Hey live sound people--I tried to utfsf...but...

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schnozzle
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Hey live sound people--I tried to utfsf...but...

Post by schnozzle » Sun Nov 08, 2015 2:28 pm

Once a month I host a show at a small DIY music venue/art gallery. It's a great place, people there are super nice, i always enjoy myself there. But it's run by volunteers, all the equipment is donated and on the verge of falling apart. Mics especially are in bad shape, always getting dropped/stands knocked over, etc. For instance I found a 57 in the mic drawer with a broken capsule, which I didn't think was possible.

Anyway--I want to donate a used mic or two for them to help them out. Could be anything really, I am just less familiar with live sound mics beyond the obvious sm-58s, and I don't think I could get one of those cheap enough probably. Criteria I'm looking for:

1. Sturdy/durable...assume that they'll be dropped a couple of times

2. Sound acceptable for vocals

3. In the $50 range used

Any suggestions? Peavey? Audix? Hmmm...

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Scodiddly
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Post by Scodiddly » Sun Nov 08, 2015 4:22 pm

Stay away from used Shure... they're often Chinese copies and don't sound anything like the real product.

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Post by schnozzle » Sun Nov 08, 2015 4:34 pm

Yeah I wasn't really looking at shure mics...more like, uh, sleeper alternatives for live sound I guess.

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Post by Gregg Juke » Sun Nov 08, 2015 6:30 pm

Well, the Shures, Carvins, and Audix', all good mikes, will all be in the $100 range new, and not much less used.

I have those in my live sound set-up, but I also have a bunch of what I call "dropables;" mikes for just that purpose, so they're inexpensive and you don't care much whether people abuse them or not. Another term might be "Karaoke Mic." That being said, I've found that these (Nady "StarPower" series microphones) are actually quite decent, and often retail for about $10!!: https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#q=Na ... n&tbm=shop

They are remarkably sturdy too, but if you broke one per week, you could still probably afford the $10 to replace it. I've got another cheap-o brand that's pretty good, but I can't remember which right now.

They sound pretty good (MUCH better than the GC-based "Digital Reference" branded mikes, which suck pretty badly), they are pretty sturdy/hardy, even though the output is a lot less than something like a Shure/Audix/Carvin.

If I'm doing a talent show, or a spoken word thing, or _anything_ with inexperienced performers that are probably going to blow into, then promptly drop, my microphones, I will reach in and get out the Star Powers, and not even look back...

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Post by schnozzle » Sun Nov 08, 2015 6:51 pm

Star Power! Yes, that sounds about right. Thanks, I'll look into those!

Any other suggestions are of course welcome.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:51 pm

with your price range so low this should be easy as there won't be so many options..

see how low the installed sound system goes..

like if it doesn't reproduce the boom of the bass drum spending on a large diaphragm bass drum mic will be a waste of money for example..

get a band in there - listen and take notes on where the sound actually needs to be reinforced in a typical situation

make your choices based off of that initially then refine to what mic is the best for those holes in the existing system..

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Post by schnozzle » Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:56 am

No, this isn't for sound reinforcement, just for vocals in a small space. Think storefront church-size. Drums and amps are never mic'd up, it's just singers and a bunch of DI's thru the PA.

Priority for mics is reliability and not being too expensive (because they will get dropped/damaged eventually) while not being totally useless garbage. For instance I found an electrovoice n/d mic on ebay for 30 bucks that looks promising--that kind of thing.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:42 am

hmm yea..


Beringer ULTRAVOICE XM1800S 3 pack for around $40 with clips and hard case might be something to look into..

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Post by Gregg Juke » Sun Nov 15, 2015 7:32 am

I inherited one of those Behringer mikes. Sucks taxi exhaust. Has way less output than even the Star-Powers, and what one might describe as the opposite of a Shure "presence peak" (a "muffle peak?" "muffle valley?"). It may be worse than the crappy Digital Reference mikes. I am generally not a Behringer-basher and do use a handful of their other gear, but I'd stay away from their inexpensive microphones.

GJ
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Post by Brett Siler » Sun Nov 15, 2015 6:16 pm

Used Audix Om2 or 3. They are better sounding than an SM57 or 58 and reject more feedback too. You can find them used for around $50 each.

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