Budget handheld Radio Mic

[Tom]

Hi all,

I'm after a budget hand held radio mic for occasional use in a small school. It'll be more for making announcements at the Christmas fair etc than general everyday use though I guess the odd child singing etc

It will be used in a small hall and maybe with a portable PA outside on occasion.

The school PA is pretty low end but adequate.

 

I don't want to be doing with licences so it'll be Ch70 I guess and cross our fingers.

Plug and play is good. Sometimes I'll be around to sort problems but it would be good if it could just be used by others (non-technical teachers) as required.

 

I really don't want to spend more than £100 (inc VAT) if I don't have to.

 

So first the idiot question:

UHF versus VHF - pro/cons or doesn't it matter for what I'm doing.

 

 

Studio Spares have an AKG WMS40 Mini Single Vocal Set for £85 which seems pretty good for what I'm after - or am I being wooed by the name?

 

They also have a Gemini UHF system for £75 and a VHF System for £45 but I've not heard of them.

 

Or is it worth pushing the boat to the Trantec 4.4 for £139.

 

Or should I be buying a £40 Maplin Pro-Sound system on the grounds that none of them are going to be any good really and will break within a year.

 

You have to keep in mind that everybody was very impressed with the 4 head worn mic system the music teacher bought for less than £100 for the summer show so the bar is pretty low.

 

Any thoughts people?

 

T

[Original Beef]

I have no experience of most of the mic's you suggest except the Trantec one at £139. These are very good mic's for the money and you should certainly expect to get many years good service from them. I've personally installed dozens into churches without a single problem over the last 5 years. Sound quality is fine and a robust RF make it worth every penny.

[smalljoshua]

Agreed, the S4.4 are a good budget mic which I likewise have used in a number of situations where budgets were low.

 

Josh

[sam.spoons]

The cheap Sennheiser freeport mics sound ok but are plastic and relatively fragile, I haven't heard the AKG but would expect similar (I do have an old SR40 guitar bug which works great). Given that it's being used in a school I'd think a little extra durability would be a big plus.

[Doug Siddons]

Personally I think the AKG would be fine for what you say you need it for. Then again the Gemini stuff works sounds awful if you sing through it but it works! The Trantec may be a bit better than the other two but really comes down to who is footing the bill. Your not going to fall into rider issues in a school!

[revbobuk]

The advantage the Trantec has over the AKG (both are plastic, both are about the same in audio quality) is diversity - the Trantec has two receivers, two aerials and switches seamlessly between the two to prevent dropout. The AKG doesn't. The Trantec is reliable, simple, and hides its power switch a little more than the AKG, which is a plus. The Gemini sounds awful. I've installed loads of the S4.4 in schools and churches, and it is the cheapest I would be prepared to go.

[Tom]

Perfect - thanks people.

 

T

[ojc123]

Bit late but +1 for the Trantecs. I've had four s3.5 VHF and four s4.4 UHF in regular use for about 10 years (I guess) in a school. I've looked after them reasonably well without being precious about them. The only problem was when a child chose to bang his co-actor on the head with the handheld mic. Must have been quite a smack.

[Simon Lewis]

The cheap Sennheiser freeport mics sound ok but are plastic and relatively fragile,

 

The Freeport was a rebadged Trantec. It's discontinued now. I believe the XSW is their cheapest unit, and that's about twice the OP's budget...

I'd recommend the Trantec S4.4 as well...

 

 

 

[GaryNattrass]

I have a UHF AKG guitar system for 15 years and have found it excellent the hand held looks good value and it should be fine for your needs.

 

I also have two of the older sennheiser UHF freeport systems, they are fine too and are similar to the Trantec ones.

 

The 4.4 is better as it has four frequencies and is also diversity so will be more flexible if you can push to that level. I have the Trantec S4000 IEM's and they are also good quality for the cost.

 

One other option is the dual AKG system as you then end up with two mics that could be more flexible or used as a spare?

 

https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/Mics-Wireless/AKG-WMS40-Mini-Dual-Vocal-ISM2-3-CH70_469310.htm

[Dave m]

must it be wireless?

 

 

I only ask because I was asked about one for a school and it turned out that the room was 30 feet square but they thought that wireless was "modern and easy" and didn't realise that they needed batteries

[djmatthill]

Trantec make the Freeport for sennheiser so the Freeport is basically the same system with s cheap sennheiser capsule chucked on top..

 

 

Matt

[Bazz339]

I have installed the Trantec 4.4 in a church and many Trantec S1000 and S3.5 can't recall a failure other than capsule cable aerial on the tie clip ones but.....

 

The Trantec 4.4 transmitters generate a substantial click if switched on or off with the mic channel open to the PA which is a major problem IMHO for small system non operated use. Great shame because the older ,models were silent (or at least quiet enough that it was not an issue).

[sam.spoons]

I would consider robustness an issue with the freeport (and, therefore the Trantec) in a school environment. They are a bit fragile http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif

[Tom]

While it is good to see this discussion continue - please do not say anything negative about the Trantec as I ordered one this afternoon and wish to believe I have made the right choice.

:)