Wireless Bodypack for Lapel Mic

[John-Paul McMahon]

I understand a large amount of Hebrew and there's always lexicons and concordances for Greek. As for Aramaic, I have an Aramaic interlinear Bible. We have the tools to look at the translations in this day and age.

My own studies of scripture have revealed a horrible amount of doctrinal bias in translation in most Bible versions. The KJV for example, as excellent as it is, has some major errors and renders God's mitzvot, mishpatim and Torah as commandments, statutes and law. This horribly misrepresents God's character as something closer to the English monarch James I. The word Torah for example is more accurately translated 'teaching and instruction' than law.

The teaching and instruction of a loving Father has been distorted into something that people feel oppressed by. I once heard someone say that to translate Torah as 'law' would be like using the word disciplinarian rather than father.

This leads to the horrible theology that the law was oppressive or bondage and was 'done away with' and nailed to Jesus' cross. I understand the verses that lead to this confusion but they are divorced from their proper context.

I can't recommend this video highly enough as a good starting point in understanding the Word as it was written and not as the horrible butchered mess that the post-catholic world has been passed on by their fathers:

Grace, Faith, and & Obedience: Understanding the Relationship - 119 Ministries - YouTube

I totally agree over contemporary 'Christian' music. It's nothing other than worldly garbage.

Thanks again for your input and apologies to other forum users for taking this thread off topic.

[Paul R Johnson]

The headset John linked to is very similar to the Chinese ones I mentioned that are disposable, and they are in fact not that bad at all! They are a little flimsy, and the cable is not too tough, but with care, they're capable of quite good audio.

Make sure you adjust them properly - the mic element itself needs to be just behind the edge of your mouth when you are speaking - they blast quite loudly with even a gentle stream of air, so having them just behind the mouth will work pretty well - a bit of gentle eq and you are away!

[John-Paul McMahon]

Ah, thank you. I will bear that in mind when it arrives.

[Jon Fairhurst]

One approach is to use a wireless lavalier for the pastor(s) who might move about and to have a microphone stand for occasional speakers. It's easy to grab the stand and place it as needed and move it off to the side when not needed. That avoids the preaching-from-on-high-lectern problem.

For hard of hearing members, consider rechargeable wireless headphones. That allows them to crank up their volume while you keep the front-of-house volume at moderate levels to avoid feedback.

Personally, I prefer omni lavs to cardioid lavs. Cardiods work great when aimed properly, but if one shifts during the service, you can have a technical problem at the wrong time.

Regarding quality, my wife used to use an AT803b and a wire. It was affordable and workable. The quality was adequate for live use. For recording YouTube videos, I think the quality is too low. Audiences have different perceptions and expectations regarding live events vs. recordings.

[Jon Fairhurst]

BTW, these are the wireless headphones used:

Amazon.com: Sennheiser RS120 On-Ear Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Dock: Electronics

They worked well, but it was a small church. In a large church, you might need to put the transmitter near the person's favorite pew.

The big advantage was in keeping the house volume low enough to avoid resonance and feedback while providing loud audio for those who need it. Not all appreciated it though. One gentleman in particular was no longer able to ignore the service. ;)

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by John-Paul McMahon

I am the pastor of a church. It is for when speakers speak

We used the Canford converter today and it works. The lavalier microphone is not up to par as expected.

I have ordered this as a temporary measure, until we can afford a decent headset mic:

chord 171.857 Neckband Wireless Microphone Headset: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

I don't expect any awe inspiring quality but with the mic being in front of the mouth, it should be good enough for now.

We can throw some cash at it in the future when it's not such a pressing issue to get any workable solution in place (there is a deaf woman in the congregation and her hearing aid picks up the speakers much better than just a speaker talking).

It was buying the lavalier that triggered this. If I'd known it needed to be powered, I would have gone about this differently.

The wireless option was a poor choice because it was far too expensive.

We basically just want a mic to play the speaker's voice out of the PA.

ALL tie mics need powering of some sort. The Canford adaptor you have is the most cost-effective solution - you made the right choice there.

The headmic. you linked to is pretty cheap, but should do the job (the industry standard DPA nd Sennheiser headmics are in the region of £2-300).

The advantage of a headmic is that it keeps the mic. a constant distance from the mouth and avoids sound changes due to head movement.

John-Paul - if you have any questions please feel free to send me a PM - I am in the UK and am well acquainted with sound systems for churches - I supplied and installed the system (with 16-channel Soundcraft mixer) into my own church.


And - lots of churches in the UK now have orchestral groups of some sort playing at services - it's great.

[Greg Miller]

I have attended a few services with orchestral instruments augmenting (or replacing) the organ. Anything from one harp for Ceremony of Carols, to a trumpet to play descants, to a chamber orchestra for works like Handel's Messiah. Yes, if the music is good to begin with, and some classical instruments are used (or added) tastefully, the result can be beautiful. I would love to hear more of that, John.

What I do not like are the rock'n'roll "church services" where one needs earplugs to avoid hearing damage. I can't imagine that God wants us to deafen ourselves, especially while in His house. I was asked to consult on the sound system for one such venue, and when I heard the mic'ed drum set behind plexiglass isolation panels, I declined the job. I knew I just couldn't make myself do it. Just a personal opinion. I suppose, sadly, that some people can relate to rock'n'religion better than they can to Handel, Bach, or Britten. More's the pity.

[John-Paul McMahon]

Thank you for all the advice guys.

The headset mic seems to work great. It may not be very durable, but it has provided the immediate solution that we needed.

The cardoid lavalier was not suitable because we often teach from a screen next to us and head movement really disrupts the sound. We should have gotten a omni-directional one but lessons have been learned.

The lady who we are concerned with was able to hear the last service perfectly.

Greg, I agree, I think that a lot of worship has become entirely man-centric and it's all about triggering an emotional response. The Creator is not the centre of a lot of modern worship. I also love Handel's Messiah.

John, thank you for the kind offer of assistance. I will certainly bear that in mind as our needs develop.

[John Willett]

To quote Larry Norman:- "Why should the Devil have all the good music?"