Wireless Microphones > Wireless Hand Held Systems
Wireless Hand Held Systems
We keep up with the industry, looking at specifications and trying new equipment. The leaders of the pack right now seem to be the AKG WMS450 and Telex FMR500 systems. They provide great professional performance at a very reasonable price.
The
WMS450C5
is an excellent UHF wireless hand held system. It is a true diversity
system with removable antennae providing reliable operation in any
room. The receiver operates at a frequency away from any radio interference
and has a very tightly controlled bandwidth making it very selective.
This allows you to use up to 12 systems without cross talk. It also
provides high rejection of noise. We usually sell the system with
the C5 microphone head. This provides excellent sound reproduction.
The system has many nice features including an automatic battery
indicator on the transmitter and receiver, and a balanced microphone
or line level output. The WMS450 is a very advanced, automatic system.
The receivers program themselves by scanning the area for unused
frequency channels. They then set themselves up on available frequencies.
The WMS450 is an excellent wireless system for its low price.
The AKG C5 is an excellent vocal and instrument condenser microphone. It has a very smooth response with a slight rise in the 7-12 kHz range to give it some presence. This microphone has a low proximity effect producing a natural sound up close or at any distance. It is therefore an excellent choice for multipurpose applications where it might be used at various distances. The C5 is a great sounding microphone which is very versatile and forgiving. It fits nicely into both the performance and studio categories.
There are many lower cost microphone heads available such as the
WMS450D5,
however the C5 is by far the most popular for Churches due to
its low proximity effect. It works great when others don't.
The Telex FMR500 series has the same great features as the WMS450 plus it adds Tone Code Squelch. Although even without it, the high quality UHF wireless systems like the WMS400 are very unlikely to pick up noise interference when the transmitter is turned off, this feature makes it virtually impossible to do so. This is because, in addition to the normal squelch which rejects signals below a certain level, the Tone Code Squelch actually looks for an ultrasonic tone from its transmitter before it unlocks (turns on).
In comparison the the WMS450, here are some of the pros and cons. The WMS450 uses one AA battery, while the FMR500 uses a 9 volt battery. The FMR500 is available with a RE410 condenser head and a ND767a dynamic head. Although the ND767a is as good or better than the D5 on the WMS450, the AKG C5 has a better pick up range and lower proximity effect than the RE410. Having said this however, both work and sound great.
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