Steve Inman wrote:I attended a sound reinforcement seminar many years back where the 9V battery question came up regarding wireless microphones. The advice: put in a brand new one at the start of every event and throw it away afterward.
In critical performance situations there is no other way to go. I worked as an actor for several years with a theatre company using Senheiser wireless mics. Every night the stage manager would come and put fresh ones in and throw out the old. Never a problem, except on the rare occasion that one got forgotten...in which case, the performance (of the mic and the show) both suffered. We tried rechargables but they just didn't seem to be reliable enough to last each night in every pack...some would...some wouldn't...and audience members don't really want to lose dialogue or music during the show (especially at the end), or hear excuses when they point out for their $50 tickets that they had to deal with poor sound.
On a non-battery related note, the body packs that held the batteries and transmitters were usually strapped to the small of our backs...the same place where all your sweat wants to drain while under the hot stage lights. The solution? After replacing the batteries each night, the stage manager would place a
condom on the pack, thus protecting it from the actor's bodily fluids. Funnier still, the aforementioned stage manager was a very attractive young female. One time while picking up
100 condoms at the local Walgreens, the cashier looked at her and said, "You must be
really popular!"
