Phenyx ProTrue Diversity Wireless Microphone System w/ 1000 Tunable Channels, Single Cordless Mic Set w/Auto Scan, UHF Professional Dynamic Microphone for Singing, Stage & Studio (PTU-1U)

Overall Value: 5At $186, this is probably one of the best "bang for your buck" budget wireless microphones. You can get two of these systems for just a little more than an entry level Shure or Sennheiser wireless microphone system. The PTU-1U/2U series microphones have metal microphones and metal receivers. The budget Shure and Sennheiser systems I believe are plastic all around.Sound Quality: 4I first tested this system plugged into a powered PA speaker. It sounded quite good right out of the box with no eq applied. I then plugged the microphone system into my computer to do some recording. I compared the sound quality to Phenyx Pro's low-end PDP series, and the PTU-1U microphone definitely sounds more rich. There was slightly more background white noise than the PDP series, but that is because the PDP series is digital. Digital systems will almost always have less noise than analog systems. But, again, using the PTU-1U with a live PA wouldn't be a problem at all. Even if you were recording a live event, the background/white noise shouldn't be a problem. One thing to note is that there is a noticeable clicking noise when you mute the microphone. The handling noise isn't great or bad, but somewhere in between. And lastly, the PTU-1U performed fairly well outside in the wind, even without a wind screen.Build Quality: 5The receiver is metal and looks very professional. The microphone itself is metal and is built like a tank. It's fairly heavy, so some people might find it tiresome to use for long periods. But, I personally like it.Wireless Performance/Range: 4I tested the PTU-1U microphone in my house and recorded it on my computer. I noticed with the transmitter power level set to high, there was a couple of times there was a buzz when very close to the receiver. Once I moved to another room, I never heard the buzz again. If you're going to be using the microphone at very close range, I would recommend setting the transmit power to low. The switch for this can be found under the battery cover. I then went outside and behind my garage. This was at least 50 feet away, with several walls in between the microphone and receiver. With the squelch setting set on 1, I only heard the microphone cut out briefly one time. There was noticeably more static noise when speaking into the microphone from that distance. However, it really wasn't very distracting, and if you were using the system live with a PA system, I doubt you would even notice. I turned the squelch setting up to as high as it would go and tested again. This time, there were many dropouts once I was far away from the receiver. So, for most cases, I would recommend keeping the squelch at 1. If you're in an RF-crowded environment and it's hard to get a clear channel, that is where increasing the squelch may be of benefit.Usability: 4Some good things in this section are that there's a channel auto-scan feature and the microphone automatically changes to the receiver frequency just by holding it up to the receiver. A couple negatives are that the microphone LCD is hard to read outdoors, and the microphone can only be muted/unmuted when the LCD screen is on. This means that normally to mute/unmute the microphone, you have to push the button on the bottom of the microphone twice. The first time you press the button, the screen turns on. Then the second time you press the button, it mutes/unmutes the mic. To me, this is probably the biggest negative of the whole microphone system. In our church, several different people mute/unmute microphones to use them during service. It would be fairly difficult to train everyone how to mute/unmute the PTU-1U because of how the process works. If you just want the sound person to mute/unmute microphones from the mixer, this wouldn't be a problem.Included Accessories: 4.5This microphone system comes with a mounting kit, antennas, 2 AA batteries, a 1/4 TS cable, a power supply, and a nice carrying case. It would have been nicer if an XLR cable was included instead of the 1/4" TS cable. But, I don't think many wireless systems come with an audio cable at all. I was surprised a wind screen wasn't included, but that's not too big of a deal in my opinion.

You could say I have a lot of microphones. You could also say I know a bit about RF, as I've made a career out of it, including a lot of antenna design and construction. I'm also a semi-pro musician and sound guy and recordist with a few decades of experience. No illusions, this isn't a $2k Sennheiser or Shure unit, but if you just want a standard wireless mic that feels good in the hand for general PA (speaking) use, you should consider it. In my application, a medium-sized class reunion in a large hall, it performed flawlessly. The required range was well over 100', perhaps 140' at the farthest I tested it, and I never noted any noise or dropouts throughout the event. The diversity receiver indicates when it changes between RF front ends, and it does so silently with grace. The power/mute control on the bottom of the mic is nicely out of the way of stray fingers, and the display only lights up on the hand-held for a few seconds when you change modes to conserve battery. Speaking of that, we had it running throughout the event, maybe 5 hours, with plenty of battery left, so it's not a current hog. As to interference, we did not experience any, but there is an RF level meter - you can easily change channels if you see any RF activity (with the handheld turned off, of course) and choose another, quieter channel. Pairing to a new channel is easy enough with the infrared pairing process (read the manual). If that is not enough gig security for you, invest $60 in one of the handy "tinySA" spectrum analyzers and make a sweep of the 500-600 MHz band at your venue before your event. That will tell you exactly where to drop in your wireless mic frequency to avoid nearby signals. Since we did not have any local activity on the frequency I was using (mid-band), I cannot speak to the possible intermodulation (interference from nearby channels) performance of this unit. I did however run the included antennas over a calibrated R&S Network Analyzer and both antennas are tuned resonant where they should be. :) This is key to any transmitters performance and yet some manufacturers go cheap on "close enough" antennas.The only real down sides I found were two fold -1. audio quality. This mic is bass-rich. Easy to EQ out, but it is a little lumpy in the bass region. This will make a lot of presenters sound more authoritative, but it's too warm on many voices. It also really exaggerates the plosives, so plan to use a foam windscreen. The downside to that is the foam will cut some highs, which are not all that present in the mic to start with.2. Some handling noise is definitely present. The mic capsule is not well isolated from the body, however this is pretty typical in lower-priced microphones, so no surprise there.I wanted to add a little foam inside the windscreen, but when I removed it the capsule stays within it by design. I might yet find a way in if I am careful and place a little extra foam in there to help with plosives.Overall a decent presentation mic, no latency that I could discern and reasonable performance for the price-point. I'd buy it again for any similar gig. By the way, the receive antennas are supposed to be 1/2 wavelength apart for maximum benefit from the True Diversity receiver. Here's a hint: in the 500-600 MHz band, that's around 25cm or 10". Leave the antennas parallel and vertical, and orient them so they are both in-line with the hand-held transmitter (not perpendicular). That means if you are looking at the front panel of the receiver straight on, the talent is far to your left or right, not behind the receiver. It seems counterintuitive until you analyze it....That will give the receiver the ability to listen to at least one antenna that's in a peak rather than a null, as they occur in free space every 10" (1/2 wavelength), in a circular pattern around the transmitter. If you see your talent at a distance directly BEHIND the receiver (or in front), both antennas will see the same null at the same time, which does not give you protection against dropouts. The idea is that at any time one antenna NEEDS to be radially 10" farther away from (or closer to) the talent than the other for this idea to work well . Little things make a difference, and understanding breeds success, even on a budget.