Microphone/speaker setup for small meeting?
April 12, 2024 4:22 PM Subscribe
I am hosting a 2-day meeting of 20 people at a hotel. We'll meet around a large table in one of the hotel conference rooms. What would I need to set up a simple sound system that would allow us to speak into a microphone and have the sound come through speakers enabling everyone to hear?
We held this meeting last year, and since many of us are in our 70s with failing hearing, several people asked that we have a sound system this year. The hotel has quoted us $600 for this setup, which is beyond our budget.
This will be a round-table discussion, so everyone would need microphone access, but we could share a mike between three or four people.
If I could do this for less than $150, I'd consider buying it. If not, I guess we would try to rent it somewhere.
We held this meeting last year, and since many of us are in our 70s with failing hearing, several people asked that we have a sound system this year. The hotel has quoted us $600 for this setup, which is beyond our budget.
This will be a round-table discussion, so everyone would need microphone access, but we could share a mike between three or four people.
If I could do this for less than $150, I'd consider buying it. If not, I guess we would try to rent it somewhere.
20 people, sharing microphones per 3-4, means you need a 6 or 8 channel PA system and microphones. So you ask an audio rental company for that. But yeah, many hotels will charge you for using an external vendor for A/V.
You can buy a small 4 or 6 channel system for $600 -- I'm thinking an 8 channel Mackie portable mixer for $150 or so, and one or two cheap powered monitors (Alto brand, on Amazon, has a $120 300-watt powered monitor speaker which would do the job, you'd be ok with using just one, since again, speech only). The powered speakers don't have to be that good if you're only amplifying speech for audibility, but having to buy six microphones and table stands and cables will put you over the hotel's $600 charge even for crappy mics.
Sounds like you also need someone to set it up and possibly stick around and run the system. That's where cost really goes up.
Truthfully $600 for the hotel system doesn't sound totally ridiculous to me compared to what I've seen hotels charge for conference AV. You might be able to hire an independent sound guy with his own system for less, but not a lot less. You could buy and set up your own system for about the same or a bit more and then own the stuff, but do you want to own the stuff afterwards?
posted by spitbull at 5:35 AM on April 13 [1 favorite]
You can buy a small 4 or 6 channel system for $600 -- I'm thinking an 8 channel Mackie portable mixer for $150 or so, and one or two cheap powered monitors (Alto brand, on Amazon, has a $120 300-watt powered monitor speaker which would do the job, you'd be ok with using just one, since again, speech only). The powered speakers don't have to be that good if you're only amplifying speech for audibility, but having to buy six microphones and table stands and cables will put you over the hotel's $600 charge even for crappy mics.
Sounds like you also need someone to set it up and possibly stick around and run the system. That's where cost really goes up.
Truthfully $600 for the hotel system doesn't sound totally ridiculous to me compared to what I've seen hotels charge for conference AV. You might be able to hire an independent sound guy with his own system for less, but not a lot less. You could buy and set up your own system for about the same or a bit more and then own the stuff, but do you want to own the stuff afterwards?
posted by spitbull at 5:35 AM on April 13 [1 favorite]
everyone would need microphone access, but we could share a mike between three or four people.
This is your barrier to doing what you'd like for cheap. Echoing adamrice and spitbull, unfortunately you're in kind of a weird in between position - that many mics requires too complex a system for me to feel comfortable just handing the equipment over to folks who haven't ever really used anything like it before, but $600 is not really enough to buy what you'd need or for my company (I work in A/V rental & event production) to deliver, set up, and operate the system for your event. (And I live and work in a low cost of living area.)
Hotel A/V definitely tends towards the extortionate, but depending on what they're providing $600 might be the best bang for your buck.
If it's way out of your budget, my suggestions would be:
1) Fish amongst the group for volunteers - is anyone in the group (or their children or grandchildren) a musician or someone with enough experience to at least set up a 5 to 6 microphone system for free if you rent the equipment? And/or actually owns the equipment and might be willing to provide it super cheap?
2) Change the meeting format - there's only 1 or 2 mics so people will have to take turns using it, but you can buy or rent something dead simple, like a karaoke machine or a Fender Passport (link to rental in Atlanta) or this Pyle powered speaker with microphone for somewhere around $100-$200.
3) no sound this year but next year include this cost into your budgeting.
4) Depends a lot of course on what kind of group this is and the purpose of the conference, but if having this multi-microphone setup is important to the group are they willing to chip in to defray the cost?
posted by soundguy99 at 8:29 AM on April 13 [4 favorites]
This is your barrier to doing what you'd like for cheap. Echoing adamrice and spitbull, unfortunately you're in kind of a weird in between position - that many mics requires too complex a system for me to feel comfortable just handing the equipment over to folks who haven't ever really used anything like it before, but $600 is not really enough to buy what you'd need or for my company (I work in A/V rental & event production) to deliver, set up, and operate the system for your event. (And I live and work in a low cost of living area.)
Hotel A/V definitely tends towards the extortionate, but depending on what they're providing $600 might be the best bang for your buck.
If it's way out of your budget, my suggestions would be:
1) Fish amongst the group for volunteers - is anyone in the group (or their children or grandchildren) a musician or someone with enough experience to at least set up a 5 to 6 microphone system for free if you rent the equipment? And/or actually owns the equipment and might be willing to provide it super cheap?
2) Change the meeting format - there's only 1 or 2 mics so people will have to take turns using it, but you can buy or rent something dead simple, like a karaoke machine or a Fender Passport (link to rental in Atlanta) or this Pyle powered speaker with microphone for somewhere around $100-$200.
3) no sound this year but next year include this cost into your budgeting.
4) Depends a lot of course on what kind of group this is and the purpose of the conference, but if having this multi-microphone setup is important to the group are they willing to chip in to defray the cost?
posted by soundguy99 at 8:29 AM on April 13 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone!
We decided to go with the hotel's setup and we were able to get them to reduce the price. We may do something different next year, but I think the improved sound will convince everyone that it's worth the additional cost.
posted by SallyHitMeOntheHead at 7:58 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]
We decided to go with the hotel's setup and we were able to get them to reduce the price. We may do something different next year, but I think the improved sound will convince everyone that it's worth the additional cost.
posted by SallyHitMeOntheHead at 7:58 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]
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Look for an AV rental place in your area. You'd be able to get away with the smallest, cheapest option they have. A Fender Passport is a handy, self-contained option, although if you want every 3 people to have a mic, it does not have enough inputs.
Another cheap option would be a karaoke machine. You'll probably get two wireless mics included, and you can hand them around. These are entertainingly garish, but they will work, and there are lots of options in your price range.
posted by adamrice at 5:15 PM on April 12 [2 favorites]