Sound Systems

WintersFriend

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I want to get a high-quality, very portable sound system, primarily for voice w/wireless mic. Will be playing in Nursing Homes for people hard of hearing, and they will probably be spread out somewhat.

Any input will be appreciated. Would like to stay under $200. What are the brands to have? What's the most important characteristics to look for in a good sound system?
 
Sorry, but what you describe below is somewhat of an "oxymoron." Perhaps "good quality" would work? Lots of threads here on the matter. Here's one of them: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...amplifier-recommendations&highlight=amplifier
and another: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?67972-Good-amp

Most of these are at the lower end of your price: http://www.beginnerukuleles.com/best-ukulele-amps-review/

I want to get a high-quality, very portable sound system, primarily for voice w/wireless mic.

Would like to stay under $200.
 
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What Phil said ^.

There's tons of options, and seems this question is asked on a weekly basis. I have not yet seen anything from NAMM 2016 that would shake up the status quo, but that only means that I've not seen it yet, and not that it's not out there...

Seems to me that the dividing line of price vs. features comes when you want to go ALL battery power vs. A/C power.

With A/C power, your quest will find many options that are less expensive with better features than if you are restricted to ONLY battery power.

You also need to figure out how many cases of gear you want to haul in and out for setup and breakdown, and how much time you will have before and after each performance. THIS aside from cost, might help you to focus on which options you need to prioritize.

Were it me, and A/C was no problem, I'd likely be looking at a pair of Kustom PA-50 powered speakers and a mixer of something like a Mackie 1202 or 1404 (or similar Peavey or Behringer mixer), and one of those three-packs of Behringer 8500 dynamic mics, with stands and monoprice cables, as well as a couple of active direct boxes that have ground lift and impedance adjustment.

Right there you are probably looking at a minimum of $500-600.

A wireless mic or instrument transmitter/receiver combo, of any quality (Electro-Voice,Samson, Shure, Nady, Sennheiser, AKG) in UHF band with multichannel wireless capability (a must if you encounter interference in the performance venue) is going to start at just-under $200 each.

Sure, you can go on aliexpress or ebay and get a $10 VHF single-channel wireless kit from some unknown Asian maker, but after trying to use it for 10 mins at home, I guarantee you that you will throw it right into the trash if you dont smash it with a hammer first out of frustration.

'Buy cheap, buy twice' is never more important to heed for gear that is intended/expected to be road-worthy for gigging.
 
Booli: "Buy cheap, buy twice' is never more important to heed for gear that is intended/expected to be road-worthy for gigging"

And..... What Booli said. :agree:
 
You might have to both buy used and go over $200 to get what you want, but if you give up on the wireless requirement and spend another $130 you could get this package: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LoudBoxMiniPK?adpos=1o1&creative=55281441601&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=COu59sDO1coCFUc9gQodvWYMTQ

The Fishman Loudbox Mini amp is excellent, and I've used one for good-sized rooms/audiences. I'm not familiar with the microphone, but it gets 4.5 stars in reviews on the same site.

Usually the amp alone is $329, and this throws in the mic, cable, and stand.
 
I can vouch for the Fishman that DaveY suggests. Unless your playing a 500 seat auditorium this little gem should do the trick. They don't call it "loudbox" for no reason...60 watts of power, built in chorus and reverb for instrument with separate reverb on the vocal microphone. This little beauty is sweet!
 
I'm not familiar with the microphone, but it gets 4.5 stars in reviews on the same site.

The Sennheiser e835 is a bit bright in a sparkly kind of way. Maybe a tad loud and not as neutral as some other microphones. It's not bad, though, just a matter of preference, like with all microphones. Probably not too suitable for recording, but very usable for stage kind of stuff - which is what WF has in mind anyway. :)

I don't know the amp, but well, you guys do!
 
Vox Mini 3. It is in you price range, runs on batteries or AC.
 
I don't mean to be flippant, but the most important consideration of a good sound system is that it sounds good. very portable = small/light. I have 2 of the amps mentioned here, the loudbox mini [over 200] and the Kustom PA50[$100]. the Kustom is a PA with no bells/whistles and is little thin on the bass end, but ukes don't have much bass and you can add a sub and or another PA50 later, but then you are not too portable. The Fishman is great all by itself, but over $200, I paid $259 for mine[I think]. either would be plenty loud for the typical nursing home dining /activity room . I can carry my uke, bag w/ mike cables, mike stand, and either amp in one trip[but not too far]. the PA50 is easier to carry. hope that helps
 
I had to put quite a bit of thought into this before replying, Winter's Friend. I have been educated in live-sound engineering at two prominent universities and have run FOH (Front of House) mixing boards and setup stages and mains from complex band stage riders. That being said, I also like to run things good and simple.

There is a gem the of a quality, budget self-contained mixer/amplifier/speaker P.A. cabinet available for $99 bucks or less. The Kustom PA50/PowerWerks PW50. The other half of making this a P.A. "system" is adding the microphone and related accessories for under $100 bucks to keep the cost of your P.A. system under $200 as you requested in your original post. I can help you put together a nice, quality system that will do your stated application, but it will be done using a quality, wired microphone and stay within your budget. I have not used a wireless microphone system that I can recommend for under $800, but I can recommend wired microphones in your stated budget that will sound great in your stated application.

KustomPA501.jpg


KustomPA502.jpg


It shows a list price of $159 bucks, but they sell them for $99 bucks:

KustomPA503.jpg


More info and video:

I searched the Guitar Center website, Musician’s Friend website and Kustom Amps website, but did not find any reference to this system. When I searched PowerWerks, I came up with:

http://powerwerks.com/pages/PA-Systems-8.aspx

http://powerwerks.com/ContentHandler.ashx?ID=87 Owners manual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZk33_3GmE4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL-RzN98VT0

http://www.youtube.com/user/GenoKreis?blend=5&ob=5#p/u/0/0xIY65YWEi0

The frontal view shows the two 4.5” drivers and the high frequency horn:

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/KustomPA504.jpg

You can also note the rugged construction and the protective steel speaker grill. In addition, each corner is protected.

The rear view shows the three channels, controls, inputs and outputs. I was asked if the XLR and ¼” inputs could be used at the same time, so I plugged a microphone and instrument into both jacks on both channels. All can be used at the same time. There is also phantom power on the XLR channels for use with condenser microphones:

KustomPA505.jpg
 
One of the long sides has a carrying handle:

KustomPA506.jpg


The bottom has a speaker stand adaptor and four rubber feet:

KustomPA507.jpg


Here it is shown mounted on an OnStage speaker stand:

KustomPA508.jpg


I own a dozen of the Kustom PA50's and almost always have at least half of them loaned out to friends and community. They are easy to setup, operate, and teardown, even by amateurs. Hula halau’s like to use a microphone for announcing and an MPR/CD player for their music when musicians are not available. There are no effects onboard, but I generally prefer to use my systems “dry” - without effects.

Bottom line - The sound quality is surprizingly transparent. Two singers with 2 microphones and two guitar players (using their active electronics or active D.I. to control volume and tone) can perform through a single Kustom PA50. For a "breadbox) system, I've yet to see anything in this price range compare. Understand this is no Fishman SA220, Bose L1, Roland Acoustic Chorus, Fishman Loudbox, Fender Acoustisonic or Marshall AS. It's a nice system for those on a budget or those that are looking for a rugged backup system.
 
After several years of using these in tight spaced venues, I've learned that they are a real work horse that get the job done. We've used them with various microphones and acoustic/electric instruments with great results. Following are some photos of venues where we've used them.

The Kustom Powerwerks PW50 is lightweight, powerful, clean and stand mountable. As you can see in the following photos, it does well in tight spaces. It even has built in phantom power for condenser microphones. You can use the 1/4" and XLR inputs at the same time on each channel. With a built in mixer for two microphone/instrument channels and a third channel for MP3/CD, It's a bargain that can handle crowds up to about 60.

At Hulaville's closing party it was packed with people, so we used two PW50's, linked by a 50' microphone cable. You can see the one on the right, but not the one on the left:

hulaville2pw50.jpg


A trial run at Jolly Roger we used one that you can see on the left (it was a long flight of stairs bringing the equipment up):

JollyRogerPW50.jpg


A trial run at Bubba Kahuna's you can see the one in the center over one of the TV screens (they had the sound turned off on the TV's):

BubbaKahunasPW50.jpg


The Kustom PA50 really kicks and cuts through the ambient noise of a crowded venue for a pittance of cash outlay.They are a great backup for more complex systems. Keep one of these, a speaker stand, a microphone and a microphone stand in your car for impromptu gigs. Ric
 
Re:pA50
I also use it to play music from my phone and computer, it blows away most other powered systems at 2x the price. If you are too cheap to buy a separate speaker stand like me, you can adapt a sturdy music stand with a few pvc fittings to get it off the floor. can you tell people love this PA?
 
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At our new Ukulele Sundays meetup home, Molly Bloom's in San Clemente, California, we use two of the Kustom Powerwerks PW50(PA50) systems linked together for wider coverage. There is plenty of reserve power. Ric

MollyBlooms.jpg


We used 4 PA50's and 8 microphones for a crowd of over 300:

PA50BlockParty1.jpg


PA50BlockParty2.jpg


PA50BlockParty3.jpg
 
Now on to recommending the microphone. Wireless microphones in the $100 to $500 range are finicky. The cut in and out. Sometimes they work fine and sometimes they do not work at all. As a seasoned performer of over 50 years, one rarely gets invited back to perform at a venue if their faulty gear made for a less than optimal performance.

I'll start out with the microphone. This quality microphone has superior frequency response and is well suited for accurate reproduction of both instruments and vocals. It's cardioid pickup pattern allows the vocalist some forgiveness on their microphone technique and has excellent gain before feedback qualities. ...and you can buy one' or a set of three, for the same price. So you might as well get three for the price of one, the Digital Reference DRI100:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Digital-Reference/DRI100-Buy-One-Get-Two-Free.gc#productDetail

H79029000000000-00-500x500.jpg


You're going to need a reliable cable and this Live Wire Advantage Standard EXM Series Microphone Cable 25 foot has a lifetime warranty:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Live-Wire/Advantage-Standard-EXM-Series-Microphone-Cable.gc

331095000000082-00-500x500.jpg


A microphone stand to hold the microphone:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Musicians-Gear/Die-Cast-Mic-Stand.gc

451053000001000-00-500x500.jpg
 
Now, for the budget:

$99 Mixer/Amp/Speaker

+

$49 Microphone(s) 3 for 1 sale

+

$37 Microphone Cable lifetime warranty 25 foot

+

$16 Microphone stand

=

$201 Total cost of all the components of your P.A. System
 
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