The Microphone Softpod from Valencia, Calif.-based Ace Backstage is designed to hold six mics on a single mic stand. So how much more can you say about a piece of stamped metal with a foam insert designed to hold all or your worship team's mics in a single location? The answer is, “More than you may think.”
If your church has a lead singer and a bunch of background vocalists, you could have easily eight or 10 mics (or more) to keep track of. Not always an easy task. Each Microphone Softpod solves the problem of vocalists wandering off with the mic in their back pocket, or forgetting where they left it. The Microphone Softpod can be placed just off stage where the singers enter and exit the platform. They all grab the mic from the same place as they are going on stage, and put them back in the same holder as they come off stage. Nice, simple, neat and organized. Ahhh, if only the rest of our job could be the same.
The more we used the Microphone Softpod, the more problems it solved.
It saves money too. Why buy separate mic stands for each mic, when 99% of the time the singers hold the mics in their hands? Unless they're playing an instrument, there's no need for worship singers to have stands on stage. Separate mic stands just to be used for storage during or between services? Not a good investment. With the Microphone Softpod, you can hold six mics for about the price of two mic stands. Disclaimer: The Microphone Softpod retails for about $40, about the same as a decent mic stand. But you do need one mic stand to hold the Softpod. So, do the math. Six mic stands comes to about $240. A single mic stand and a Microphone Softpod from Ace Backstage will cost you about $80 retail price.
Some churches avoid the mic stand issue by having singers put the wireless mics back on the chargers between services. How's that working out for you? What if your chargers are in a secure or otherwise inconvenient location? Besides, most wireless mics can handle being off the charger for the two or three hours it takes most churches to host two services. The Microphone Softpod from Ace Backstage solves the problem of where to temporarily store your mics while they're “in use.” And no technical training involved—not so when you ask your singers to put the mic back on the charger. (Yes folks, there is a difference between the red and green lights.)
We found the the Microphone Softpod to be quite durable and easy to use. Even with six mics (or any subset thereof), the mic stand was very stable. But even if the stand were to topple over, we predict the Softpod would survive—many times over. This thing is nice and hefty.
The only potential down side in our review situation has to do with how to visibly distinguish between the mics while they're on the stand. At our church, the mics are color coded at the base of the microphone head, so we had to remember to leave the mic elevated in the holder just a bit—not nestled all the way to the base the way you would naturally want to do it. Sometimes it took two hands to adjust it so you could see the label. I suppose we could create a labeling system where each of the six mic holders was labeled or color-coded, and would just match the color on the mic to the color on a partular slot on the Microphone Softpod, but it wasn't posing a major problem during our few weeks with the product. Of course, if your color codes or mic labels are on the bottom of the mic, you may have a larger issue. The Softpod is designed to hold the mics capsule side up.
We found the Microphone Softpod from Ace Backstage to be a fantastic product for churches. It's easy to use (no technical training necessary), it solves a range of problems and improves the speed and organization back stage, and it could save your church a nice chunk of money when compared to buying separate stands for all your mics.
