Wireless Microphone System - Class set

[lovelldr]

Hi guys.

 

I've been asked by the head teacher to get a quote for a class set of wireless microphones. So, this is 30 wireless microphones...

 

Would that even be possible with the spectrum? Currently, we have 4 wireless mics, 2 on VHF and 2 on UHF.

 

Anyone any ideas on costing for 30 wireless microphones, and the best solution to go for?

 

Cheers

[Oaktech]

Yes it is possible - West End shows have loads at once. What this isn't going to be is cheap.

 

You are basically tied to the big providers like Sennheiser and Shure. You will also need an Ofcom licence.

 

I would suggest speaking to someone like Autograph, Stage Electrics, CPS etc.

 

Basically you are looking at about £400 per mic kit, then you are going to need potentially 8 antenna distribution units at £500 each, and 2 diversity blade antennas at £500 plus cabling.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Oaktech

[robk]

Why would you want a class set of radio mics? Whats the end game? To give you some idea, I have 16 on hire at the moment for a school show, the cost of that is about £700 for the week. Depending on what you want the radio mics to do you could be looking at a very large cost for 30+ channel mixers etc as well as the radio mics.

[lovelldr]

Why would you want a class set of radio mics? Whats the end game? To give you some idea, I have 16 on hire at the moment for a school show, the cost of that is about £700 for the week. Depending on what you want the radio mics to do you could be looking at a very large cost for 30+ channel mixers etc as well as the radio mics.

 

Basically, it's not going to be worth the cost... I thought it would be quite expensive, never expecting it to be this expensive! lol

 

The head just wants each child to be able to have their own microphone when doing the school play... I told her it will likely be too expensive, but never thought it would be that much, haha. But thanks for all the information. At least I can get back to her with this.

 

Cheers,

 

David

[Oaktech]

Basically, it's not going to be worth the cost... I thought it would be quite expensive, never expecting it to be this expensive! lol

 

The head just wants each child to be able to have their own microphone when doing the school play... I told her it will likely be too expensive, but never thought it would be that much, haha. But thanks for all the information. At least I can get back to her with this.

 

Cheers,

 

David

 

Rent it... Always rent it.

 

30 ways of mics will cost about a grand-£1200 a week, plus a 32 or 48 channel desk at about £300 a week. You'll still probably need a £50 ofcom licence to cover your usage onsite.

[robk]

Yes talk to a good hire company. It's not worth trying to buy for one week a year. You may find area micing etc would reduce your channel count. Only the bigger companies (stage electrics etc) are going to be able to hire that sort of numbers of channels, and mixing will be a nightmare. You will get no volume before feedback if you just turn 30 radio mics on. Edited March 14, 2016 by robk
phone auto corrupt...

[Oaktech]

Yes talk to a good hire company. It's not worth trying to buy for one week a year. You may find area micing etc would reduce your channel count. Only the bigger companies (stage electrics etc) are going to be able to hire that sort of numbers of channels, and mixing will be a nightmare. You will get no volume before feedback if you just turn 30 radio mics on.

 

I did a setup of 20 ways of tieclip lav mics for a private school and they used a Yamaha digital installation mixer which would work on it's own with fixed levels for all mics or you could also plug a Yamaha LS9 console into it if you knew what you were doing. That job was almost £25k by the time everything was bought, cabled, installed, licensed and my time paid for to set it all up.

 

It took me 3 solid days with a spectrum analyser to set the EQ for all those mics to get a decent level, and then another day with the LS9 to develop a preset that they could work from for shows. Fun times.

[Clevertouch_Rob]

We started to use these at events now - eliminated the need for multiple mics Catchbox - World's First Throwable Microphone for Audience Engagement

[VeryPC_Anthony_L]

The main issue here would be spectrum management. Most hire companies will only stock standard Ch38 radio mics and this will not provide a big enough frequency range.

 

Depending on your stage setup is there anyway to get some overhead mics and some floor mics like the Crown PCC160 / Bartlett.

[Andrew_C]

Dream on.

 

You might get them all on mics, but the cost will be huge. Look for a hire company with some Line 6 digital systems, you might get lucky and be able to use two sets. However, the digital mics are renown for working in quite busy wireless environments - by stamping all over anything else trying to use the 2.4GHz band.

[Chris_]

Do they all need microphones the whole time? Might be better to hire a smaller number 6-12, then swap the beltpacks.

[Andrew_C]

That's what a theatre would do. However, it is all choreographed so the engineer knows who has which mic on. In a school setting?