Wireless handheld mic for female singer with huge range

[awediohead]

We visited a store and tried out a couple of radio mics today - a Shure SM58 beta and a beyerdynamic SDM 369. At the top end of her range she was flattening the Shure - collapsing the capsule, but the beyerdynamic was solid and a much better match for her voice.

The guy in the store explained that this was because the Shure mic was better suited to male vocals that needed more help to cut through and mid and higher frequencies, and she didn't need that kind of "help"!

She has a very big range and sings everything from gritty blues to jazz to show songs to opera.

Both these are priced around the £315 to £330 mark - we didn't look at the more expensive wireless receivers with lots of channels as I'd anticipate her being the only person using wireless gear on stage. She wouldn't mind spending a bit more on the mic though if it was a better match.

Any suggestions to help us (I mean her really) narrow things down a bit more given that the beyerdynamic was pretty good ? Any she really MUST try out before making a purchase?

I've read on other threads that you can get exchangeable capsules for some of these mics - would it make sense to get one that did this and then have options depending on the style she was singing? Obviously I don't know much about this stuff!

Thanks in advance.

[Jim vanBergen]

The Neumann SK5000 capsule on a Sennheiser HH with 3532 receiver, and the new Shure KSM9 RF HH with a UHF-R receiver (Christina Aguilera just smoked me on this one, she sounded so damn good!). Both are simply great mics.

hope these help! Certainly WELL worth considering!!!!

[Remoteness]

Good recommondations my man.

[awediohead]

Thanks for those recommendations - I found the Shure KSM9 for £1599 . . . . and I'm sure it would be a wonderful mic, but I did say "spend a bit more" not "spend five times as much" ! Not that her voice doesn't merit it, she just doesn't have that much saved.

I'm guessing the Neumann is in a similar price bracket - so while I think it would be a fantastic idea for her to try these mics so she can hear what spending this kind of money will get her, I don't think she's got more than £500 or $800 to spend.

So any other suggestions please?

Thanks again.

[Jim vanBergen]

Sorry bro.No offense, but you're talking wireless mics, so either its worth buying quality, or you're worried about cost. You will settle on quality or price one way or the other. The cheap mics are a waste of time for wide frequency and dynamic ranges, PERIOD. Not an opnion, thats the reality.

Convince your client to use a quality WIRED mic that sounds great instead, or buy the real deal, otherwise she's wasting her money and yor time.
Seriously- if there WAS a decent middle ground, either Steve or I would have suggested it. I seriously hope this helps, it's not intended to be anything else.

You're in the UK, call up Autograph Sound or Orbital, and ask the same question- you'll get the same answer.

Jim

[awediohead]

Jim - No offence taken - that's cool and your advice is greatly appreciated, not least because she isn't a client but a long time friend looking to me for advice - and believe me I know how little I know!!

The thing is that having heard such a huge difference between the two wireless mics we tried it prompted the question, "What else is out there?" and my posting here. If I hadn't then we'd have spent hours trying different mics to no purpose.

With your advice I'm going to propose she takes the Beyer SDM369 as the baseline and then compares it to the Shure KSM9 . . . AND to her preferred wired mic. Then we'll see how much she really wants to go wireless - in terms of how many months delay she's willing to accept to save up for quality.

Thanks again

[dementedchord]

Originally Posted by Jim vanBergen

Sorry bro.No offense, but you're talking wireless mics, so either its worth buying quality, or you're worried about cost. You will settle on quality or price one way or the other. The cheap mics are a waste of time for wide frequency and dynamic ranges, PERIOD. Not an opnion, thats the reality.

Jim

hard to be straighter than that... you being on the otherside of the pond... i wonder if you could find the akg 535eb cheaper over there??? not sure if available as wireless but probably... i've always cosidered it to be the european sm 87

[Jim vanBergen]

Good thoughts! The Akg 535EB, Beyer M88 and M69, and Neumann KMS105 are excellent vocal mics...but require a plug-on transmitter that greatly diminish their frequency and dynamic ranges.

Can you share what her WIRED vocal mic of choice is? If it has a certain character, maybe a Sennheiser EVO plug-on transmitter would give her a 'close' comfort range. Worth investigating, anyway, and is in the right price range! (Sennheisser Evo line, and Lectrosonics both have the plug-in transmitter. You have to check closely to see if it can provide phantom, though!)

[dplitt]

Hi
Just my 2 cents worth if I may. About a year ago I was looking to add to my live wireless systems and I purchased 2 Shure SLX systems (read up on their site about the "companding technology" that lessens the digital compression needed for wireless transmission). 1 had a beta 58 capsule and the other had a beta 87a capsule. If memory serves me right I paid around $600.00 for the beta 58 system and $750.00 for the beta 87a. Over the course of a year I have done numerous gigs with both systems and I have never had a problem with dropouts or any other quality problems. I have used the beta 87a on a range of female singers and I feel it has always sounded great. There seems to be a nice presence with that capsule in the mid range area. Bottom line is that with the Shure SLX / beta 87a capsule, I feel that one doesn't have to spend a lot of money to get a good live sound.
I have heard that their are 3 versions of the 87 (a,b & c). I may be mistaken but my understanding is that the "A" is for female vocals, "B" is for male and the "C" is for "in ear monitors", (maybe someone can clarify this).
Regardless of which system you get, you should check to make sure that the UHF frequency that is assigned to your system will work in your geographic area as not to get stepped on by either a TV station or FAA traffic in the vicinity of an airport. The Manufactures website should have a list of open channels that should work in your area.
Hope this was of some help.