The Best Products of 2010
-Now you get to figure out how I explain "best." You might be surprised.
As I've been thinking about winding down 2010, I decided to put together a list -- The Best Products of 2010. I don't think that I've ever done that before.
Maybe this is true of all lists of "best" products, but what you'll find is that these products are all exceptional in their own right, but few are actually the very best at what they do. Truth be told, few of us can afford the very best.
So how is this a showcase of the "best"? Am I am idiot? Do I just not know what's good and what's not? Or is there another reasonable criteria by which "best" can be defined? I like to think that #3 -- another reasonable criteria -- is what you'll find below.
The Methodology: I spent 30 seconds thinking about what we sell, those who buy it, what real world users have the most success with, and what stands out as an exceptional product at its price point. I think that first impressions are important.
Here's the list, in no particular order. Actually, it's very close to the order that these items came to mind.
1. Audio Technica 2000A Series wireless microphones.
Quite simply, I think that the Audio Technica 2000A series of wireless microphone is the best value in wireless microphone systems.
It's not even close to the best we sell, but it's better than anything from any manufacturer that costs up to $100 more -- and in the $300 price range, that's a big deal.
The 2000A series features 10-channel automatic frequency scanning, a metal receiver chassis for durability and better reception, and detachable antennas so that you can combine your antennas into a professional antenna system when using multiple systems.
I have a friend who pastors a church of about 4500 weekly attendance. The 2000 Series is good enough for him, and that church can afford to use anything it wants to.
With the Audio Technica 2000 Series, you won't find a better wireless for up to $100 more. That's why it's "best."
2. Allen & Heath ZED-24 Mixing Console.
16 microphone inputs, included USB recording with free software, made by Allen & Heath, $699.95.
Doesn't that say enough? This is my favorite small audio mixer, hands down. It has all the features you'd expect plus some.
If my own church needed something like this, the ZED-24 would be my first choice -- period.
3. Heil PR30 Microphone.
OK, call me crazy. I have to admit that this list wasn't the actual original "10 Best." I had to remove two other Heil microphones to make this year's "10 Best" more representative of the breadth of what we offer. The PR-28 and the PR-22 should be here, too.
If I had to have only one microphone for everything -- and I mean everything -- it would be the Heil PR30. Actually as of today, it might be the brand new PR31 since it's shorter in length, but I digress.
One of our clients and I discovered that the PR30 was a great choir microphone. It has tremendous rear rejection (the ability to not "hear" everything else around it), just enough sensitivity, and its large diaphragm is somehow makes things sound both warm and shimmery. It's just a great sounding microphone.
Use it on a guitar amp, as a drum overhead, on a piano, near a Leslie organ speaker, as an old-school vocal microphone, for voice-overs, on saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and more.
Think I'm crazy? Just this Fall, Charlie Daniels switched over to 100% Heil microphones on stage, and he's not the only one. Users like Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Carrie Underwood, and others make their living with Heil microphones - and they buy them. Most artists get theirs free.
4. Sanyo PLC-XP200L Large Format Video Projector.
Big money, big color, bigger performance. 7000 ANSI lumens, QuaDrive 4LCD performance, horizontal and vertical lens shift. Hang it. You'll be wowed. End of story. $9995 MSRP.
There's not another area of technology where more specifications are fudged than video, especially the cheap stuff. Manufacturer's specs are "massaged" by marketing departments to make you think that you're getting something you're not. That "something for nothing" mentality is alive and well in America, and if you're not careful, you'll get burned.
Both we and Sanyo couldn't sell any of these if it wasn't noticably better than the cheap stuff. Call us to order one, or two. Restrictions prevent us from advertising the selling price on our website.
Sanyo PLC-XP200L -- prepare to be wowed by the color accuracy, color depth, and stunning clarity and brightness.
5. Renewed Vision ProPresenter.
I'm a hardware sales guy; I don't like software, but ProPresenter 4 made me change my tune.
Maybe it's just me, but software is a pain in the tail. Conflicts, crashes, dissatisfied users, Mac guys (like me) complaining that the really cool software is for PC only.
And then along comes ProPresenter 4 - for both Mac and PC. (insert angels singing here.) Finally, a software product that I can sell and not have to worry about.
Software is 100% not returnable due to piracy issues, but that flies in the face of everything we hope for at Truth Seeker/Geartechs because I want you to be satisfied with what you get.
ProPresenter 4 is the result of several years of development by the crew at North Point Community Church in Atlanta, GA. Renewed Vision's team has ProPresenter way ahead of the pack for worship presentation software.
With its easy set-up of worship slides, cross-platform (Mac/PC) compatibility, elegant integration of live video and motion backgrounds, on-the-fly changes, wide, wider (and even wider) screen images, and more, you'll find that ProPresenter is exactly what you need to take your visuals to the next level.
ProPresenter 4 is $399 single-user, and $799 for a Mac/PC site license. Download a demo copy of ProPresenter 4 here.
6. Line 6 XD-V70 Digital Wireless Microphone Systems.
We can barely keep these systems on the shelf. With all of the fallout from the FCC-mandated changeover in wireless microphones this past year, Line 6 appears to have come to market at just the right time.
Featuring systems that operate in the 2.4GHZ range, Line 6 has moved wireless microphone use into an area that is far, away from digital television. Any system can be used in any area of the world with no restrictions.
The XD-V70 handheld system features microphone modeling, so that you can choose which type of microphone sounds best -- at the flip of a switch.
The systems also feature automatic frequency selection. Just turn the system on, and it picks the best available frequency.
The Line 6 XD-V70 systems are extraordinarily well-built, include rack kits, and have antenna pass-through connectors so that you can use multiple systems with just one set of antennas. And they sound great, too.
7. Presonus Studio Live 24:4 and 16:4 Digital Mixers.
Two products; one rave review.
Since my first use of a mixer in 1983, I always wanted something that would store all of my settings, so that I wouldn't have to write them all down before the next band played. I used sheets of paper with pictures of knobs, input lists, and any variety of other ways to "recall" the previous mixer settings. Sound checks and switchovers took forever.
Analog mixers can have hundreds of settings (buttons, knobs and faders) to restore when switching between bands, worship services with different styles, plays, chidren's musicals, cantatas, etc. That's why church tech teams are pulling their hair out right about this time of year.
All digital mixers have some level of settings recall. No more fighting with input lists and paper drawings. Just push "Recall 27" and mix #27 comes right back, automatically. Imagine not having to do anything more than move the faders back to a lighted indicator in order to get your mix back. Pretty spiffy, 'eh?!
Presonus isn't the only one making digital mixers, but they're the ones doing it with the right feature mix and at a price that isn't supremely out of reach of most churches.
Add to that included Studio One Artist Recording software and a Mac or PC , and the mixer becomes a multitrack recording station for your church service or event - right out of the box!
The Studio Live 24:4 is $3299.95 and the Studio Live 16:4 is $1999.95.
Each has compression on each channel, and on the outputs. Presonus hardware compressors cost about $100 per channel. If you'd need that many compressors, it's almost like getting the digital mixer free. Think about it.
8. Audio Technica U851R Piano Microphone.
An accidental discovery. This conference table microphone sounds great on a baby grand piano and it costs $199.95 -- the least expensive good piano microphone that I know of.
The U851R is the perfect choice when you don't have a lot of money for a more expensive solution.
Try it; you might not think that you need a more expensive solution.
9. SurgeX Surge Suppression.
2010 was the year of the lightning strike for our clients. Some were protected, some weren't. For that reason alone, SurgeX as a company, gets a spot all to itself.
This year, we saw one church fix lightning damage only to have to fix it again. That's almost unbelievable. Apparently, lightning can strike the same place twice.
We know another church that sits out on top of a hill, in a clearing. Lightning struck nearby and wiped out lots of of office equipment, but the audio and video gear survived. Why? Proper surge suppression.
You're living in the world of false economics to cut corners when it comes to power conditioning and surge suppression. If $4.99 (or even $49.95) power strips protected as well as a $279.95 FlatPak or a $499.95 power SurgeX power conditioner, SurgeX couldn't be in business, and we'd never sell any. But we sell them, and their owners sleep well at night.
Lightning strikes and critical data failures generally happen just once. Then, you get smart and make sure that they don't happen again.
SurgeX is simply the best that money can buy. To read more than you ever wanted to know about surge suppression, click here.
10. Heil RC35 Replacement Capsule.
I tried really hard to not repeat a product line, but when I decided to give SurgeX its own listing, I had to wrap this year's "10 Best" up with the one product that may be the game changer for Heil, and for you.
I'll let you try and return any Heil microphone, if you're not 100% satisfied. That's how confident that I am in the product line in general. With the hundreds of Heil mics that we've sold, the funny thing is that I've only ever had two (just two) microphones returned from people who didn't like them. Of course, those people were crazy or couldn't hear correctly, or something. Kidding, of course.
The RC35 is a screw-on replacement capsule for any Shure or Line 6 Wireless microphone. The user list starts with Carrie Underwood. She has a great voice, terrible microphone handling technique (keeps her hand too close to the head of the microphone), and is extraordinarily popular right now. Every time you see her with a wireless microphone, the RC35 capsule is the star of her sound.
She uses Shure's best wireless system with a Heil RC35 capsule. Why? Because that combination works better than anything else.
When money's not an object and people like Stevie Wonder, Joe Walsh, and Charlie Daniels choose all Heil microphones, and Carrie Underwood's tech team chooses hers, it can't be for any other reason.
The Heil Sound RC35 is just $259.00 - 1/3rd the cost of other companies' best microphone.
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Product Line of the Year 2010 -- Heil Sound
