What are the options? I’m shopping around for a wireless mic and it seems that one gets to choose a single frequency for a wireless mic. Is this correct? Anyone know of a good resource to read up on the new wireless mics standards?
Try the Shure wireless they are probably the best. I have the dual Shure wireless which have 2 mics and 2 frequencies that you can change if you get interference from another wireless unit. Randy
Since the beginning of the year the US government hasn’t allowed wireless microphone receivers to to new sold with a frequency range of 700 MHz & higher. It has to do with the HD TV station signal transfer. Blah, Blah, Blah…
As for a good system three things I’d say would be a starting point. (1) Don’t go cheap, you get what you pay for. (2) Make sure to get a diversity receiver (these receiver are have way less interference issues). (3) Get a mic that has a unidirectional pattern. The reason for this is, you will get way more gain before feed back & this is a very good thing. Unidirectional elements only pick up sound from sources directly in front of the mic & reject sound from the rear of the mic. The type of mic you should avoid as a live performer are omnidirectional mics since they pick up sound from every where, they are more likely to suffer from feed back issues.
I have two AKG WMS450 D5 receivers/mics that I use for my karaoke show & they have been great! They are sound extremely clear, especially with an L1 & they have a unidirectional pattern so you get tons of gain before feedback. The receivers are also the diversity type so they automatically find a clean channel, which means less work for me. I highly recommend the AKG WMS450 series, they can be had new for around $449.00.
One last thing to consider is what kind of batteries you would like to be purchasing allot of in the future. This is another area where the WMS450 shines. These mic’s take only a single AA battery, which you get around 6 to 7 hour of performance time out of. So I’ll go through one battery roughly every time & a half batteries each that I perform (a bit less if you don’t leave them on all the time). AA are cheap, allot of other wireless systems that use 9 volts- those get pricey real quick. Since I’m on this subject, the WMS450 has a battery life read out in hours telling how many hours you have left on the battery. This is displayed on each microphone right by the on off switch.
If someone were thinking about getting two of these systems, don’t for get to get one in freq. band A & one in freq. band B. This will further help for the units to find a clean channel.
!Warning! don’t buy the new WMS40 mic/receiver set. Been there-done that> had nothing but problems with them, plus they didn’t sound half as good as the WMS450’s.
Well their my 4 cents. 
I agree with JD, wireless mics are not the thing to skimp on. The Shures that JD mentioned is a great idea.
Another option: I use sennheiser ew100 G2 series. have worked flawlessly.
1400 frequency choices. Just avoid the 700mz zone ones. And watch out for pirated knock offs on ebay
Retail is about $399 to $499.
If that price is not in the budget, I would consider going used instead of going with a cheaper new model
Scott, I was talking about an AKG system.
JD,
Sorry about that.
No prob. 
[…] That’s $400 that can go towards another L1 MI/B1 setup. Thanks for the replies.
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Great advice so far.
You need to avoid frequences in the 692 to 806 range I think. They will be used by HD TV, Verison wireless and emergency digital services. Continued use of these frequency is illegal and you risk damage to your speakers because the digital signal will be loud.
The price of the wireless systems is influenced by the number of channels availabe ranging from 1 to over 2000 in the shure UR series. Some offer the ability to scan for the clearest chanel.
Different manufactures offer different choices. Shure offers about 4 different systems (plx, slx,ulx and UR) each with about 4 or 5 different frequency ranges. Each frequence range is usually split into groups with each group have multiple channels. When using multiple units, it is best to operate in one group to ensure no interference. Each manufactuer will also have different connection types for beltpacks. If they share a connection type with a different manufactuer, the wiring configeration may be different.
Each manufacurer will have difference mic capsules and each will have different vocal charicteristics and feeback rejection based on the pickup patterns.
For karaoke I would suggest buying low end models like vocopro, nady, Hisonic etc because the mics get abused and offen dropped. By buying cheeper, they become throw away items.
For DJ application Shure, Senheisser, EV, AKG should be your preferred brands.
I almost forgot, if you have a system in the 700 range, some maufactuers are offering a rebate if you buy a new system from them. Check with your local store. I know shure has one until Dec 31. Rebate is based on your current model.
I suggest you try and sel your current 700 range model to someone outside the US to get the best value.