purposes.

As has been suggested, buy one or two and rent the rest. Then do the same thing next year. In a couple years you'll have a full set.
 
What would you recommend for a good mic for the Shure SLX-1 I think it is we have the ones you guys linked to and they suck, although I'm not at the school anymore I was asked to look into what I think they should buy with our budget. We have a good deal sized budget, they want to buy two more packs for 10 total wireless, as we have 8 now. But I suggested they first get good mics for the wireless system. We need something good for singing / voice as we do Broadway Musicals. Lets assume budget wise we have a good deal of money (within reason) as you said unless your school is a performing arts magnet (we pretty much sold out both shows) and the comments we received about how amazing the performance was but the sound was distorted is all pushing in the favor of the drama department.
 
If your highschool is anything like the one I go to, the WL93 is going to be what you want. We have a rack of 20 Shure ULX systems, and we have at least 20 extra of the WL93's because they do break often. They aren't the best sound....but they should do just fine what you're looking for.

Kind of off topic but one of the performing arts magnet schools in my state just let go their theater teacher. Now they are advertising more of their academics than the arts......strange.
 

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