4.0 de 5 estrellas
Other than the detached ch1 antenna, Good, but...
Reseñado en los Estados Unidos el 23 de diciembre de 2020
Audio quality is pretty good, not great, but considering it's fixed channel UHF, it's good. All 4 channels suffer from very minor and intermitted noise - but then, I didn't buy a digital wireless system - worth dealing with it for the price.
I originally was going to purchased a "reconditioned" set, but then realized I was paying more than "new" after taxes, and only $15 differece, so went with the new one - turns out I didn't owe taxes on the new one, so it was *less expensive*
The box arrived in great condition, not even any dents in it. The contents was well padded. Phenyx included 2 silicone mic rings - one orange, one blue, unexpected and nice - saved me $7.
HOWEVER:
The Channel 1 transmitter came with a detached antenna. As in broken. It was packaged into the retail box broken. That complete and utter failure on quality control concerns me. It's a failure to catch the bad solder connection, as well as a failure for whomever packed to catch the obviously broken and detached antenna. The unit still works, albeit with more noise than the others. I'm also concerned the antenna on the ch2 unit may just fall out.
Quality of the handheld units is less than exciting too. The battery compartment cover on one of them is very difficult to remove and reinstall. The other much easier. I did manage to get batteries in both, and reassembled. Speaking of batteries, it's quite obvious these were never tested with batteries in the factory - inserting the first battery in each was not a simple slide-in operation, there was a tightness and a tactile pop when pushing it in. The battery was then freely (re)movable, so I guess that's OK.
As for design:
The base unit has 4 feet which must be removed for rack mounting with anything in the RU directly below it - not uncommong, but the feet are difficult to remove.
The power button and per-unit volume knobs are well made, actuate nicely. The XLR connectors are snug, but not too tight - operate very nicely. The 1/4" jack is snug, against the plug, however there's play in the insertion, where the plug can be pushed in a mm or two more, but is pushed back out that far again. The antenna shunts are nice, with the option for 2 different size mounts. The antennas are pretty nice, basic rabbit ears, but thread on the connectors properly and securely, and bend at the hinge nicely - not too tight but not loose either. The rack ears on the unit seem mismatched - the edges are parallel with other equipment, but the screw holes are offset on both sides towards the right.
The display is "pretty" but cheap - just a green light panel with transparencies with channel/freq info in black - this applies to the two handheld mics as well the base unit. Honestly, it probably kept the cost down by $50 since there's no logic going into the light panels. It works. Just found it amusing.
The power buttons on the Ch1&2 units isn't the greatest, in fact the whole unit feels cheap, but yet somewhat sturdy. Considering these will be worn by clergy and not a bar band, they should last a while (other than the ch1 antenna being detached on arrival) The power buttons on the handhelds aren't in an obvious location, but are in a great location to keep them from being pressed accidentally - I would had preferred a slide switch however, but these aren't bad, and operate well. The mini-XLR connection between the lapel and headset mics and the transmitters seems loose, but is secure - this is the first time I've ever used these, and so may be standard fitting. (I'm also not positive they're mini XLR, as they appear smaller in comparison to XLR than images I've seen of XLR/mini XLR.)
I am quite sad with the use of a rather small DC jack and plug, with the absence of any kind of locking or holding mechanism. The connection is secure enough to hold the plug in place, but it did pull out while I was routing the wire. This is probably easily enough fixed with a piece of gaffer's tape if it does become an issue however.
The front display on the unit is clean, clear (in visual and understanding) Each channel has a unit power/connected light (top) and a channel activity light (bottom) when the unit is sending data.
The base unit has the 4 per-channel XLR outs, as well as the 1/4" aggregated out - I was expecting these to be an either-or, however after playing with the unit, it will output to both XLR and 1/4" at the same time - I could see this being useful in some cases.
I bought this for my church as we're upgrading equipment in steps to have better audio for our streaming services. It's a good little unit - great considering the price, 4 units and base for under $200! I expect to be replacing the unit with a digital unit by summer 2022 - so if it lasts 18 months, that would be wonderful! It's replacing 2 wireless mics, and adding a third to our normal use situation. After looking at other 2-mic units, and reading reviews for this one, with the price differences - I chose this unit. So far, I'm mostly happy with it - I would be ecstatic about it had the ch1 transmitter not come broken however.
The included batteries aren't the best, and honestly wish the units were rechagable, but again, for $200, can't complain too much. I will be buying Energizer lithium for the ch1&2 units, however. Probably not worth it for the handhelds as they're used for maybe 15 minutes a month.
My overall recommendation:
Buy it for mild, less harsh environments - Churches, bingo halls, home studios, maybe for mobile DJ / karaoke setups. Buy it where there's no interference in the 530-580 frequencies. Buy it for situations where it'll get light use, maybe a couple hours a week. Remember, it has AA batteries which will need to be replaced every 8-20 hours of use (depending on active transmits, battery type, etc)
DO NOT BUY IT IF: you're a bar / bar band, in a heavily UHF 530-580 polluted area, for use with children or where high durability is required, or if you're looking for perfect audio 100% of the time - Phenyx does have higher tier products that will probably be much more suitable for these use cases.
Audio equipment is usually one of those things you want to put as much money into for quality and durability as you possibly can for the features you need. In this case, the 4 channels of mics should be the deciding factor, not the build quality of the mics/transmitters. They're good, but I can't see them taking a lot of abuse.
Lessons I've learned from this purchase:
Fixed frequencies are meh
Digital transmitters would be nicer I think
AA powered mics are meh - I'd love to see USB rechargeable mics - preferably with 18650 batteries
Buy a unit with remote wired antennas for rack mounting scenarios - the antennas are in the rear and due to rack placement, not at optimal angles, though with UHF being mostly non directional, they're OK - wall mounted antennas would be nicer, thankfully this is a potential upgrade (if I can find 555hz antennas or a kit these will work with.
A base unit with a proper pre-amp would also be nice so I didn't have to push the gain up so high on my mixer - even with volume on high for each channel on the base unit.
Cheap mics work, but better mics with a wider pickup range would be more suitable.
Good luck! :)
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