Al Krow

Seems like there's a 2.4 GHz crowding issue that's going to be there regardless of the quality of the unit i.e. not something that the Shure GLDX16 is going to be able to escape - which makes sense. As @BassAdder60 mentions the ability to offer 5.8Ghz as well as 2.4 GHz seems to be a key upgrade feature of the Shure GLDX16+ and the unit automatically selects the optimal band/channel. I think there's a few 5.8 GHz in the £100 to £250 price range i.e. comparable to the WL-20 e.g. the NUX C-5RC have an RRP of £189 but are available from some retailers for around £140.

What was the issue with the Shure for you? I was going to ask how the HB compared to the Shure and it seems you're actually happier with the HB?

So here's the thing about "every penny" 😄, and I totally get this is most likely just my weird way of looking at the world: we've invested in a similar quality desk (albeit ours doesn't churn out 1,600W, we've left that to the powered speakers!) and it costs a similar amount i.e. around the £400 mark. Given just how important a desk (and PA) is to band's sound, it just feels the wrong priority to be spending £500 on a wireless just for the bass, when you and I have both spent less on our mixing desk? Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way and I'm sure there will be plenty of views in the opposite direction. But I think I'll likely be seeing how this lot fare first: which I've recently managed to pick up used for < £100. If they crash and burn, too, I may well be following you down the Shure GLXD16+ path! Or.......maybe just getting myself a looong lead for £30 instead 😁

Tbf my Smoothhound never had any issues with doing that. But I guess my views are being very coloured by the regular drop-outs for anything beyond close range I'm currently getting from my Boss WL-20, which certainly wouldn't have the range now to let me walk tables in venues such as Boxpark (maybe a good thing!). But perhaps just wear & tear and the unit degrading as it's probably around 3 years old now and has had regular use?

Damn you're not making it easy for the rest of us trying not to fork out £500+ on one of these are you?! Out of interest what mixing desk is your band using?

Good shout re. the Zoom B1-4 and I've similarly loaded all my Zoom patches with the HPF (= "low EQ" patch). So I've got a Thumpinator acting to get rid of low end crud --> B1-4 variable HPF. Maybe that's a little bit overkill? Just sensing that the Sine Effects could do a better possibly more "musical" clean up as there's always going to be a trace of digital noise with something like the B1-4 (definitely not an issue in a band mix), but for the price the unit is ridiculously good value. Probably still can't justify having 3 of them though, haha! Be interested to explore what the HPF capability is like on the Boss GT100 Core and whether that's noise free.

This looks like a really neat HPF! By way of comparison: Sineeffect: variable HPF (25 - 400Hz) with 24db/oct slope, £89 Broughton: variable HPF (25 - 190Hz) with 12dB/oct slope, around £95 (with import costs)? Thumpinator Mk2: fixed HPF (c. 25Hz) with 36dB/oct slope, £139 I've had a Thumpinator Mk1 sitting at the start of my various pedal boards as an "always on crud cleaner" for several years, but the Sineeffect pedal looks to be the better option with the ability to set the cut off frequency to suit whilst providing a pretty aggressive slope.

Wonder if they will start offering 24 frets on the rest of their range? A PJ5 24 fret with their semi para EQ would be very tempting!

I was thinking the exact same 😊 This is quite a decent workout by Patrick Hunter from 02:16+ The pedal started to get into Darkglass territory around 03:40 on the clip with the drive set at 09:30pm and Tone (mids) at 11:00pm. Have to fess I really liked that. Would have been interested to hear it on the same drive setting but with boosted mids, say at 2pm - but that seems to be the one missing setting from the PH reivew. Any of your other clips cover that off? @danbowskill

What's the low-end suck like on this one Dan?

She understood what it meant to be a covers artist, making great tracks her own.

Ah that's a generalisation. There's plenty of musicians who love playing great covers (me included) and who don't feel frustrated. And plenty of audiences who prefer listening to covers bands/booking them vs going to hear a relatively unknown originals band. Surely boredom/frustration can creep into any music if you're only playing a particular set over and over? The trick is to vary it up and keep things fresh. Do whatever you love doing.

Cheers - not come across too many folk using that one - looks like it's a serious bit of kit! Grateful if you could cover the key benefits of that unit over the GLXD / GLXD+ systems which would justify the additional spend?

Are you using a wireless set-up for your bass, Russ? If so, which one did you go for?

Ah that's fair enough. Some dongles give you best of both worlds eg the Nux 5.8Ghz, effectively allowing you to hinge into a right angle jack.

Ah that's interesting, why? I'm the opposite - really love the compact form factor of the dongle approach used by the Boss WL-20 and alternatives. No fuss: just plug and play and doesn't take up pedal board space.

Easily the most accomplished musician in our covers band is our female lead singer. She's a music grad with voice being her main instrument, musical theatre trained, grade 8 piano. A really lovely person to boot and super committed and hardworking. It's a privilege for us to have crossed paths with her, and I'm very grateful that she puts up with the rest of us relatively amateur blokes in the band! I'm sure there are equally talented and trained male lead vocalists out there. I don't think the comments about what sex or gender someone has are the least bit relevant; it's about individuals and what they bring to the party.

Would a Boss OC-5 (or a n other) octave pedal not get you there for a fraction of the cost? The OC-5 has a guitar mode.

Do you need line of sight with your Shure? Which model Shure is your sax player using which you're finding is dropping out?

@walshy you've got bags of large stage/audience live experience that most of us can't compare to. What is it about the Shure that makes it worth the extra coin and sets it apart from the competition? It's unfortunately not always the case that spending extra buys you extra though eg if you compare Shure IEM headphones to eg KZ ZS10 pros you can be spending 5x as much for a no better product (and many on the IEM thread would actually say the Shures are inferior) simply down to the brand name. And we all know that a £3k bass isn't necessarily going to be better than something costing significantly less!

Yup the Lekato WS-50 5.8GHz is also what I have. It seems to be fine with some basses / preamps e.g. my Spector Euro5LX / Tonepump and that seems to tie in with other folk's positive experience on this thread, but it does distort slightly or noticeably when I'm digging in with my two other gigging basses as also @BassAdder60 has found. So maybe a bit of luck of the draw on that one - and Amazon & being able to return it, if it doesn't, is a good way to find out. But if it hits the spot with your set up, at £47 that's a nice result! I may well keep mine just for back-up use with my Spector.

Still struggling with my WL-20 in terms of range at quite a few gigs. Seems to need line of sight (which ties in with @BassAdder60's comment above) and even then the range is often not great - just a few metres tops before it's cutting out. I also agree with the Lekato WS-50 adding a bit of distortion which actually can be noticeable depending on the bass and on the board pre its interacting with. So I guess my hope is currently being pinned on the Nux C5RC 5.8GHz which I need to try out at some forthcoming gigs. I've been tempted by the new Shure GLDX16+ but it's £spendy which might be ok if it did everything else brilliantly. I'd however recommend watching the following review before parting with £500+ on that system:

@peteb Hmmm...kinda amusing to find a post in which I find myself going both "yes, 100%!" and then in the next breath "oh really?!" : "There is a shortage of singers who can really deliver on stage, both male and female." YUP AGREED! "There is an added disadvantage for girls in that they tend to learn to drive later than guys..." WHAT ARE YOU BASING THIS STATEMENT ON? "There is also the added issue that performing music has always been tended to be a male dominated world throughout the ages, be it in a rock and roll band, a jazz ensemble, an orchestra or a medieval group of strolling players. Don't get me wrong, there have always been female musicians who have been successfully involved in playing music, but they have to have a 'one of the boys' attitude and to be able to hang to cut it in a band. If they are too girly or easily offended, then they've got no chance." SURE, THAT WAS TRUE HISTORICALLY AND MAYBE ALSO STILL TRUE IF THEY'RE FRONTING A MALE BAND. BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF VERY SUCCESSFUL GIRL GROUPS AND FEMALE SOLO STARS OUT THERE, IN FACT SOME OF THE BIGGEST ACTS ON THE PLANET RIGHT NOW ARE WOMEN. AND BEING "EASILY OFFENDED" ISN'T JUST LIMITED TO WOMEN IS IT? "What you need in a singer is someone who is a genuine musician, rather than just someone who happens to have a half-decent voice. This applies to both males and females..." AGREED! "...but it is undoubtedly rarer for girls." REALLY?! YOU CHECKED THE OUTPUT OF THE MAJOR MUSIC COLLEGES WHO ARE PRODUCING VERY TALENTED VOCALISTS AND MUSICIANS EACH YEAR? "Having said that, I have played in bands with several girl singers who do just fine..." YUP, WELL NO SURPISE THERE!

Appears to have a different set of sounds from the SY-1000 (and obviously the SY-200)? Its keys and horn emulation on guitar are frankly amazing. Liking the form factor too! Could see it being a lot of creative fun for originals bands. Dunno if there's going to be enough usable sounds for a covers band where the bass player needs to be providing the usual bass lines rather than wandering off into interesting and varied soundscapes, and getting glares from their bandmates.

I guess this thread is making me realise just how much I should be grateful for the excellent, committed female lead vox we have in our band and the privelege of being in the large and diverse talent pool that living in the big smoke, provides.