Wireless Microphones - what could go wrong?

Wireless microphones look very professional in the hands of an energetic performer moving seamlessly around the stage, without any cables following him. However, wireless microphones are also a nuisance to the live sound engineer. There is much more uncertainty to be had with wireless mics since they come with a bunch factors that can go wrong at any time.

Why should you use a wireless microphone?

If you are a performer it's more comfortable and professional looking to be able to walk around the stage without having to worry about getting tangled up in your mic cable.

Wireless mics have a professional look to them since they don't have that long black chord constantly slinking out of them.

So when you're performing as a host at a wedding, or singing at a big party, it's a good choice to have a wireless mic you can move around the stage with. It looks cooler and handles more comfortably.

What about us sound engineers?

Wireless microphones are a bit more of a hassle for us sound engineers. I've been working freelance for a sound reinforcement company for some time now and we're constantly needing to use wireless microphones for hosts, performers and singers wanting to move freely on stage. This particular company is a AKG dealer and we've been using their wireless line, like the AKG WMS450 wireless D5, which is a wireless version of their D5 dynamic microphone which I think is awesome.

Obviously we honor requests for wireless mics but we always get a tiny bit frustrated on the inside. Wireless microphones are just much more of a hassle for us.

With a normal microphone we only have to plug in the chord to the mixer, or stage box and we should be good to go, so long as the routing is right. But with wireless we have many more factors to worry about.

The transmitter and receiver communicating properly
That the singer doesn't run out of battery mid song.
Constant fear of radio interference that can weaken the signal and cause loss in quality.

These are all factors that should be easily taken care of - but for some reason - many times does goes wrong. Like Murphy's law states: "What can go wrong, will you wrong".

I've had wireless mics die on stage, I've had interruptions in the signal causing loss and I've forgotten new batteries on more than one occasion.

These problems are all things that when happen, make us look really bad. Nevermind that it might be caused by a random radio frequency interference we can do nothing about. Everybody blames us. Granted, being a forgetful sound engineer does not help when you are working with wireless mics because you NEED TO REMEMBER THE BATTERIES!

Weigh the cons against the coolness factor

I agree that wireless mics do look much better on stage and they have a professional look to them. Most of these mics also sound perfectly comparable to their plugged-in counterparts. It's just that when working in live sound you have to minimize the possibilities of something going wrong. Because in live sound, there's no undo button. If something goes wrong, most people are going to notice it. And everybody is going to blame you.

So if you really need to work with wireless mics, take the necessary precautions and preparations. And remember the batteries...

No need for wireless microphones? Check back to the live sound page

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