Wireless Microphone system for musicals

[hamlett22]

HI

I am researching wireless mic system for us to satisfy the needs of our stage musicals.

I have rented the Shure URD+ dual diversity wireless dual band systems and love them. They are almost fool proof in giving you excellent signal with multiple wireless (I often use 12 to 16 mics in a show).

But I am tired of paying the exorbitant rental costs on these systems and pulling that money from my budget every year, so I am wanting our own system.

Problem is the URD+ dual diversity systems are spendy. 8 units with countryman or Sennheisser mics would give me 16 wireless and cost me upwards of 30K with accessories.

My school admin hiccups loudly at the price.

Are their good solid systems near the quality of the URD+ wireless systems that I could look at that would give me more bang for the buck?

Thanks for any input on this.

Chad

 

[chausman]

How often do you use them? If you only have a need every few months, it's probably cheaper then purchasing a complete set. If something breaks on a rental, you can likely replace it at little cost to you. If you start breaking $400 countrymans, you have to pay for them yourselves, or not use them.

 

[themuzicman]

If you weren't in China, I'd suggest a few places to shop around and try to get a better deal on rental at. Chausman is right - If you're only using it twice a year, rental really is the way to go. Mics are considered perishable items and WILL break (as opposed to the transmitters and receivers, which are intended for long-term use). When a Countryman breaks, and you own it, you pay for the replacement out of your pocket. If it breaks on a rental, you send it back to the shop and get a replacement - usually covered by the terms of your rental contract. It may seem like a large cost to rent, but would you rather spend $1,200 twice a year and know your gear will all come frequency-coordinated and in working condition than getting a system out of box that will have to be repaired on your dollar WHEN (not if) mics go bad and transmitters get wonky.

 

[NZM]

I have found the Mipro ACT707D receivers with the ACT707-TM beltpacks (the metal units) to be a reasonable compromise of price vs performance. They are not Shure UR or ULX-D, but like you my budget does not stretch that fare. The RF is rock solid and the beltpack transmitters reasonably bullet-proof if treated properly. Certainly worth a look. I use them for a lot of children's theatre work and normally with Mipro headsets, but you can match with your microphone of choice. As noted above, the microphones will be the parts that fail first, and at around US$100 each I can afford to hold some spares with the Mipros, but DPA or Countryman are out of my budget range. As always, its a compromise of price verses performance, and I have found the Mipros hit the sweet spot for my needs. I also use a bunch of EV RE2's but they are expensive to operate, chewing through the 9V batteries very quickly. The Mipros are very light on battery drain, easily exceeding 12 hours on a pair of quality alkaline AAs.