Microphones JTS wireless mic

[dooce]

Thanks to the very nice man who fixes the bands PA, I have just been trialling a new wireless mic and receiver made by JTS. It came about because I took some gear into his wonderful Aladdins cave of PA and general muso-stuff, got talking about mic-ing up saxes, and he told me about this gizmo that a distributor wanted him to try out. It's a tiny transmitter, not much bigger than a matchbox, that clips onto the bell, with a small boom mic. Tried it in rehearsal last night and was well impressed - excellent and consistent sound quality that is inherently a little "warmer" than the sound from an SM57, and so light and small you are just not aware of it. Clever bit if design also means you can unclip the transmitter from the mic and plug it into a guitar. I should be gigging with it in a few weeks so I'll see how it goes in that environment.

No idea yet what they cost, but JTS are not up amongst the Shures and Sennheisers with their product pricing for other items, so I am not expecting something unaffordable. I have absolutely no financial or any other interest in this whatsoever, I am only posting this up for general information. You can find out more here -
http://www.jts.com.tw/_english/02_products/03_detail.php?MainID=58&SID=60&ID=256

 

[saxnik]

Certainly looks ok - apparently selectable channels and what seems to be a choice of receiver make it far and away better than the Samson effort, though not sure I'll be trading my Shure belt-pack system in just yet!

Nick

 

[rhysonsax]

Looks very interesting - the price would be important for me. How can we find out what it would cost and what would a suitable receiver cost ?

Interesting that on the sound samples I couldn't hear any key noise at all - that makes me think that either it's got excellent isolation, the sax was incredibly well set up, or maybe it wasn't clipped on when the recordings were made. But I am only listening on little PC speakers, so maybe other people can hear a bit of noise.

How does the clip work Bill, and how easy would it be to do a quick changeover from tenor to alto ?

Rhys

PS Did you note that according to the filenames some of the samples were played on an auto sax ? That's what I need: one that plays itself !

 

[dooce]

Rhys - to be honest I've not listened to the samples and in a 10-piece band playing soul and funk, you wouldn't be worrying too much about whether it picks up key noise or not. As soon as I get the price I'll let you know. The guy I am dealing with is in Northampton and I've no idea if there are other distributors in the UK. The clamp is a bit of a struggle - it's a screw clamp so not an instant switch from one instrument to another. But the clamp slides out of the transmitter so you could buy a clamp for each instrument and just swap the transmitter.

 

[thomsax]

I think all JTS mics are priceworth. Here in Sweden is half the price comparing to Shure. A good way for the hobby player who don't want to spend to much money on the equipment.

On the link below I think some of the guys are using the JTS clip-on. It's Andrew Clark and Inside Straight (Swedish hobby band) playing the song " Home Cookin' ". I think it sounds ok? Very good PA at that place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84wJqTELn-Y

Thomas

 

[Two Voices]

I'd be very interested in getting one of these if the price is right. Could you let us know the supplier?

The idea of having a clamp set-up on very bell and just switching the transmitter sounds good as my current clamp can slip causing the mic to pop off if I move too aggressively :shocked:

Would the clamp be able to be placed near the keys on a straight Soprano as well as the bell? I always seem to need two mics on my Sop.

 

[compound]

Hey Thomas what a great band, great Tenor player's too, any chance of you getting in it?
Rob.

 

[dooce]

I think all JTS mics are priceworth. Here in Sweden is half the price comparing to Shure. A good way for the hobby player who don't want to spend to much money on the equipment.

On the link below I think some of the guys are using the JTS clip-on. It's Andrew Clark and Inside Straight (Swedish hobby band) playing the song " Home Cookin' ". I think it sounds ok? Very good PA at that place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84wJqTELn-Y

Thomas

I have to say I couldn't recognise any of the mics as the one I have - they all looked too big.

The singer certainly plays a mean tenor - not sure about his young side-man though.....

 

[dooce]

I've been playing with this for 3 rehearsals now - the AAA battery is just giving me warning signals. The guys in the band are impressed, and so am I. The transmitted sound continues to be good, acceptably softer than my usual hard-wired SM57 but nothing that can't be tweaked with a bit of EQ adjustment on the PA, mechanical noise is minimal, reception range is more than enough, the thing is so small and light you forget it's there - so I decided I would keep it if the dosh wasn't too scary. It's not scary at all. £179. So much cheaper than the commonly available systems, which run from £500 to over £1,000 that you wonder what's wrong with it. Whether or not it is up to full pro requirements I have no idea, but it certainly seems to work OK for me.

If anyone wants to try for themselves, the guy I am dealing with is at Phoenix Soundworks, Earls Barton, Northampton. The mic I am trialling is the only one he has had and at the moment he's waiting to hear when he'll get another shipment, so you might have to hold your breath for a bit.

 

[rhysonsax]

It's not scary at all. £179. So much cheaper than the commonly available systems, which run from £500 to over £1,000 that you wonder what's wrong with it. Whether or not it is up to full pro requirements I have no idea, but it certainly seems to work OK for me.

Thanks for the info Bill. Does that £179 exclude the receiver system, and do you know what one of them costs ?

Rhys

 

[zootsaxenberger]

I've been playing with this for 3 rehearsals now - the AAA battery is just giving me warning signals. The guys in the band are impressed, and so am I. The transmitted sound continues to be good, acceptably softer than my usual hard-wired SM57 but nothing that can't be tweaked with a bit of EQ adjustment on the PA, mechanical noise is minimal, reception range is more than enough, the thing is so small and light you forget it's there - so I decided I would keep it if the dosh wasn't too scary. It's not scary at all. £179. So much cheaper than the commonly available systems, which run from £500 to over £1,000 that you wonder what's wrong with it. Whether or not it is up to full pro requirements I have no idea, but it certainly seems to work OK for me.

If anyone wants to try for themselves, the guy I am dealing with is at Phoenix Soundworks, Earls Barton, Northampton. The mic I am trialling is the only one he has had and at the moment he's waiting to hear when he'll get another shipment, so you might have to hold your breath for a bit.

Hello Dooce.
I have been using the JTS Wired sax mic for nearly a year now and i can honestly say, i have been really pleased with it, i may well follow your lead and invest in the wireless version, thanks for the heads up!

 

[dooce]

Thanks for the info Bill. Does that £179 exclude the receiver system, and do you know what one of them costs ?

Rhys

Rhys, that is for the whole package - receiver, power supply and adaptor for plugging it into a guitar.

 

[Two Voices]

Thanks for letting us know!

 

[rhysonsax]

Saw a band in the pub last night and the sax player had a wireless mic (not a JTS) that really set him free. The sound was good as well and the clip let him move it between tenor and bari easily. I couldn't see what make and model his mic was, but it made me want to try going wireless.

I've just bought one of these JTS wireless mics on eBay for £189 from a shop in Sutton in Ashfield in Notts. Really looking forward to getting my hands on it now.

Rhys

 

[dooce]

Saw a band in the pub last night and the sax player had a wireless mic (not a JTS) that really set him free. The sound was good as well and the clip let him move it between tenor and bari easily. I couldn't see what make and model his mic was, but it made me want to try going wireless.

I've just bought one of these JTS wireless mics on eBay for £189 from a shop in Sutton in Ashfield in Notts. Really looking forward to getting my hands on it now.

Rhys

Get yourself a good supply of quality AAA batteries - it can munch through a cheap battery in about 4 hours, but Duracells etc. last about twice as long. Apart from that, still well chuffed with mine.

 

[rhysonsax]

Get yourself a good supply of quality AAA batteries - it can munch through a cheap battery in about 4 hours, but Duracells etc. last about twice as long. Apart from that, still well chuffed with mine.

I'll get the AAAs ready.

Here is the eBay advert for the one I bought. Can you explain what bit plugs into the PA mixing desk and receives the radio signal from the mic transmitter ?

I will also be interested to see whether the clamp is decent and whether I can do anything to make it good for quick changeovers between instruments.

Rhys

PS Was this (Hardy Smith Music) where you got yours from Dooce ?

 

[johnboy]

Sounds great. The only disadvantage for me, would be the lack of a volume control. I do like to be able to turn turn it up for solo's and down for backing. Also, down when checking for right key at Jam Sessions (saves getting egg all over my face ).

John.

 

[saxnik]

Re: Battery life - get yourself a quick charger and some NiMH (camera) rechargeable batteries. My wireless uses 2xAA's, and a full charge of a couple of hours on my 2700mAh set of four cells will last me in excess of 2x 10 hours! Much better and cheaper than disposing of Duracells all the time (although in fairness my rechargeables are Duracell I think..!).

Re: Volume control - I don't find the lack of these to be a problem, since my natural gig volume is pretty loud anyway, and if I play quiet to discover a key or whatever, I don't trouble the sound engineer with any audible level. You can always bend the gooseneck away from the sax if you need to drop the volume in a hurry.
Like Johnboy says though, 'wireless' doesn't always set you free, it just has a different set of challenges...

Hope this is useful!
Nick

 

[Filton]

RE Volume control, what about using a volume pedal - would give the added bonus of being able to fully mute too . .

 

[dooce]

I'll get the AAAs ready.

Here is the eBay advert for the one I bought. Can you explain what bit plugs into the PA mixing desk and receives the radio signal from the mic transmitter ?

I will also be interested to see whether the clamp is decent and whether I can do anything to make it good for quick changeovers between instruments.

Rhys

PS Was this (Hardy Smith Music) where you got yours from Dooce ?

Rhys - no, I got mine from a shop in Earls Barton near Northampton. 10 quid cheaper as well (sorry!). The transmitter has a mini jack-plug, onto which you clip the mic for the sax, or standard jack for guitar. Simples! I run mine through an effects pedal so I can mute it if required, but you can switch it on and off pretty quickly as well. The clip isn't good for quick changes but it is seperate from the transmitter - worth investigating a second clip on your other instrument so you can slide the transmitter off one and onto the other.