Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing value for the price!
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2024
The PDP-2-1H1B wireless microphone system is amazing for the price. For $80, you get a handheld microphone, a bodypack transmitter, a receiver, a lavalier microphone AND a headset to use with the bodypack, 2 AA batteries, 2 audio adapters, windscreens for all 3 microphones, and a usb c cable that can charge the receiver and bodypack at the same time. If I had no experience with Phenyx Pro, my first reaction would be that the products must be junk in order for them to be so inexpensive. However, that is definitely not the case. The build quality feels good and sound quality is good as well. My church was able to use this product at a youth camp recently, and it performed very well!
This product operates in the 900MHz range. This is great because you don't have to worry about interference from wifi or other 2.4GHz wireless devices. It's possible you could still get interference in the 900MHz range, but there aren't as many devices out there that are operating in that range. The handheld receiver has 15 frequencies (channels 1-15) and the Bodypack has 15 separate frequencies (channels 16-30). Changing channels is super simple. On the bodypack, all you have to do is press the channel button. The receiver automatically switches to the new channel! For the handheld microphone, you have to unscrew the battery compartment to access the channel button. But, again, all you have to do is push the channel button to change the channel and the receiver automatically follows. I like that you can charge the bodypack and the receiver at the same time with the included double USB-C cable. It was a little hard for me to get rechargeable AA batteries out of the handheld transmitter, but maybe it will get a little easier over time.
The fact that there is only one receiver for two microphones is awesome! At the youth camp, we used a battery-powered speaker that only has two inputs. With the PDP-2-1H1B we were able to use the lavalier mic, the handheld, and a plug a guitar into the speaker and use all 3 at the same time! One downside to this configuration is that you have no way to change the volume on the bodypack and the handheld microphones individually. Phenyx Pro did a pretty good job at balancing the level all of the microphones. However, to get the handheld microphone as loud as the bodypack, I noticed you do have to hold it quite close to your mouth. Which again, it's better if you don't have to hold it right against your mouth.
Build quality: The handheld microphone feels like it's metal; it even sounds like metal when I hit my wedding ring against it. It's very light, but still feels solid. I found the mute/power button was kind of hard to push, but not a deal-breaker by any means. The bodypack feels very solid as well, and the buttons are very easy to press. The receiver is plastic, but the build quality is still very good for the price.
Sound quality: The overall sound quality is great. I love that the system is digital, because in general, digital is going to sound better than analog (especially cheap analog systems). The handheld microphone has good sound quality, I find it sounds the most natural if you hold it around 4 inches away from your mouth. If you hold it much closer than that, it gets really bassy and has more plosives and sibiliance (although the windscreen can help with those problems some). You could also reduce low frequencies if you have that capability with a mixer or a powered speaker. I was also pleasantly surprised at the sound quality of the bodypack with the lavalier and headset microphones. I did find that cutting a few db around 1KHz helped the bodypack sound a little more natural. However, it is more than usable "as-is" for small events, etc.
Noise floor: I hooked the PDP receiver up to an audio interface and listened to it on my computer. I found that the system does introduce a higher noise floor versus using a standard wired microphone. It didn't matter whether I used the bodypack, the handheld microphone, or both, the noise floor was the same. Because of this, I would probably not use it for any podcast or music recordings. It's not a bad noise, just standard noise floor sound. And, it's virtually unnoticeable in a live setting.
Noise handling:
I would say the handheld microphone is fairly average when it comes to noise handling. I noticed when I would tap my wedding ring against the body of the microphone, it would produce a loud sound through the system. Other than that, it's not too bad. It also does make a fairly loud audible noise that can be heard through the receiver when the mute/power button is pressed. I don't think this would be a major problem unless you needed absolute silence for some reason (ie a funeral or something). I was very surprised with how little handling noise the lavalier and headset mics have. You can tap around the bodypack, up by the microphone, and even on the headset with little noise. There's very little noise unless you tap right on the lavalier/headset mics, which is to be expected.
Range: Unfortunately, I didn't think to test the range when we used it for the youth camp. Both the handheld microphone and the bodypack worked fine when I went upstairs in my house though. I also have the handheld PDP-1 handheld microphone, and when I tested it, it cut out when I went very far outside of my house. Just to be safe, I would recommend staying within 30 feet or so of the receiver with any these kind of portable systems. You definitely want to have no obstructions between the microphones and the receiver if you are going to try to use any kind of system like this very far away.
Battery life: So far, I have had the bodypack and the receiver on and connected for more than 4 hours. I'll provide an update on this later.