I'm hoping someone might find this helpful if they're in the market for new microphones. I recently purchased a pair of the PG288 Dual Microphone kits from Shure to replace my VocoPro UHF 5800 Karaoke microphones. I had to replace the Vocopros in preparation for the loss of the 700MHz band with the DTV switch coming up. Last night was my first gig with the new mics so I thought I'd share my experience and thoughts.
I'll start with taking them out of the box. Along with the 2 mic kits, I also purchased the rackmount shelf kits and the multi-colord identification rings both from Shure. The rack mount kits were great. They come with the shelves and the necessary screws to mount the receivers to the shelf. Took about 10-15 minutes to get both receivers mounted in the rack and ready to roll. They look really nice mounted right underneath my two SLX receivers.
Next I setup the mics themselves.I used the frequency finder on Shure's website to pick the best frequency settings for my area and set those on each microphone. Very easy to do, there's no sync function like on the SLX (and PGX and ULX for that matter) but it was a pretty easy process just the same. I also at this point installed the color rings on each mic. They just fit right on over the open end of the battery cover.
So first gig with the mics went very well. I did find out that the rings make it a little harder to get the mics in and out of the mic clips (I'm using the on-stage rubber wireless clips as opposed to the plastic ones included with the microphones). From a sound perspective they were terrific. Definitely an improvement over the Vocopros. Great mid-high and high end presence plus a nice proximity effect that keeps the vocals warmer. My channel EQ's for the mics ended up looking just like my Beta 58's channel; Low-end heavily cut, just a hair taken out on the sweepable mid set at about 250Hz and then flat for the high end. These things sound as good as an SM58. My singers also noticed the improvement although one did complain that she didn't like it because she didn't sound like herself. All I could think was, "well actually for the first time you actually do sound like yourself".
The background rejection on the PG58's is also every bit as good as that of a typical SM58. This made getting the monitor EQ'ed pretty easy. I started with the EQ flat and had to take some out at a few specific frequencies to ensure no ringing or overwhelming feedback. That's it. I was able to walk on stage and with the mics and monitor at operating levels hold the mic about 4 inches from the monitor with no feedback at all.
The one area where I could hear the difference between an SM58 (or my Beta 58 as well) and these mics was in handling noise. The PG58 is defintely not as well isolated as the SM series. So with the mics running a little hot for quieter singers, there was some audible handling noise when singers put the mics back in the clips. However, during the performace, moving from hand to hand or changing position didn't seem to create any noticeable noise, so it worked out pretty well. You can feel it when you pick one of these up that they aren't as nice as the SLX series that I have. The plastic feels a little cheaper and they're definitely lighter, but all in all still have a quality feel to them.
I was a bit concerned going into this gig about the operating range of the mics. The PG2 receivers do not have external antenna, instead they use a pair of internal diversity antennas. With the receivers mounted in the rack, I was a little concerned about how they might perform. Well they did great. The bar is about 100 feet long from front door to the stage in the back and was packed with probably 60-70 people. One of my early singers decided to test the range and walked the full length of the bar. Not a bit of intermod or multi-path interference, no dropouts at all, just a solid performance the entire time. I was really impressed.
So far I'm very happy with my purchase. I got the 2 kits as Manufacturer Opened Box items from American Musical for $478 each. This makes them more than twice as expensive as the UHF-5800's I had, but to me they're worth every penny.
