Samson Wireless Microphone System Comparison on Pro Acoustics Tech Talk Episode 12
On this week’s episode of Pro Acoustics Tech Talk, Nathan and Coltin are comparing 2 different analog wireless microphone systems from Samson while explaining what they are and how they work.
Everybody. Thanks for joining us for another edition of Pro Acoustics Tech Talk. I'm Nathan, I'm Coltin and we are here today to talk to you guys about a couple of analog wireless microphone systems from Samson. These happen to have headsets and we're going to show you some of the ins and outs on them.
Alrighty, Nathan. So, I have a lot of wireless systems sitting here in front of me and more in particular analog wireless. So, I've heard the old tale, the tape is where it all began as far as wireless goes. So, in this day and age, 2019, where is analog, you know, kind of falling in to play in the market. And why should you, or our customers like that over digital or which one would be better for them?
Gotcha. Yeah. So, there's a lot of talk about the difference between analog and digital wireless microphone technology. We have another video coming out about digital wireless with microphones. The point here is that analog versus digital is not necessarily better one way or the other. There are pros and cons of each. Digital sometimes makes it easier to find one open frequency, but sometimes not a ton of open frequencies. Sometimes sounds better, sometimes has shorter range. So, what we kind of want to try and instill here is that digital does not always mean good, but it doesn't always mean bad either. So wireless mics take a lot of different shapes and sizes. You know, there are the body pack transmitters that can plug into a headset. There's also the handheld transmitters that you guys are familiar with.
Then also body packs that can have, you know, clip on ear mics, you know, like you see the pastor on TV wearing or the lapel microphones like you see the guys on the news wearing or the guys on your favorite audio podcast wearing. And then you also have more of like the fitness style of headsets. So, there's a lot of different transmitter type options available with wireless mics. What's kind of important to know about any kind of wireless mic is a few key terms. Like this is what's called a diversity receiver. Diversity receivers basically have more than one antenna. That means that we certainly can't see what's going on with RF all the time in the world. Yeah. But, sometimes there could be an RF spike from a source or something like that that interferes with this antenna.
Diversity receivers are going to switch to the receiver that does not have interference habits whenever possible. So that's happening on both of these systems. Also, wireless mic systems sometimes have rack kits. This a Samson Concert 288 - ships with a 19-inch rack kit so it can install into a 19-inch server rack. Some don't. This Samson Airline 99 does not come with a rack kit. It's designed for a little bit different application. So, we can always help out with that and whatever accessories you might need to store your wireless mic, basically wherever you want it to be. Also, wireless microphone systems many times have multiple different outputs. Many have mic level, XLR outputs, also line level, quarter inch outputs many times. And then some like the Concert 288 also have a mixed output. That means sometimes if it's more than one wireless mic, it will actually blend those outputs out of that mixed output.
So, you can actually take your two wireless mics there, plug it into one channel, not just two or plug in both independently. It really does depend on your application, how many inputs you have available, that kind of thing. And we can always help with what wireless system is best for you. But on the topic of these different kinds of headsets, this Airline 99 is kind of cool, especially with fitness instructors and it's heating up. People are going to the gym, people are going to the pool, people are worried about their shape, their fitness and stuff. And, now is the time to learn more about this. So, this is very popular with fitness instructors because it does have a built-in transmitter on the headband. That means that this is your transmitter. They don't have to wear it on them when they're doing their class.
There's no body pack. Whereas this system has a separate body pack with a cable. That means that if you're a Zumba instructor, spin instructor, Yoga instructor, whatever you may be, this has to go somewhere on your body and you now have this cable that can interfere with you. And, that kind of form or fashion. Also, these systems are very useful for us in that the transmitter also is rechargeable, has a couple of little pins there where you can plug it into a charging dock so that there's a battery in here and you don't have to replace it with triple A's or double A's or nine volts or D batteries. And you can't even fit a D battery in this thing. But it saves you a fortune on batteries, more conventional wireless mic systems many times still accept double A's, triple A's, that kind of thing.
That's not to say that you can't necessarily put rechargeable batteries into wireless mic transmitters. You can do that in many cases depending on the manufacturer specs. But that is another cool way to save with your wireless systems.
So, with these different types of wireless, the other thing you're going to find on the frequency side of things is that they might have what's called different frequency bands. What's that mean? Frequency bands basically typically have a letter at the end of whatever model number. And that means that this wireless mic, if it's going to operate in the h band, is within this particular band of frequencies. K band may be over here. So if you think about the old days when you're listening to your FM radio in your car, you know, you might have stations that come in really, really clearly from like the nine hundreds to the nine twenties or something like that.
That's a frequency band group of frequencies. These particular wireless mic systems are also what's called multi-frequency. That means that you can actually change the frequency that these two pieces of hardware talking to one another. That's really good these days because there's a lot of stuff out there in the wireless world. So, if you turn this on and you find out on channel one, you've got interference from another unit, you can change that channel to a different frequency to get away from, you know, the HD broadcast of Dr. Phil or whatever, the wireless mic from the guy next door, you know, or the Steely Dan plan from the local HD radio station. You can get away from that kind of thing. So, Yep. So, once again, these are from Samson, couple of our favorite flavors from those guys.
Very cost effective. We're looking at approximately $349 on the Airline 99, $329ish on the Concert 288. There may some other time be promotions or whatever else. But as of taping, that's the kind of pricing we're ballpark. Yeah. And we also have high-end touring wireless mic systems that we can get for you as well as other packages to meet your budget. So, whatever it is, if you need a hand finding the most appropriate wireless mic for your application, give us a buzz. Let us know if we can help. You can always reach me at nathan@proacoustics.com. I'm coltin@proacoustics.com. That's Coltin with an i or give us a call on the 800 number. Talk to any of our talented reps. Everybody would love to help out. (888) 256-4112 or www.proacousticsusa.com. Share, like, YouTube, subscribe. You know, it helps us out a time drop a like.
And share this video around if you find it informative. And we hope to see you next time and continue supporting the audio industry in general and we'll see you later. Bye guys.