A Worship Leader's Mic of Choice...

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Permalink Reply by Stuart Lawson on December 13, 2007 at 10:05pm

that's a really good point, thanks Pete, there can be so many links in the chain between the mic and the desk and if it doesn't have good pre-amps then so much quality is lost. so many pros still swear by the sm58 but what they don't say is what else they use to get the sound that they desire. i've found a real difference moving away from the 58 onto stage condensers but i'm sure that great results can be achieved with almost any mic as long as it's set up right. i used my sennheiser e935 tonight for the first time with the team and it was absolutely superb so for £100 it ranks as one of my best buys yet.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Kent on December 14, 2007 at 3:28pm

Yes. The preamps (in the Mixer) have a massive impact on your sound. As a general rule of thumb, you pay for what you get.

Also, whats the use in having a great mic and signal chain when the majority of Church speakers (in my experience) are simply inadequate for reproducing high quality audio. Nothing to do with Volume, just quality..

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Permalink Reply by Pete Collins on December 14, 2007 at 5:28pm

Maybe we should start a new thread on which speakers to use in churches???

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Permalink Reply by Dave Clemo on April 21, 2008 at 12:44pm

Good idea! Most churches I've visited and/or played in have speakers than are totally unsuited to anything other than the spoken word. I suggested getting Eon15s for my church and they freaked at the size and put some p*xy TOAs in just because they were white. Doh!

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Permalink Reply by Stuart Lawson on December 14, 2007 at 6:11pm

we use mackie srm450s for the front of house speakers - £800 for the pair but worth the money! the sound reproduction is great and they are very robust too.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Kent on December 14, 2007 at 6:19pm

Yup. They're a pretty good Speaker. Good build quality and for the money, can't go wrong. Similar to The JBL eons. I prefer the EONS myself as they represent the Highs and mids a little more sweetly (to my ear the Mackies are slightly harsher) But JBL's are more expensive.

Obviously, for installations looking for a high end sonic experience they wouldn't really do the job, but they are certainly a very good workhorse that is a darn sight better than many Churches. I'd have no problems recommending them.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Kendal on April 21, 2008 at 9:37am

We've got some Peaveys but I think they could be better. On the mic front a couple of us have started using one of the Audio Technica wireless headset microphones. It has pro's and con's. The con is that the microphone is always at the same distance from your mouth, the pro is tha the microphone is always at the same distance from the mouth! It is great to be free of the mic stand and for me persnally it's one less encumberance as I have very poor eyesight and can easily get in a tangle between music and microphone stands. The negative is that it's hard to say anything off mic or if you want to sing really loud the PA gets teh full benefit (perhaps we should look at a compressor.

My wife uses the Shure Beta87 ( I think that's the model number). We went to the music shop in Guildford and spent a good hour comparing SM58 , Beta 58 and this Beta 87a. At that time the mic cost a fortune (exchange rates weren't so good back then) but the mic has been absolutely great. For my money it leaves the good old SM58 standing.
Mark

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Permalink Reply by Dave Clemo on April 21, 2008 at 12:41pm

I use SM58s for the male voices and SM57s for the female voices. With up to eight vocals at any one time (4 of each) I seemed to get a good clear distinct sound. The signals went down a multicore to a Behringer 3242x desk (easy to use and compact- in a flight case) with a tiny amount of reverb and out via JBL Eon subs and tops. The PA also took two acoustic guitars and keyboards. Foldback was via a pair of Eon1500 cabs and a single LD systems powered 1x12 cab fed off the FOH to the keyboard player. The bass player and lead guitar used their own amps and were DI'd. We never had any complaints about volume or clarity. I think it's important that the mikes should all match. I've used other mikes including Sennheiser E835 etc but while they sound good on their own don't blend with the others.
What do we add to our voices? Nothing except a tiny amount of reverb- but only on the rarest of occasions eg open air. The secret for us is loads of headroom. JBLs sound sweeter than Peaveys which always sound too harsh and punchy for mainly acoustic worship music. My advice- buy the best, keep it simple

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Permalink Reply by Mark Kendal on April 21, 2008 at 1:45pm

Dave
I'm of the growing conciction that you are 100% (at the very least) totally correct. My wife and I bought a small PA a couple of years ago. We bought a small Yamaha desk and some RCF ART 310 powered speakers (1x10" and a horn) and we are absolutely delighted with them. We use this for vocals, acoustic guitar and a bit of keys for rehearsals and for the occasional church meeting away from the school where we normally meet. Generally when we're out and about we are just putting vocals and acoustic guitar through them. They're light and relatively compact. In fact a couple of years ago we had an outside event where we had hired Mackie srm450 tops and matching Makcie Bass units. One of the srm450s blew so I swapped in one of the ARTs and I couldn't really hear the difference. I'm sure that someone with a really discerning ear would have been able to tell but I'm well pleased them.

I hadn't given much thought to microphones matching each other before. I'll think about that one and maybe do some listening tests.

All the best.

Mark

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Permalink Reply by Dave Clemo on April 21, 2008 at 3:57pm

Powered speakers are also the way to go if you have to keep setting up each week. A friend of mine (on this site so no names) was IMHO conned into buying a big desk with built in amps that weighs a ton (either Spirit or Studiomaster) plus a pair of wooden Yamaha 1x15 + horns. She can't pick the kit up and has to have someone load it for her. This was supplied by a Christian company that used to advertise everywhere. She'd have been much better off with some plastic powered speakers and a small desk, and her husband's back might have lasted longer

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Permalink Reply by Mark Kendal on April 21, 2008 at 4:09pm

Definitely. I think technically the powered speaker is the best way forward as well. As I understand it no Loudspeaker really gives anything like a flat response and presumably every speaker is dffierent so if you're sticking an amp in a speaker cabinet you can build in some compensating eq tailored to that driver/cab combination to get the best out of it. you can then feed it with any desk you choose.

Definitely agree about weight of kit, that's where the ARTs are fantastic. As speakers go they're really light, I can't remember the exact weight but I think it's in the order of 20lbs which even my wife who is only 5' tall and small framed can lift (although to be fair she'd rather not). There is a slight issue for setting up quickly though and that 's you've not only got to get you're signal feed to them but you've got to get 240V close as well. It's not really a big problem but it is an extra step.

I used to part own a Spirit Powerstation which with unpowered speakers did pretty much the same job as my current set up. It was a really nice desk but as you say the weight, especially in a flight case was a bit much.
Mark

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Permalink Reply by Dave Clemo on April 21, 2008 at 4:24pm

Buy two mains extension reels from Morrisons at about a fiver and the jobs a good 'un! Also you can use mike leads from the mixer and it's less to worry about. Use the cash saved to invest in a cable tester from Ebay for about £20 and you can travel without a care. I always test my cables before a tour and take a couple of spares. As I'm only using xlr leads for mikes and speakers and guitar leads for everything else it's so easy

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