Karaoke Forums

Talked to a retiring DJ today who has some Audio Technica wireless microphones for sale, each mic has it's own receiver.

Not sure of the model, but they're a few years old.

From looking at the offerings on MusicansFriend.com it appears that they run the range from high end to entry level.

Just thought i'd see if anyone has any objective opinions or any direct experience with their mics.

I'll be going to look at 'em tomorrow.

Cheese, yeah, I own one of the lower end ones. It's fairly new, only bought it last year, and only used it a handful of times. I honestly loath the thing. Each time I used it, I was trying to figure out if it actually would work in different surroundings. But, no, each time I used it, it would give me very bad handling noise. Almost like it was picking up the neon lighting interference or something similar. It doesn't even make a good paper weight, since its actually pretty light. Several things that I didn't like about it were,:

1) felt too light, seems cheaply made ( it was only 99 bucks )
2) the handling noise was horrendous
3) it ate 9 volt batteries for lunch and dessert, I could only get about 9 hours per battery
4) no adjustable frequency's , one channel only
5) not even good enough for outdoor use for vocals only, because of the handling noise
6)battery compartment was fragile, could easily break things inside
7) Sound itself was hard to EQ, was possible, but had to turn the gain way higher than my wireless shure sm58.

I know I am only thinking of the negative, but there isn't much good to right about the one I purchased. There are better Audio Technica,

Good luck
Scott

As you've noted, A/T makes a wide range of wireless mics, some are crappy some are really nice. Most are pretty good. Find out what model number and I can give you a lot more information. Also, when you look at them, pay attention to what frequency they operate on (Should be marked on the receiver somewhere, varies by model). Anything that includes frequencies from 698Mhz to 802Mhz you don't want to touch and it would be illegal for him to sell to you (see other threads about the re-purposing of the 700Mhz band by the FCC for more details).

Hope that helps.

_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

As Tony said, Audio Technica is usually good. I've used both their wired and wireless mics and I think their quality is really good.

Well.. they ended up being FreeWay '200 Series Professional VHF Wireless' systems.

Build quality and design is considerably higher than the Nady DKW-DUO, and each mic feels significantly heavier than the Nady's.

Power switch in the 'butt' of the mic instead of on the body is nice, and the center mounted battery compartment is a nice touch. Windscreen is also significantly heavier duty than the Nady.

Really, my two major complaints with the Nady is the aluminum can thin windscreen and the egg shell battery compartment.

So for $35 each I figured i'd give 'em a shot. Tested each one briefly through a keyboard/bass amp and they sounded nice and clear, but again.. that was through a bass amp. Looked 'em up on my cell phone while I was at the guys place and it looks like they regular retail for $99, so I figured what the heck.

Also picked up a AKG D8000s for $10 along with a half decent Sure branded 20' XLR cord.. which I figured was worth the $10.

I have to admit, I saw the 'Made in Austria' on the body and was hoping i'd really scored a home run.. but looks like these AKG's sell 2 for $50 online.. but hey, it's gotta beat a $10 VocoPro mic, right?

I'll be giving the Audio Technicas a try at tonights show.

Thought i'd just post an update with my experience so far with this mic.. just in case someone in the future wonders about these.

As I noted earlier, build quality was way superior to the Nady Duo mics, and they do seem to sound like they have better.. definition I guess is the best word to describe it.

This is much more noticeable when you're listening to someone else use them, though. At least to me, anyway.

Time will tell how much of a beating these will take, but it's a dramatic improvement in design alone over the Nady Duos.

I used to have a low end audio techna wireless. I absolutely loved it. It may be the kind that cheese ended up with, I'm not sure.

If i could find a replacement *haven't found one yet* i wouldn't hesitate to use it for my 'drunk' mic.

-James

Come and get mine!!! I have one of those "low end" Audio Crapnicas.. Can't stand it! Right now its just taking up space in a box. Probably will sell it soon.

Lol @ Audio Crapnica. I have the same low end $99 dollar model. I would love to buy a 3-500 dollar Shure model but just can't bring myself to do it. At this point I have a few complaints about it, but it's definitely made my money back and then some. I'd say 35 a piece is definitely worth it.

As a follow up.. i've been having trouble with both these mics with some nasty hash static kind of noise.. sometimes within just a few feet of the receiver.

I've fallen back to the NADY DKW DUO mics, especially since MusicansFriend.com has been selling them for $39 for the pair with free shipping.

I'm going to try and fiddle with the squelch setting on the unit in the next few days and see if that helps any.

Ding! Ding! thats what I got too, a really "harsh" static noise. The exact reason I don't use them for anything except a really poor paper weight.

Yeah.. that's what I have.. but otherwise.. this mic doesn't sound like what you described in your earlier response.

This mic really is build solid. Metal shaft (not plastic) central mounted battery, it's not light.. in fact, i'll bet it's just as heavy, if not heavier than an SM58.

The capsule is shock mounted in rubber, and there is little to no handling noise, and the mic really does sound good.. but unless I resolve the.. I want to say it almost sounds like frequency drift.. it really isn't good for anything besides a booth mic.