Do we need a licence for the radio microphones?

Yes. Channel 38 (606-614 MHz) is a licensed band in the UK, so running radio mics on it needs a shared-use licence from Ofcom. Licences run annually and are held by the user, so a school can hold its own. Tell us about your dates when you enquire and we will talk you through what applies.

Is twelve radio mics enough for our cast?

Twelve covers most principal casts. The usual approach is to mic principals and named parts, then let the four floor microphones across the front of the stage pick up the chorus numbers. If your show has more principals than that, send us the cast list when you enquire and we will go through the options with you.

Does the package include speakers?

No. This covers the microphone and mixing side of the show. Halls vary enormously and a sports hall with a hard floor needs a very different PA to a 200-seat studio theatre, so we would rather match speakers to your room than bundle a set that may not suit it. Tell us the venue and we will quote the right system alongside.

Can someone come and run it for us?

Yes. Take the package as a dry hire and operate it yourselves, or ask us to supply a technician to rig it, run the sound check and mix your performances. If you do not have an in-house technical team, having a technician on the desk is usually the more straightforward option.

Home Services Equipment Hire PA System Hire

School musical sound hire — the whole show in one booking

Miking a whole cast is the part of a school musical that keeps people awake at night. This package covers it in one booking: twelve headworn radio mics, a digital console, a stage box with a single cable run to front of house, and floor mics to lift the chorus. One price, one delivery. Hire it as a dry hire, or ask us to send a technician who will rig it, sound check it and mix your show.

Everything a school musical needs to sound right, in one hire.

At the centre is a twelve-way Trantec S5.3 headworn radio microphone system on Channel 38, enough to mic a full principal cast. It runs into a Behringer X32 digital console with 32 Midas preamps, so every performer gets their own channel, their own EQ and their own place in the mix. A Behringer S32 stage box sits in the wings and carries all 32 inputs back to front of house down a single 50m Cat5e reel, which saves dragging a multicore through a school hall. Four Bartlett stage floor microphones fill in the chorus numbers that headworn mics alone never quite catch.

The reason schools book this as a package rather than piece by piece is scene recall. Set your levels in the technical rehearsal, save the scene, and the console comes back the same way every night. If a mic goes down between shows, you swap the beltpack rather than rebuild the mix.

Channel 38 is a licensed band in the UK, so a shared-use licence from Ofcom is needed to run the radio mics. Ask us when you enquire and we will talk you through what applies.

Hire it dry and run it yourselves, or add one of our technicians to rig, sound check and mix the show. Either way it arrives ready to work. Price is per day.

Suits school musicals, youth theatre, dance school productions, amateur dramatic societies and any hall show where a large cast has to be heard over a band.

What you get

Trantec S5.3 headworn radio microphone system, 12 channels on Channel 38 (606-614 MHz), supplied with receivers, beltpack transmitters, headworn microphones, aerials and batteries

Behringer X32 digital mixing console, 32 Midas mic preamps and 25 motorised faders

Behringer S32 digital stage box, 32 inputs and 16 outputs in a 3U case

50m Tourcat Cat5e reel, carrying the whole stage box back to front of house over AES50 on one cable

Four Bartlett stage floor microphones for chorus and ensemble pickup

PA speakers, amplification and monitor wedges sit outside this package. Tell us about your hall and we will match a system to the room

The Ofcom Channel 38 licence is arranged separately. Ask us and we will point you at what you need

Good for

School musicals with a principal cast of up to twelve mic'd performers

Youth theatre and stage school end-of-term productions

Dance school shows where solo numbers and comperes need radio mics

Amateur dramatic society musicals in village halls and community centres

Shows with a live band or pit orchestra, where per-channel EQ and floor mics earn their keep

Productions running two or three performance nights from one technical rehearsal

What you need to know

What is in it

Twelve headworn radio microphones, a digital console, a stage box on a single cable run to front of house, and four floor microphones for the chorus.

How many can wear a microphone

Twelve at once, which covers a full principal cast. The floor mics pick up everyone else.

Cable to front of house

One 50 metre drum from the stage box to the desk, so the sound position can be in the audience where it belongs.

Licence

The radio mics run on Channel 38, which needs Ofcom's shared wireless microphone licence. Ask us and we will tell you whether your school already holds one.

Who runs it

Most schools take an engineer with this one. Twelve radio mics is the part of a musical that goes wrong, and we would rather it did not.

Alternatives

Trantec S5.3 radio microphone systems — the radio mic racks on their own, if you already have a desk and PA that can carry the show.

Behringer X32 desks — the console from this package on its own, if your radio mics and PA are already covered.

Full technical specification (22)

Weight	27.4 kg derived subtotal (X32 20.6 kg + S32 5.6 kg + 4 x floor mic at 309 g). Radio mic receiver rack, beltpacks, headsets, aerials and the 50m cable drum are not published by their makers - weigh these in the warehouse before entering a package total
Power draw	Approx. 220 W derived total (X32 120 W + S32 55 W + 12 Trantec receivers at approx. 3.6 W each). No published package figure exists
Dimensions	No single package dimension - it ships as multiple cases. Console 900 x 528 x 200 mm; stage box 483 x 242 x 138 mm (3U)
Radio mic channels	12 simultaneous channels
Radio mic band	UK Channel 38, 606-614 MHz. Trantec S5.3 G2 band covers 606-622 MHz
Radio mic receiver	Trantec S5.3 - dual diversity, PLL dual conversion. 9 banks x 12 channels. RF grid spacing 25 kHz, RF switching bandwidth 36 MHz typical, sensitivity <1 uV/12 dB SINAD
Radio mic audio performance	60 Hz - 20 kHz, dynamic range >110 dBA, distortion <0.8% at nominal deviation 22 kHz
Radio mic receiver aerial inputs	BNC 50 ohm, with 9 V at 60 mA short-circuit protected phantom on each RF port
Radio mic receiver power draw	300 mA at 12 V DC nominal per receiver (approx. 3.6 W)
Beltpack transmitter	Single AA alkaline cell, typically 8-10 hours minimum. 55 x 80 x 20 mm, 110 g. Gain range +2 dBm to -20 dBm in 10 steps
Mixing console	Behringer X32 - 40 input channels (32 input + 8 aux), 32 programmable Midas mic preamps, 16 aux buses, 6 matrices, main LRC, 25 motorised faders, 8 stereo FX engines, 100 scene memories
Console audio	24-bit at 44.1/48 kHz, 114 dB dynamic range, 40-bit floating point processing, 0.8 ms I/O latency
Console dimensions	900 x 528 x 200 mm (35.4 x 20.8 x 7.9 in)
Console weight	20.6 kg (45.4 lb)
Console power	120 W, 100-240 V 50/60 Hz switch-mode
Stage box	Behringer S32 - 32 XLR mic inputs with remote-controlled Midas preamps, 16 XLR outputs, 2 x AES50 etherCON, 1 x Ultranet etherCON, 2 x ADAT Toslink, 2 x AES/EBU XLR. 3U all-steel rack chassis
Stage box dimensions	483 x 242 x 138 mm (19 x 9.5 x 5.4 in)
Stage box weight	5.6 kg (12.4 lb)
Stage box power	55 W, 100-240 V 50/60 Hz switch-mode autorange
Stage to front of house link	50m Tourcat Cat5e F/UTP reel on a drum with Neutrik etherCON, carrying 32 in / 16 out over AES50 SuperMAC on a single cable
Floor microphones	4 x Bartlett Stage Floor Mic-EC (formerly TM-125) - supercardioid boundary condenser, 80 Hz - 18 kHz, sensitivity 28 mV/Pa, max SPL 130 dB, 200 ohm output, 12-48 V phantom, 3-pin male XLR
Floor mic size and weight	130 mm long, 309 g each

Common questions

Yes. Channel 38 (606-614 MHz) is a licensed band in the UK, so running radio mics on it needs a shared-use licence from Ofcom. Licences run annually and are held by the user, so a school can hold its own. Tell us about your dates when you enquire and we will talk you through what applies.
Twelve covers most principal casts. The usual approach is to mic principals and named parts, then let the four floor microphones across the front of the stage pick up the chorus numbers. If your show has more principals than that, send us the cast list when you enquire and we will go through the options with you.
No. This covers the microphone and mixing side of the show. Halls vary enormously and a sports hall with a hard floor needs a very different PA to a 200-seat studio theatre, so we would rather match speakers to your room than bundle a set that may not suit it. Tell us the venue and we will quote the right system alongside.
Yes. Take the package as a dry hire and operate it yourselves, or ask us to supply a technician to rig it, run the sound check and mix your performances. If you do not have an in-house technical team, having a technician on the desk is usually the more straightforward option.

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See the rest of our pa system hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.

Talk to us

Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.

Call 0333 404 0621, email sales@1stintheatre.co.uk, or send us the details of your production.