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I am with a very small school in western Montana.  we are looking to purchase individual microphones for our Drama Department.  Problem i know 0 about such equipment. Could someone give me advise as to where to look and what to look for ?  PLEASE  we have no equipment at this time, so starting from scratch.  

Hi there, Terry.  

I'm a long time theatrical sound designer with decades of working with schools and churches to make good decisions on equipment purchases.  When you say "personal microphones" I am going to assume you mean wireless microphone system with lavalier elements suitable for use in plays and musicals. 

The first thing to understand is that these systems are not cheap.  All in you will likely spend at least $800 per channel for good quality equipment.  Let me break it down for you.

There are three pieces to a wireless mic system.  First, there are the transmitter (usually a beltpack or handheld) and the receiver.  These are sold as a package, but can also be purchased individually.  Then there is the actual microphone element which plugs into the transmitter. And finally you likely need to provide external antennas and splitters for your system.

The key piece of advice I have for you is NOT to yield to the temptation to purchase the very cheap units you'll find on Amazon and elsewhere. Long experience has shown that they are a waste of money in the long run. You are going to get a lot of well meaning recommendations from people suggesting GTD and other cheap Chinese brands, or bottom of the line wireless like the Shure BLX. The recommendations are well meaning, but these are always a bad idea. They have very cheap, plastic construction, and poor quality radios. They don't have robust antennas needed for theater use. Remember that actors turn and put a body in between the transmitter and receiver.

The bottom line is that any wireless system that costs less than $600 per channel is not one that should be considered for school or community theaters. Period. Full Stop. Folks will argue. They will say "these work great for us" and maybe that is true. But hard won experience tells me that it's worth renting until you can afford to by quality equipment.  You want to look for all metal construction on the transmitter. You want a dual diversity receiver that has the ability to use an external antenna. A quality system will give you the ability to tune the systems to hundreds/thousands of possible frequencies.  Cheap systems may only give your 16 or 48 frequency options. I'm happy to chat with anyone looking to purchase wireless to help you make good decisions. I DO NOT sell equipment.

As for microphone elements, the Countryman B3 is pretty much the standard for theatrical use. They run something less than $200 each.  There are lots of very cheap elements ($25 - $50) on Amazon and they can be an acceptable alternative.  If you want to go that route I recommend buying one and testing it.  Make sure it sounds OK.  Make sure the cable is robust and long enough. Many are not.  If you find a good one, then buy double the number you need.  These products appear and disappear on Amazon often and you may not be able to get the same product a few weeks later.

You indicated you are in western Montana. it's always best to work with a local area vendor when purchasing equipment. I know that there is at least one production company in Missoula that would probably be willing to help you out.  I know there will be others in Billings. 

I'm happy to chat with you if you need more specific advice. 

kdl

I am with a very small school in western Montana.  we are looking to purchase individual microphones for our Drama Department.  Problem i know 0 about such equipment. Could someone give me advise as to where to look and what to look for ?  PLEASE  we have no equipment at this time, so starting from scratch.