I am director of operations at an audio rental company. I want to better understand the needs of theatre companies large and small. We are thinking of purchasing a rack of 16 wireless body mics that would be a turnkey system. Just roll it in and plug it in. Is this something that theatre companies would rent? If so what would they be willing to pay for a week? Also would they prefer lav mics or over the ear face type mics? I am in no way trying to solicit business from this forum, I just want to see if this would add value to people like yourselves or not. Thanks so much for your time. Respectfully, Scott

I think that could be a winner for you. Don't go too cheap.

 

Consider mics that use AA batteries instead of 9 volt batteries. Many people consider it important to change batteries before every show. That can get mighty expensive with 9 volt batteries.

 

Professionals either hide a lav in the hair just above the forehead, or use a mic that hangs on the ear. I think it is a matter of personal preference and you may need to have both available. You may need to provide a couple extra mics to deal with failures. Also, extras may be needed to allow mics to be installed on the actors before the show and just swap bodypacks between actors as needed. You might also want to throw in a roll of surgical tape to allow mics to be tied down so they don't fall off or stress the fragile connections. You may want to have a contract that promises that you WILL charge for damages to the mics.

 

In keeping with your turn-key concept, you might want to have the outputs of the wireless mics appear at a multipole connector and provide a cable with a fan-out for them to connect to the mixer. Another option would involve providing a small 16-24 channel mixer that is preconnected to a cable that can be plugged into the wireless mic rack. This way you connect the mixer to the rack with a single connector plus the power cable. Then a pair of outputs to go to the sound system, plus another one or two aux feeds for separate monitor or assisted hearing mixes.

 

I'd think $1000-$1500 would be good for the mics and maybe an extra $100 for a relatively simple mixer to be included with the package.

    Thanks so much for your input, it was both well thought out and gave me direct answers. I am looking at sennheiser system that takes two double a batteries. I figured the rental would be around $1500 so your right on. The big decision is headset mics or lavs. If I get lavs I can rent to the hotels(They hardly ever use headsets) but I don't want to alienate theatre companies. The set up will come with a 16 channel xlr harness, a 24 channel mixing board will be optional. This investment will be aroung 15,000 so it's a big decision. With the recession I am concerned that theatre companies while they may need it, can they afford $1000-$1500.00