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[Philip Moseley]

Hi
I mix for 4 bands who each have their own PA systems and the lead vocalist for 3 of em all use a wireless SM58. And all of them sound uninspiring and give me feedback problems that I just don't have with wired 58s. Plus I was watching another sound guy struggle with a crap-sounding wireless 58 that he swapped out at intermission with a wired 58 that sounded much better.

Now I realize I am only a mere weekend warrior, but I've been a weekend warrior for a long time and I am definitely noticing a pattern here. I would like to hear from anyone who has noticed the same issues and what - if anything - you did to address the problem. Singers are telling me they spent stupid money for their wireless systems and I don't want to tell them that a 99 dollar wired mic is the solution if it isn't.
Thank you
Phil

[Jeff Lelko]

Hi Phil, two things come to mind here:

What’s the wireless system being used?  The best capsule in the world will sound like garbage if the wireless part of the rig is having interference or dropouts.

Regarding the feedback, is the wireless version being walked around the stage (and into places it shouldn’t be) compared to a wired mic on a stand?  I’ve run into wandering presenters many times who can’t seem to figure out why walking the mic right in front of a speaker is bad.  Wired mics tend to stay where you leave them.

Hope this helps!

[Brian Jojade]

It typically costs about $1000 to get a wireless mic that sounds ALMOST as good as a $30 cable.

Wired will ALWAYS sound better.  Back a few years ago, cheap wireless was all but useless.  These days with digital systems you can sometimes get acceptable results with cheaper stuff, but again, it's never going to be as good as that piece of wire.

[Bob Stone]

Are you sure they were SM58's and not PGA58's?

I have a couple channels of the cheaper BLX wireless (about as low as you can go from Shure), one with an SM58 capsule and another one with the Beta58 capsule....I can't notice any sonic differences with my wired SM58's, though I don't have a Beta58 wired to compare to.

[Jay Marr]

I've got a wireless 58 and a Beta 58 capsule, both sound great.
I gig with a Sennheiser 945 (and have a 965, which on small stages is a feedback machine).
I like the 945 and Beta 58 very much....but the regular 58 still sounds great.

Wonder if they had the gain set properly on the handset?

[Dave Pluke]

What’s the wireless system being used?  The best capsule in the world will sound like garbage if the wireless part of the rig is having interference or dropouts.

Agreed.

Also, make sure it's not a counterfeit SM58 capsule. Or that the capsule in question isn't defective. Spin a known-good capsule on the mic and compare.

Dave

[Sean Anderson]

I've got a wireless 58 and a Beta 58 capsule, both sound great.
I gig with a Sennheiser 945 (and have a 965, which on small stages is a feedback machine).
I like the 945 and Beta 58 very much....but the regular 58 still sounds great.

Wonder if they had the gain set properly on the handset?

Topic swerve, but I'm surprised about the 965 in your experience. I just used one for accordian with a loud latin band on a small stage. No issues. Nor any feedback issues from a horn player with the mic down low close to the wedge.

On topic, I have a cheap blx and one sm58 capsule and it sounds way better than the pg58 capsule that came with the set. I use these as drunk mics at weddings, my good sennheiser stuff doesn't get used for best-person speeches! They always sound ok... but can easily drop out after 30'.

[Bob Stone]

Topic swerve, but I'm surprised about the 965 in your experience. I just used one for accordian with a loud latin band on a small stage. No issues. Nor any feedback issues from a horn player with the mic down low close to the wedge.

On topic, I have a cheap blx and one sm58 capsule and it sounds way better than the pg58 capsule that came with the set. I use these as drunk mics at weddings, my good sennheiser stuff doesn't get used for best-person speeches! They always sound ok... but can easily drop out after 30'.

That's funny, my BLX stuff has been fine 100 feet line of sight no issues...even through a crowd of people.

[Sean Anderson]

That's funny, my BLX stuff has been fine 100 feet line of sight no issues...even through a crowd of people.

Haha! It's great how those little things that happen on site mold our perceptions of gear on a regular basis. It's fascinating the breadth of experience

[Tim McCulloch]

Based a skim of replies and my personal experience:  cheap wireless sounds bad.  It's not the SM-58 capsule, it's the RF link that sucks.

Now about other capsules - the SM48... sucks.  The PG58... sucks.

I've worked with Shure BLX (owned by a youth theater company) and they don't outright suck, but they come with their own set of compromises and limitations that may become issues (or not).

A recent "local act festival" had a couple bands with their own vocal wireless.  Not sure what all of it was but in one act the lead singer brought her own and there was no amount of EQ that could fix what I didn't like about the sound.  Another act, it was a male singer that sounded like there was a packing blanket between his mouth and the mic.  Again, no EQ fix for it that worked.  Bah humbug.

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