Karaoke Forums

I usually use Behringer ULTRAVOICE XM1800S mics. As a test, last week, we subbed one of my Behringer ULTRAVOICE XM1800S for a SM58, just to see what everyone was raving about.
Amazingly, the Behringer did as well as the Sure.
I did not notice any difference in sound quality at all.
Now some may say my ears don't work, but I assure you they work very well. My hubby also has great ears and he comfirmed the results of my experiment after I told him.
The best part: The Behringer ULTRAVOICE XM1800S mics are only $30.
Hubby also told me that he has had professionals "accidentally" pack his Behringer mics at sound gigs after they discovered how good they sound!

Anyway just food for thought.
Now I know this will probably turn into a huge argument over which mic is "better", but that's not my intention. Just wanted to share my experience. It's not right or wrong, but it's right for me.
Cheers!

Wired mics? I can get the Shure SM58 for $79 fi I was going with wired mics, but who uses those?

_________________
Good music, good friends, howling good times!

diafel

With the proper EQ and set up I'm a firm believer that a $30 mic CAN sound as good as a $99 one. The argument is and will be LONGEVITY and QUALITY of build.
I can tell the differance between my $19 BEHRINGER mic and my SM58 as far as handling noise and weight. I've dropped my Shure a few times and still works great. MY confidence with the less expensive mics is not that high.

Perception rules, You tell someone they are using a $30 mic and they won't like it ..just the way the mind works (not the ears)

Good Luck

Jam: You are absoluteloy right about perception. Hubby tells me all the time that someone will often choose a lesser quality brand name rather than a higher end "lesser" name, just for name alone. Those people obviously have no knowledge or they would choose for quality rather than name.
As for my Behringer mics, I've been using the same ones for the last year and before that hubby used them for quite some time as rentals. They have stood up very well and still sound as good as new. I am VERY vigilant about my mics, though. If anyyone even looks like they are thinking about swinging them, banging them, etc, it gets stopped IMMEDIATELY. Fortunately, most people respect my equipment and I rarely have to jump up and put a stop to it.
Even though they are only $30 mics, I treat them like $300 mics as I do with all my equipment.
For the price, the quality is amazing, but don't tell Behringer or they could up the price!

I do!
Sorry, but I work mainly in bars with many drunken patrons. Inexperienced "singers" will tend to do things to mics that really shouldn't be done, as you well know.
I have a bad knee and cannot chase those people down. In our area, theft is also prevalent. A mic doesn't come back and no one saw where it went. That kind of thing happens all the time.
I don't think it's worth the investment, in my opinion. The risk is high and the profit to my business is none. So why would I?
Besides, the point (in my opinion only!) of karaoke is to let the patron be a star for the moment. What star hides in the back corner behind the jukebox cringing in a chair while singing?
Get them on stage! BE THE STAR!.
Wired mic accomplishes that as there is no other choice.
The exception was once I offered my own wireless to a guy in a wheelchair who couldn't get to the stage to sing with his buddies.
Yes, I have a wireless for myself and usually NOONE else uses it. (Guy in wheelchair excepted).But I'm also the one who foots the bill for it.
The reason I have a wiresless is so that I can leave my station now and again (potty!) and not have to run back (I can't) to announce the next singer. Instead, I can call them up and announce the special while making my way back without killing myself in the process.
I also will sometimes sing a song such as "Any Way You Want It" by Journey and circle the bar while letting other people sing with me who wouldn't otherwise ever get up and sing. They love it! Makes for more of a party experience.

Me too, by choice. I hate the dynamic where the singer sits in their chair, and that is where wireless mics seem to lead.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Diafel, I agree with you 100% about the wired mics. I also use wired. I want the person up by the monitor singing, I don't care if they need to use the monitor, or not. If they want to sit in their chair to sing, they should stay home, and sing on their couch. People come to karaoke to not only sing, but to see other people sing. I don't want the other people to have to look all over the place to find out who's singing. Then there's the LOUNGE LIZARD who likes to get into everybodies face, but that's another whole story. No wireless for me.


Rosario

I have to say mick you tend take the most negative aspects of anything, apply it to whatever... be it filler music or wireless mikes, and thats where it ALWAYS leads.

Poo hockey! The examples you give are the rare and the extreme, and rarely happen. "filler" music keeps the show moving and energetic, wireless mics free the performer to do just that... perform.

So what happens when you get a trio of enibriated singers with wired mics... all three on wired mics.... what a tangled mess!

Then you have to waste time untangling the things when the next singer (s?) come up? Screw that.

So, every now and again some putz wants to sit in their chair and sing... who cares? Its karaoke. Maybe the next time that guy or gal will come up and sing with a little promting from you the host... "Hey, you sound great, I want you to come up front so everyone can see you... C'mon" Start walking.... usually works for me.

Or what if the person is older or has an injury that precludes them from standing for long (anyone have Iraq vets at their show? I do, and he's missing a leg... I take the mic to him).

_________________
Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Sounds like you are jumping on me. I don't know why that would be, except that I do tend to call you on your technical malarkey.

I don't like the wireless mic dynamic. Period. I have seen it in operation lots of places, and it isn't good. I have also seen filler music in operation lots of places, and to me it doesn't add energy to a show -- it sucks it out of the show as the host takes their sweet time getting singers up on stage.

Your mileage may vary. But singing in the chair is something I don't want. My show is about people getting up and performing, and people will do it if you make them do it. If you don't, then a lot will hide their light in their chair. If you want them to do that, fine. But it isn't happening at my show.

With regard to your plea for the poor handicapped, no one has ever gone without singing at my show. Wheelchairs have wheels for a reason, you know....

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Koyote, I wouldn't let it bother me, as this thread is proving. CHEAP vs EXPENSIVE, WIRED vs WIRELESS, it's all a matter of personal preference. I'm sure that (from what I've seen), that YOU are in the majority, as far as kjs using wired or wireless. I think I'm the only karaoke host in my area using wired, and I'm the new guy on the block. I guess for me, I'm just kind of "old school", and prefer to see someone with the wired mic. I guess I could say that I use cheap mics also, but they work for ME.

Rosario

As for the "tangled mess", at my shows it rarely happens. If it does, you unplug the one mic you need, pull the cord out from the mess, plug the mic back in and Voila! ready for the next singer. This is easily done in the time it takes for the next singer to show up. The rest can be untangled while that singer is doing their song. I have NEVER had time wasted due to tangled cords.
As for the injured person, I pull my own chair out to the middle of the stage and give it to them if they need to sit. I only ever have to do that for one person.
And if they are in a wheelchair, check my post above. I am more than willing to give up my own cordless to someone who NEEDS it.
Your arguments against corded mics a "poo hockey" to use your own term.
To each his own.
I like my corded mics. You won't ever convince me that's it's good business sense to invest in corded mics. It simply won't happen.

Paaaleese. Gimme a break.



Then you are living on an island somewhere where all the KJs are bad but you. I run four shows a week, with 4 wireless mics (I don't even use a wired mic), and have rotations between 12-25 singers a night. I can't remember the last time someone sat in a chair and sang... except maybe to bring a bar stool to the front and sing. It happens, and I really don't care... nor does anybody else. I care whether that guy has a good time, buys drinks and keeps coming back.



Your living on that island again



NO! Dead air sucks the energy out of the show. Unless your venue is in the biggest bar in the world, I guarantee you have dead air as a singer tries to make it up front through the crowd (or maybe your shows just aren't that crowded) I don't want to hear your talking "filler" either no matter how funny you think you are. If I go out for a night of music, that's what I want to hear, and apparently so do most folks as the bar owners that I work for asked about filler music before I started working there. "The music keeps them dancing and drinking."



Once again, you live on the island of bad KJs. I use the computer to run the rotation. It has the singer's history on, and I can cue their songs when they come up in about 5 seconds... that's not an exageration. My rotations are fast, fast, FAST.



Is everyone having fun? Who gives a frac what YOU want. Spin your disks monkey boy, and try to stay out of the way of fun!



...or they will never come back again, and bad mouth karaoke till the end of their days because some snotty KJ embarassed the heck out of them.



What a humanitarian you are. Maybe the newly handicapped would prefer not to draw attention to themselves. My vet singer is not in a wheelchair, but uses a cane... but it is a challenge for him. I'm not making him walk to the "designated singer area"... what a crock.

I'm busting on you because of lame crap you spout as karaoke gospel in post after post because of your "experience", and because there are a lot of new KJs who might actually take what you say seriously.

Get into THIS century will ya? Geez!

Ok, my rant is through, I apologise, we now return you to the regulary scheduled thread.

_________________
Good music, good friends, howling good times!

CAN I JOIN IN ?

OK-- There is no proof that a wireless set will have people sitting at their seats SURE it may give those SHY types a reason to stay out of the stage light ..but those cases are too rare to be considered. The other spectrum is more to be true is that some nut with the wireless TAKES off into the audience and runs around and then out the door My WIRED mic fear is some nut will attempt to run off and pull my entire mixer and amp set up with him
WIRED OR WIRELSS its all personal preference whether you are singer or kj.
NO right or WRONG !!!

Wired mics here and in fact four of them. They have never walked away. From a $36 Apex, 15' xrl cord included with clip, (my preference) to SM58.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

I prefer wireless mics for many reasons and use for a variety of purposes. But... every good idea has a downside from what I have learned. The job of the GOOD host is to minimize the downside and maximize the up

PLAIN AND SIMPLE...

but that's one of the things people when we get into never-ending debates. There are also people who cannot visualize a world beyond their own, can't visualize that someone else has made something work that they had never seen work before. Silly Wright brothers for even trying - horseless carriages will never fly!

Can't just talk about the merits of what someone is doing?

As I said, what you want to do is fine for you. You apparently are going to call names and disparage people. I think that doing that is wrong, and that it shows insecurity and immaturity.

I am on an island, a bit. I live in the country. We may not be totally up to date. But we have plenty of karaoke, and I know what works in my area.

I like the way I do things. I provide high-quality equipment, not plastic wireless junk. People who think using cheap VocoPro mics that are wireless, well, more power to them. I think it is lousy. I also prefer shows that don't use filler music. That is me. (Cue you to call names and make fun.) And there are lots of shows that run without filler music, so apparently I am not alone. Oh by the way: no filler music != "dead air". Don't put words in my mouth.

There are different styles of show. Mine is very good sound, excellent mics, excellent ability for the singer to hear themself, and a stage area. No VocoPro junk, and certainly no "karaoke mixing amps".

Others may focus on whatever is of their own choosing. They may like to play other songs to supposedly involve the non-singers. It may work for them. It isn't what works where I am.

And technically with regard to sound, I hope you will excuse me if I take your pronunciations with a grain of solt. If you recommend powering PR-15s with a 110w/channel "karaoke mixer amp", your idea of what a good mics are and what good sound is are probably not the same as mine. If "geting into this century" requires crappy sound like that, I will stay in whatever one I am in.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I have to say when I first logged on today I did a bit of eye rolling when I saw this topic. I mean day after day this subject, and others like it, get dragged to death without, it seems, anything but hard feelings and name calling.

My rule is this regarding corded/not corded, any brand (though I only have Shure mics). If it is a high class place with heavy security and no one is overserved, and the singers are all very pro caliber, I'll break out the $400+ Shure cordless mics, but also make the corded mics available. The cordless don't leave the stage, with the exception of a dear friend of mine who is permanently in a wheelchair. I always find a way to get her a mic to sing, corded or cordless. Most people are happy with a corded mic - especially a good quality mic ... and if they are mixed well. (In the end it comes down to the ability of the host to mix, I believe - a good experienced host can make even the crappiest mic sound decent if they work at it hard enough ... but they have to identify that it needs to be done in the first place...)

I'm sure there are lots of mics that are acceptable for 99% of most vocalists; great... I just don't need any and am glad I have Shures all the way around. Nobody is ever disappointed, which is my goal...keep 'em happy and coming back week after week.

I got an idea - let's go back to bumper/filler music bashing for a while....

With regard to the Behringer mics, I don't know the 1800S. I do know the XM8500, and I would agree that the sound about equals the Shure SM58. (I have heard some people say the XM1800S is not as good as the XM8500, but I don't know that myself.)

There are two differences -- durability and handling noise. You will have quite a bit more handling noise with the Behringer, and it will not hold up as well for long periods. You can't buy replacement grilles, so you have to buy replacement mics. Since you can buy 5 XM8500s for the price of one SM58, that may work for you.

I like to put the SM58 out for the main singer mic, and secondary mics are XM8500s. Whe the ball gets dented on the SM58, I replace it with a new one that costs $5.00.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

That was my whole point of this thread. I was hoping to let some (perhaps newbies) know that name brands are not necessarily a must. You can have very good "lesser" brands as well. No need to spend your hard earned dollars on a label.
I never dreamed this would turn into a corded/cordless debate.
Who the heck cares, really?
If I ever have a singer leave because he has to use a corded mic, then I would think he is a diva and let it roll off my back. If it matters that much to them, then they can bring in their own cordless mic and I'll be happy to run it through my system. Otherwise, it really doesn't matter and I've had none ever tell me it did.
I've NEVER had a sound complaint, much less a complaint about the mics I use.
Anyway, my point was that you can get good value for your money if you only check around.

This is kind of what I'm doing too. My third mic is a Behringer XM8500.

I agree that sound-wise it's almost identical to an SM58. But gain before feedback is lower. That's why I reserve it for gang sings. If you run at high SPLs, it betrays it's price.

Handling noise may be more also, but honestly we run at a volume that it's not noticeable.

I seem to be following you around a lot today mckyj57...