Mi-Si Air

SailingUke

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I am hesitant to post this, but I am really disappointed with Mi-Si.
I have 3 of these “Air” unusable pickups. The feed back is terrible, it can be notched out, but too much tone goes as well. The pickups were put on hold by Mi-Si. When I inquired the other day as to status Mi-Si replied that I should BUY their ukulele pickup. I already have $300 of Mi-Si’s, why would or should I have to spend more money to replace a admittedly bad product. IMHO this is bad customer service.
 
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I don't think there is any problem with posting about it, but there has been so little negative feedback about Mi-Si, and quite the opposite, many satisfied customers.

I don't know what you mean by "the pickups were put on hold by Mi-Si."

Were you installing Mi-Si pickups made for another instrument other than ukulele?
 
I don't think there is any problem with posting about it, but there has been so little negative feedback about Mi-Si, and quite the opposite, many satisfied customers.

I don't know what you mean by "the pickups were put on hold by Mi-Si."

Were you installing Mi-Si pickups made for another instrument other than ukulele?

The “Air” is a mini condenser microphone inside the ukulele.
Not long after they put on the market they were put on hold while looking for a solution, which has never happened. Making a customer purchase replacements for a faulty product is just wrong.
 
The MiSi Air is different from the MiSis most people have. They transmit the signal wirelessly rather than through a jack and cables. I've actually seen very little posted here about the Airs, but do recall that some people have had problems with them.

I never heard of a totall wireless Mi-Si.

There was a model called 'Cutless' that had a wireless external control for volume and tone, but still used a 6.35mm audio jack in the endpin, and mounted like all of the other Mi-Si units.

Also, there was a model called 'Air' that had a MEMS microphone instead of the pickup ribbon that goes under the saddle.

Both MIM and Ken Middleton had sound demos of the Air here on UU when it came out.

I do not recall reading about anyone here on UU with one of the older model with the under-saddle pickup ribbon having any feedback.

Maybe the OP has the 'Air' model as per the previous info from Mim and Ken Middleton?
 
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I know exactly what Sailinguke is talking about, it is the Misi Air as reviewed by Ken Middleton. When I bought my Kamaka baritone from HMS that pick up was just introduced and Andrew had some. I asked him to install one, I was the very first. He had nothing but trouble with it and pulled it out, we went with an LR Baggs 5.0 instead. Andrew returned all of the ones he purchased, refused to install any.

Sailinguke if I were you I might mention that fact. I would push real hard to be treated "right" by Misi. You could tell them the ukulele community is very tight knit, you are an active member here and word travels fast
 
I had been asking Mim about the MiSi Air, as well. She tried one at NAMM, in an admittedly poor listening area, and thought it was OK, but when she got one in her shop... She recommended I not get it. I went for the standard MiSi undersaddle pickup, which is quite nice - and multiple friends have gotten the same pickup, and like it a lot. When I got my most recent, I went with the L.R. Baggs Five.O, which uses a battery rather than a capacitor, and it is superb!

So basically, the Air appears to be a lousy product. If you bought new, and they are within the warranty period, they should make good on the purchase. That being said, you might have to go through the vendor you purchased from, whoever that is.


]
-Kurt​
 
Here is follow up. Mi-Si is replacing the faulty Airs with new under the saddle pickups.
Great customer service has restored my faith.
 
Here is follow up. Mi-Si is replacing the faulty Airs with new under the saddle pickups.
Great customer service has restored my faith.

That is great to hear, I had always thought they were a very stand up company with a good reputation. Although I had trouble with the Air I do own three ukes with the Misi undersaddle and it is an excellent pick up. Enjoy yours.
 
I don't own the misi but have owned several piezo/condenser mic hybrids and, like Alex mentioned in his review of the new misi, the mic sounds best when mixed in sparingly. My Prefix PRO Blend is only practical with about 10% mic mixed in and does lend a wee bit more air but hardly worth the bother for your typical noisy gig environment. I can mix a bit more if I use a stereo jack and EQ and notch the mic sparely from the piezo but I rarely bother and usually just turn the mic mix to zero.
 
I have never had a guitar or ukulele with a hybrid pickup system, but I have noticed that some players with hybrid systems opt to use a rubber sound hole plug when performing at noisy venues. This allows to get the balance between mic and piezo more even, without the problem of extraneous feedback through the mic. It does, however, accentuate the zing from wound strings to an annoying degree... although this is more of a problem for guitar than ukulele. Another advantage of this is that it also prevents the onboard mic from picking up vocals that can often produce a slightly out of phase, echo-like distortion.
I'm not sure if many plugs are available for ukulele, but I once fashioned one for an oval shaped sound hole from high density closed cell foam. It was a fiddly task and a little rough looking, but apparently it did the job.
 
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