Best Karaoke Microphone 2018
As mentioned in our Karaoke Kingdom Post, one of the most important parts of Karaoke is the magic of handing a microphone to the general public – your karaoke customers – and witnessing the beauty that follows! We give you the rundown of the best karaoke microphones on the market. Suffice to say you’re going to need a Karaoke mixer to connect them to. The criteria for the best Karaoke microphone isn’t a particularly long list, but it *must* have these properties if its going to contribute to a successful Karaoke night. The following list all have these properties:
- Well built
- Great value for money
- Decent sound quality
In all fairness, these are the qualities we look for in pretty much all the audio gear we buy – but thats a story for another day!
1. Shure PGA48 & PGA58
The Shure PG ALTA series (gratefully abbreviated to PGA) have all the makings of the best karaoke microphone. They are far from bank busting, and offer a sound quality suspiciously like their big-brother; SM58. The PGA58 also features a switch on the body itself, meaning you can mute the microphone without having to mess with the sound desk – especially handy in situations where you’re running the Karaoke night on your own. It also has the lowest body handling noise in this price range too, so if people are ‘handsy’ with the mic at least you won’t hear the bumbling about though the speakers. The PGA series also features the uber cheap PGA48, again with a switch and specifically designed with Karaoke and speech users in mind; it ships with a cable, pouch and a mic clip, all for the bargain price of £40!
2. Shure SM58 Corded Mic
Well what can I actually say in a paragraph that could possibly justify the legend that is the Shure SM58. Let’s start with the fact that they are the best selling microphone in the world. It’s a pretty safe bet to say if you walked into a live music venue, the mic you’d see sat in its clip front and centre of the stage is the durable and able SM58. Artists like Roger Daltry, Run-DMC, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen can’t all be wrong. There are posters and videos worldwide with SM58’s featured in the hands of your favourite celebrities. It’s an awesome thing to have that same mic ready for your Karaoke customers, and for it to still cost less than £100, which is why it made our list for the best karaoke microphone.
Click here to buy the Shure SM58
Theres a version with a switch! Click here to buy the SM58S
3. Shure BLX288 with PG58 Twin Wireless Kit
I’m personally thankful to the wireless gods – they have spared us from the insanity of constantly untwisting and unwinding and unwrapping mic cables on a minute-by-minute basis. One Karaoke bugbear of mine is the fact that a couple dozen people use a Karaoke microphone per night; they all put the mic back on the stand the same way, and the cable gets twisted…. And twisted…. And… well you get the point. Shure’s BLX family of wireless microphones includes this twin beauty, meaning one receiver can handle two microphones. They have a great working range (Shure boast 91 metres so at normal range of 10-15 metres tops this is perfect!) They also have selectable frequency groups to make it easier to find a new channel, should you ever stumble into any interference.
Click here to buy the Shure PG58 Twin Mic Kit
4. W-Audio RM Quartet 4-way microphone kit
W-Audio’s RM Quartet consists of no less than 4 wireless microphones all linked back to one receiver. The mics are colour coded to the receiver making it easy to identify who has what microphone and all times, too. Talking of the receiver, the solid 19” design makes it easy to screw into a rack or case for transport and portability. Each mic channel has a XLR output to connect to separate channels of a mixer (check our post here for recommended Karaoke mixers) or has a single 6.3mm jack output which gives you a 4-mic mix built in if you only have a single mic input free on a DJ mixer, for example. The unit also features a handy 5V USB socket at the rear which you can recharge your mics from!
Click here to buy the RM Quartet Quad Wireless Mic Kit
5. Sennheiser E835
Sennheiser’s E835 is probably just about as legendary as the SM58 previously mentioned. Sennheiser’s legendary attention to sound combined with their German build qualifies it as a contender for the best karaoke microphone. The E835 is a dynamic, German made microphone features a true shock mount capsule meaning body and handling noise is minimal. The 10 year warranty covers pretty much everything.. apart from theft, loss and abuse! You can opt for a switched or non-switched version; both are the same price! The E835 eliminate background noise well, which is great if you’ve got a pair of karaoke singers stood closely together as you’ll only be controlling the person who’s singing directly into the microphone! Win!
