gigaphoneSV 40W Portable Voice Amplifier with Microphones

After using a cheap $25 voice amplifier for teaching all last year (outdoors in noisy environments), I wanted to upgrade to something louder. While the cheap amplifiers were definitely better than nothing, there were times when environmental noise would overpower my voice. So I decided to test two higher end amplifiers available on Amazon - the Gigaphone 40 watt, and the Shidu 30 watt. After spending some time with both, I'm sending the Shidu back and buying a second Gigaphone. Here's why:The Gigaphone is significantly louder than the Shidu. I couldn't get a quantitative measurement because my phone sound meter only goes up to 80ish decibels, but it was loud enough to max out my phone's meter. Qualitatively, to my ear they sounded equally loud with the Shidu at max volume and the Gigaphone about half volume.Sound quality with the Gigaphone is acceptable at max volume, but it can be difficult to avoid feedback, squawking, and ringing. Adjusting it just a touch under max volume seemed to be a good compromise, and was plenty loud (still much louder than the Shidu). The Gigaphone did a better job of amplifying the higher frequencies of my voice, which made speech easier to understand. The Shidu had an overall more pleasant sound, and was richer in the lower frequencies, but I felt that less amplification of the high frequency "S" sounds made the speech harder to understand. If I were playing music or prioritized vocal quality over loudness, I might favor the Shidu's more balanced sound, but the Gigaphone is better for straight up understandable speech.The Gigaphone has a better user interface, with a simple, quick power button and volume knob. It's also quick to boot up. The Shidu requires different combinations of long and short button presses to perform basic functions, which is annoying, and takes a while to turn on.The Gigaphone is smaller and lighter. As I'll be wearing it for hours at a time, this is important for me.This version of the Gigaphone does not have wireless capability. Not an issue for me - I prefer wired headsets for the reliability and battery life. The Shidu does have wireless, if that's a feature you need.The Gigaphone has a user replaceable battery. That means it has a longer lifespan, which is important in an expensive product. If it starts to lose capacity over time, it's simple to just open up the battery compartment and swap out the battery for a new one. The Shidu does not appear to have a replaceable battery.Overall, I felt they were both good products. The Gigaphone is better for my specific goal (making speech as loud and understandable as possible).

Excellent Product. Was needing to replace an old amplifier that was 25 watts with something more powerful. I do street preaching outside along busy and loud intersections and I need something that is going to stand up to traffic noise. So here is my observation from using it: It is super simple to turn off and on. Volume knob shows how hi u have it turned up, which even half way is plenty loud,. Clarity is crisp and clear, no need to raise my voice loudly as with old 25 watt amp. I can talk without straining my voice which is a super big deal for me since I do this a couple of times a week. It has a sturdy adjustable shoulder strap and also comes with a clip should u decide to wear it attached to your belt or pants. Also I love the fact that this product shows how much of a charge u have used and what is left in battery life,... unlike my old amp, which I never knew how much battery charge I had left. I would have given this product a 5 star except for the fact I am not crazy about the headset. If I wear the head set on top of my hat it seems to fit and hold tightly and won't slip or slide around on my head. But if u r wearing on top of your hair or around the ears, you may find it loosely fitted and the mic may not stay in front of your mouth where u want it. Overall, it is an excellent product and absolutely delivers what it says. I would definitely recommend it. (It did not come with any instructions or a carrying case. It did also come with a good hand-held microphone. Both headset and hand-held microphone are plug-in only.)

This does what it is supposed to do.Amplifies your voice loud and clear. Don't use it with wireless mics though, because it gives off crazy feedback when you are any where near the speaker. I hate that part about it because I wanted to use it with wireless mics.I felt it looks dorky hanging it around my neck with the Brittany spears head mic on.But when you turn up the wireless mic, it produces such feedback it is never clear sounding unless you are far from the speaker AND, have the volume rather low.That's a bad downside for me.I still use it... Just have to keep the speaker at a much lower volume. Which almost defeats the purpose.Oh how I wish the wireless mic worked with this without giving feedback when you're close to the speaker or have the volume up.But there's nothing I can do about that.Recently I just decided to use the microphones that came with it.When you're using the Britney Spears over the head mic, This little bad boy works very very well. Your voice would definitely be amplified. You can hang the speaker off of your belt or clip it to your pocket. But your voice is very much amplified. Loud and clear. I would say this voice amplifier is well worth the money!There are others out there that amplify your voice. But this really really amplifies your voice! This makes the other ones seem like little baby brothers and this one being their strong father.

We were so excited for this product. It was recommended by someone who uses an earlier generation of the product. It seemed like the perfect solution for coaching demonstrations for indoor tennis. The item arrived broken - the power button was faulty and would power on for a millisecond and then power off even though the battery was showing full power. It even felt like it would not engage properly so I don't see how this could have passed any sort of quality assurance testing. Super disappointing because the product would have been really great for our needs. To add insult to injury, because we are in Canada and had ordered it from the US so it would arrive in time, we have to pay the shipping to return it. Feeling super ripped off by the whole experience.