Is the Shure wh20xlr a good microphone?

[Toril S]

Hello friends! I have decided to buy a cabled headset mic. My dealer can provide the Shure wh20xlr. I will be using it with me keyboards for singing and reading. The sound will go through my keyboard.

[MarkF_48]

I have one, but not for use with a keyboard. Being a passive dynamic mic it needs a lot of gain from whatever you plug it into. For comparison an sm57/58 has a sensitivity of 1.6mv/PA (mv/PA is the signal in millivolts at a given sound pressure for specified distance). the WH20XLR has a sensitivity of 0.45mv/PA which is much less than the SM57/58. For my application plugged directly into a powered PA speaker I found I needed the gain quite high at which point the PA started to have some noise from the high gain setting. The mic seemed to be better if I put it through a small mixer first before sending it to the PA. I have no idea if the gain of a keyboard would be sufficient to amplify this mic very well (your Tyros is the only keyboard with an XLR mic input?). Besides the the mic having a low output I didn't find this particular headset mic very comfortable to wear for extended periods, perhaps partially because I wear glasses and the way the mic is placed on ones head. Wearing a headset mic, besides amplifying your speaking and singing to an audience, the audience also may have the pleasure of hearing coughs, sneezes, or other sounds that you could normally just move away from a regular stand mounted mic to avoid. In the end I just went back to a stand mounted mic.

[Toril S]

Thanks MarkF!!

[Normanfernandez]

How good are the SM 58 for singing and Podcast?
I'm certainly planning to get it.
I'm confused between Sm58  and Audio Technica 2035.

So it's basically Dynamic vs Condenser

[Toril S]

For a condenser you need phantom power. You have that on your Focusrite, but not on the keyboard.

[Normanfernandez]

For a condenser you need phantom power. You have that on your Focusrite, but not on the keyboard.

I'm only worried about Sound Quality

[DonM]

I had the Shure WX20 and wasn't really pleased with it.
I now have the Shure SM35 and love it.  It sounds very much like the Shure Beta 58 and is clearer and more detailed that the 20 or the SM58.
Is is way more comfortable than the Crown, and I actually prefer the sound of the SM35 as well.
It does take phantom power. 

[DrakeM]

I use the WH20 headset with a 1/4 plug and post songs here online about once a week. All of the recordings are made using the WH20 mic and the keyboards built in recorder. My experience with the mic is it works perfectly for recording and great for my live gigs. The mic is wired to the keyboard and I use an additional 4 foot extension cable. 

It picks up my vocal every time, it never drops out. The VH2 backup vocals are there in the recordings you can hear for yourself, they also are never an issue for dropping out either.

As far as power, I run my keyboard into a Maui 5 speaker system and the MASTER volume is at about 55 percent. I have plenty of extra additional volume power. I set the keyboard's master volume at 75 percent, as that is about as loud as the keyboard's speakers can handle (IMO) safely.

I have cranked up the Maui 5 to max volume and with the set up I use and none of the Warning over MAXing  lights came on.

It's just a matter of balancing the music coming out the keyboard to the volume of your vocals.  I have the keyboard's MASTER style volume set at 70 percent (not the 100 default).

Yep, it works fine for me.

Regards
Drake 

[Toril S]

Thanks Don and Drake!

[Toril S]

UPDATE: I waited 4 months for this mic. It came today! For me this is a great solution! I intend to use it on my keyboard when singing, and on the Bose, when reading. Yes, it is a little weird when you use glasses, but I think I can get used to that. It is lightweight. The only minus is that the cable is way too short! But I guess you are meant to use an extension cable.
Drake, you sound so fine through that mic, so I would be glad if you suggested some mic settings. I have tested it on the T5, but not on my 975 yet.
Sadly, there was no great artist voice to be purchased with the mic I have also tried with the Bose, and it sounded OK.
So, I think I am happy, microphones still scare me, but I will fight that!

[DrakeM]

Hi Toril

Here is a link to pictures for my Mic setting pages and the EQ setting I use.

https://app.box.com/s/2dbn8m5vf6duxygppicc4vzyv6o93348

On the back of my Keyboard next to where I plug in my mic chord is a knob labeled "INPUT VOLUME". I have that knob turned all the way up.

Here are links showing how you can set up your backup singers.
Demonstration of Tyros 5 Vocal Harmony: Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS-2NCQRbhA

Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Zp2UyNxMk

Regards
Drake

[Toril S]

Thanks a lot Drake! Much appreciated!