So I was on the market for some wireless microphome systems for general, all around purposes (singing, speeches, presenters/announcers etc). I have to admit that I am a big fan of the AKG sound and that would have been my first choice, but for some reason, the AKG mics haven't really caught on in my country so in the name of rider friendliness, it was going to be Shure. But, for the money, you get quite a lot.
The system is pretty straightfoward: you get a receiver, a power adapter for it, the mic/transmitter and a mic clamb. The receiver has two buttons for changing the frequency group and channel, a power button, two LEDs to indicate signal/clipping, a radio connection LED and that's it. Has both XLR and TRS outputs. The handheld transmitter has one power button, and two buttons for adjusting the frequency under the battery lid.
Works very well. I have done three different gigs now with the mic, and have had no problems. The automatic free channel seeking function seems to do it's job, but you still have to match the channel with the receiver manually on the transmitter.
The promised range of 100 meters seems to hold water, but close to it, you start to get some noise. Still, for the money, the range is excellent.
The sound is obviously the Beta 58 sound, as it is the capsule, so it should be well suited for most applications and singes. No audible distortion, sounds very clean.
The quality of all the components seems to be great, with the exception of the blue rubber band on the mic grille. It seems to come off too easy, in fact a lot easier than on my regualr Beta58s. But that is really a minor complaint.
Battery life seems good, I have done three gigs, a few hours each and haven't yet had to change them. Shure promises up to 14 hours of constant use, but I get the feeling it's under very optimum conditions, so I would not bet over 10.
The power adapter is on the middle of the power cord which I am not big fan of, but at least the power cords are quite long. And it all comes with a nice softcase with a slot to add your own accessories.
So if you are looking for a good wireless vocal system and don't need the features and the extra price of the SLX or EW100 systems, you can't go wrong with this: good range, the industry standard Beta58, very reasonable battery life and good build quality. The price/quality ratio is quite good.
If you deem it worthy, for an extra 100? or so, you can get a system with a receiver that has removeable antennaes and a rack-mountable metal chassis. I didn't.
