Mike advice

[tom1946]

Hi, my wife is in need of a better Mike for use in our church, (She is the Worship leader)

Can someone recommend something of good quality please? She is quite soft spoken and the church is fairly big and old. Can't afford anything expensive though so maybe a second hand one?
I have heard that a Shure SM57 is ok??

thanks for any help.

[skej21]

What's the problrm with the current Mike? Is he an Athiest or something?

[Len_derby]

Hi Tom,
The Shure SM57 and SM58 are long-time industry standards. They do the job well, but aren't cheap. A friend of mine who's a pro soundman assures me the Behringer XM8500 is almost as good and a lot cheaper.

[risingson]

I'd recommend an SM-58 as a totally inexpensive microphone. The important thing for her is to speak right on the microphone if she would like to be heard by everyone else in the church. Samson are another cheaper brand perhaps worth looking at, I'm sure it doesn't need to be too fancy.

[SteveK]

You won't go wrong with an SM57
BTW It's 'mic' not Mike - short for microphone

[Lozz196]

Yes, the XM8500mis a good mic, and quite a bit cheaper. Has less mids, to my ear, and is quite loud. Only thing is, if you move it away from you, to get dynamics, if you go too far it can lose you, but other than that, a great buy.

[risingson]

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1347823499' post='1805516']
A friend of mine who's a pro soundman assures me the Behringer XM8500 is almost as good and a lot cheaper.
[/quote]

Call me a brand snob but the reason this mic will be cheaper is because you'll buy about 3 or 4 of them before you find one that isn't going to break. I've had a lot of bad experience with Behringer stuff. I'd save time and money and get the SM-58, it's rugged and will do the job just fine.

[Les]

To be honest your gonna struggle to get anything better than a 58 without throwing money at it. There are quite a few second hand bargains to be had. As has been said before, they're rugged and fit for purpose.

[gelfin]

Is your wife holding the mic or is it stand mounted. Also consider a lapel radio mic or a mini headset.

The Shure mics are great but need to be used close to the mouth and used in straight line to get the best out of them.

[bigjohn]

Get a '57 or a '58. If you're bothered about how much they are, buy 2nd hand. People will always want them and you can sell them back in that market easy.

Don't buy a new one from eBay or Amazon market place, those places are flooded with fakes.

[sime17]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1347823173' post='1805512']
What's the problrm with the current Mike? Is he an Athiest or something?
[/quote]

I luvs the English language me.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1347823686' post='1805520']
I'd save time and money and get the SM-58, it's rugged and will do the job just fine.[/quote]

^This! What's the old saying about not buying cheap but only buying once?

[Huge Hands]

Technically, the SM57 should not be different to the 58. However, with the larger metal popshield, the 58 should be more rugged and put up with a little more abuse.

My advice: tell your better half to treat that mic like it is her favourite piece of jewellery and lock it away when not in use. Although comparatively cheap, they are a very popular commodity for thievery, even in the house of the Lord. I've seen many go missing over the years!

[TimR]

For speech? Senheizer.

[musophilr]

There's nothing wrong with the SM58, but it's not a sensitive mic, and having to speak directly into it from a close range might be inhibiting given your intended application. The SM57 is like the SM58 but it has a slight hump in its response curve at around 3.5 kHz, and the business end of it has a different shape. There are apparently other dynamic mics on the market which are more sensitive than these Shures.

Other suggestions might include a condenser mic (much more sensitive - less requirement to look like you're kissing it all the time), or better still one of those headset things with a little boom that comes from your ear and keeps the mic right in front of your mouth.

[stevie]

Shure mics are a bit like Cadbury's chocolate and the Sun newspaper. People assume they're good because everyone else buys them.

For your wife's purposes, look for a hypercardioid mic, also called supercardioid. You'll get more output and less feedback than with a standard cardioid mic. I'd shortlist the Sennheiser e845 (around £50 used on eBay or £80 new) and the AKG D5 (£59 new on eBay). Both of these sound better than the Shure 58, IMO. I recently bought an Audio Technica ATM41 on eBay for peanuts that vastly outperforms the Shure M58 in a direct comparison. The current model is the Pro61 (about £60). I haven't tried it but I would expect it to be good. There are some comparative reviews on YouTube - have a listen.

Unless you absolutely need it, don't buy a mic with a switch. They tend to go wrong.

Edited September 17, 2012 by stevie

[BassTractor]

^ totally this.

[51m0n]

Another plus one for the Sennheiser e845, or depending on her voice the e835 is a great (and incredibly cheap fo rthe quality) mic, slightly less hyped, so it gets the mids out a bit better (less emphasis on the 4-5KHz region), which can be excellent for a lot if uses (speech being one of them).

[NJE]

+1 for Sennheiser Mic's, I have been using a e855 for years and it is so much better than my old SM58. All of my band are die-hard SM58 fans, they think they are the best money can buy and although they are good, they are nowhere near the best mic's on the market.

Well worth looking at the e845 or the e865 if you can stretch, they are very solid and will last.

[tom1946]

Ok thanks for the input, much appreciated.
Firstly, in the 60's when I was in a showband everyone around here called them mikes so I'll stick with that

Problem she has is she plays a jumbo 12 string which makes it hard to be near the mike, even though it's on a boom, she really has to think about staying put which isn't easy considering what else she has to do.

Sooo a mike that would pick up from about a foot away would be ideal, the vocals all go to a desk so it's easily adjusted. The best thing we have is a Peavey which another talentless person has claimed as her own even though it belongs to the church

The Sennheiser 845 sounds like it may do a better job??

[andydye]

mic - pronounced mike, short for microphone, same sound different spelling, you do get some funny kids on here (we all like to play with words...)

I've always found the SM58 to have a mid hump whereas the Sennheiser generally has a much flatter response so you don't have to work as hard to amplify naturally, I have a bunch of E855 mics that we use at church and they're brilliant.

the e845 that's on here would be superbly adequate and a quality bump from an SM58 which I once a/b compared with an e835 in a shop and found to be about the same...

They're pretty good at cutting down 'off-axis' noises so she'd need to develop good mic discipline and not wander off from it...

Edited September 17, 2012 by andydye

[stevie]

It is worth mentioning that Sennheiser mics have also been targeted by the Chinese copiers. If you're buying secondhand, make sure you read the articles available on the web on how to spot a fake Sennheiser.

[charic]

Something like this may work alright?

[url="http://www.dv247.com/clearance/line-6-lm4-4-lavalier-condenser-microphone-1-4-inch-jack-as-new--91911"]http://www.dv247.com/clearance/line-6-lm4-4-lavalier-condenser-microphone-1-4-inch-jack-as-new--91911[/url]

[charic]

Or.. [url="http://www.dv247.com/microphones/beyerdynamic-tg-h54-c-neckworn-condenser-microphone--96181"]http://www.dv247.com/microphones/beyerdynamic-tg-h54-c-neckworn-condenser-microphone--96181[/url]

[BassTractor]

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1347822890' post='1805507']
She is quite soft spoken and the church is fairly big and old.[/quote]

Getting back to this:
How are the acoustics?
How many pairs of speakers are used? Any speakers close to the "speaking area" and pointing in its general direction?

Charic's ideas seem very worthwile to me, but the clip-ons are easily a hit or miss, and should be tested on the actual soft-spoken one in the actual room. Also, cables or expensive wireless systems really trouble the experience, especially when different people are gonna use them during the same service.
A good supercardioid on a stand on the other hand is simple and just works.

That said, for speach I use a cheapish Olympus (yes, Olympus) clip-on that works a treat even when a motor is running right on the side. My Beyerdynamic (which I chose over the SM58 even though my sister worked for Shure at the time) hardly leaves its box.

best,
bert

Edited September 17, 2012 by BassTractor