I used my Shure BLX last night at a 50th birthday party. There was about 8 or 9 different speeches at this party.
The only issue I had with it was when the father of the birthday lady(She turned 50) (He must have been in his early 70s) gave a speech. He put the mic on his chin and was talking right into it. I was getting static while he was talking. I had to turn the gain down fairly low, and even then, I was still getting the static. It's not a mic that is meant to be yelled into, or talked right into. It's sensitive enough that it usually picks up speech makers pretty well. However, it's not quite as good as my older Shure PGX is. It also feels a bit cheaper as it's not as sturdy of a mic.
With that said. I think it's fine for wedding speech use, and for ceremonies. Just need the person using it to talk normally, and not have their mouth practically eating the mic!
Also, I don't agree with the notion that a DJ should spend $1,000+ on a microphone for complete strangers to use to make speeches with at weddings and parties. What if someone drops the mic and breaks it? What if one person decides to yell into the mic or pound on it, and damages it? ...Good Luck getting the client or guest to pay $1,000 for a replacement or whatever the microphone portion of the system costs!
I can assure you, the client won't believe the mic costs that much, and won't want to pay for it. Then you would wish you were using a cheaper mic!
The main reason these mic systems really cost more generally speaking is because they have a higher level of technology, and are able to produce a stronger signal between the transmitter and receiver box with way more channels available. Less chance of signal loss. Sound quality wise is probably very similar between a BLX and a SLX or QLXD.
There might be minor differences. Such as the BLX is a cheaper, lighter weight plastic. There is more handling noise when people tap the mic, or move it around. That is the big difference between the BLX, and my PGX unit. The PGX is a sturdier mic, and you don't get those handling noises.
The BLX is probably a poor choice for a singer who is doing a lot of moving around. I only recommend it for speeches, and where it can be put on a podium or mic stand. I'd rather use my PGX over the BLX for a singer to use.
)... I was gonna do a little Karaoke comparison between my Sennheiser wired mic, and one of my GTD wireless mics, but realized I can't record the mix (with my controller) because the wireless mics don't actually go through the controller. To be honest, my mics sound better when they are NOT attached to the controller, but the wired ones are anyway. The problem with my current configuration is; if I ever did an event where I wanted to record the entire event, none of the vocals from the wireless mics would be included. Here's a diagram of how my Small System is wired (my Large System is similarly wired, but with a different mixer and four mic system)....
