Shure BLX Wireless Microphones - Are they really that bad?

[Simon Barz]

Hey guys,

I am in the market for some wireless handheld microphones for AV hire use. Mostly corporate gigs at smaller venues and no more than (4) mics at a time.

I've been doing some research and see a lot of negative comments from the pro community regarding Shure BLX. I don't know much about RF and was wondering if any of you all could help me understand if/why they are a poor option.

Thanks!

[Rick Reineke]

A friend of mine I help out occasionally for school plays and such has six of the BLX-4R receivers, four body-pack Tx w/ WS-93 mics and two H/H Tx w/ beta 58 heads. The BLX-4R receivers are metal and rack mountable. They have BNC antenna connectors and 12v 'line lump' power supplies. The plastic body-pack BLX-1 Tx seems pretty durable and has a TA-4 input connector. The SW93 lav mic ain't bad either, they're slightly smaller than a Tram TR50 and less than $100. I really have no sound quality or RF complaints, and they operate reliably in the northwest NYC burbs. I have no experience with the lower-priced BLX4, which is plastic and has an internal antenna. I think the SW-93 mic may be an up-grade option.

[canyouhearmenow]

I don't know if this applies also to the BLX series or not.

 

 https://www.shure.com/americas/support/find-an-answer/pgx-and-slx-wireless-audio-level-varies-more-than-expected

 

I give credit to Shure for explaining this openly in their forum.

 

This compression / expansion mismatch can be an issue with this technology.

Also it may or may not be  important in your in your applications.

Actually the dropoff is sometimes helpful to reduce feedback in live sound applications.

 

  

Mark