Al Krow

Thanks for sharing this about your wireless, very useful feedback. I'd be really be interested to see how the Sennheiser wireless A/Bs vs the Xvive U4s we've got and whether they are any better or worse on this, but suspect not going to be straightforward to arrange that, unless they're a product that might be on your shortlist to check out!

You make a fair point Pete in the context of the gigs I've been doing (and, yeah, they're all decently paying), and...confession time - I did briefly own a Shure GLXD16+ for a few months back in 2021 but wasn't particularly impressed: I just couldn't see what the fuss was about given the cost vs the Smooth Hound I'd had, and wasn't enamoured with the size and weight of the set up. Sorry! Horses for courses? (Aside: Shure do have a really good reputation - but it seems they sometimes premium price off that? An obvious case in point is their IEMs which can be both more expensive and actually not as good as some of the competition). I switched to Boss WL-20 instead for it's compact size which seemed to be just as good for my needs, and stuck with that for quite a while until I was finding that the 2.4 GHz set up was getting drop outs at certain venues, almost certainly due to the other in house PA kit there plus the fact that our own wireless IEMs were 2.4 Ghz. Obviously drop outs are not something that working musicians and their bandmates are going to want mid-set! The switch to Nux 5.8 GHz set has fixed that for me. It's also got a ridiculously good range - I wandered off towards the end of a set at an outdoor gig recently to test its range capability and must have got maybe 100m before turning back with no drop out, whereas my wireless IEMs had given up a long way before then in delivering a signal! Be very interested to see how you get on with the Nux. This thread has made me do a bit more investigation into it (e.g. the battery life and the recharger pack, which I've shared above) and which has actually left me feeling even more positive about it as a very good wireless option. Fingers crossed you find the same.

On a more serious note, I personally don't have an issue with folk getting the best kit they can comfortably afford, that works for them. (I mean a double bass can easily cost north of £10k by itself, which is more than all my herd of basses cost together!) Personally I'm really happy with my Nux bugs having tried Smoothhound, Boss WL-20 and Lekato WL-50. Those were all decent, but the Nux is the best of that bunch for me and cost <£100 second hand. But if you're getting paid a decent sum to do a gig (or even if you're not, but I guess there's maybe more at stake for you and your bandmates if you are?) and you're finding that the better more expensive Shures are the right answer for you to give you peace of mind, particularly when you've tried a bunch of alternatives as you have, I don't think it's for the rest of us to quibble? Just my tuppence worth.

Was the reason for the double post @Jack because you've got two Shure GLXD16s - one for each of the units? I guess you're not of the school of thought that says they're over-priced then! 😅

Nux 5.8GHz - Battery Life Test I fully charged the Nux 5.8GHz and set it up so that the transmitter was connected to the output of my Zoom B1-4 with drum machine playing (in place of my bass output), and receiver into the input of a preamp pedal (both pedals loose and powered up) to try to give it a realistic set up, rather than simply switch the transmitter and receiver on next to each other in isolation. The manual suggests "around 4 hours" of battery life. My 2-3 year old ones, which I bought used and have gigged 100+ times over the past 18 months managed pretty much exactly 5 hours before the transmitter gave out (receiver had a little bit of battery life left in still, but was on "red") Actually that's better than I was expecting! So I think I can be pretty relaxed for most gigging situations, other than some function gigs where there's quite a gap between set up / sound check and finishing the second set, where I'll just need to remember to switch the units off. In addition, the storage case doubles up as a battery recharger which gives another back-up, if needed. @Lozz196 @BigRedX - hopefully that ties in with your experience and provides all 3 of us with some reassurance when playing live with the Nux wireless?

Just spotted the brand on the ruler (which I'd never clocked in the many years of owning it!) 😅 The XR18 seems to be a hugely well regarded piece of kit by a lot of BC'ers. Must admit having a built in interface on the CQ is going to be a bit of a comfort blanket for me, just in case there's an issue with my tablet for whatever reason. Btw are they still selling the basic XR18 model - seems that the XAir version with the built in router (and its router doesn't seem to get great press tbf) is the only one now available?

Drop-outs were the exact same reason I also moved on from the Boss WL-20, which otherwise was a really good bit of kit. It operates in the crowded 2.4 GHz space and experiencing drop outs mid-gig was not great. 5.8 GHz kit does seem to work much better from that perspective. Be interested to see how you get on with the Joyo, clearly there's a few fans of that set up on this thread already. They seem to have adopted quite a few features of the Nux (other than the ability to angle the transmitter and receiver, which sounds like you might have valued @ped?), particularly the recharge pack set up. And at £75 new, they are 40% cheaper than the Nux.

Seems that my thinking that these could come in very handy wasn't a bad shout, if you've taken a liking to that feature? Together with the router (and B stock price!) persuaded me to go for the CQ18T rather than its baby brother. It seems solidly built, but whether it's as tank like as the CQ20 only time will tell...

I think the LED meter you are referring to is actually showing how much charge there is still in the power case? How drained the battery is instead shown up by the colour of the light on the LED indicator on the transmitter and receiver units. @Twigman: per the manual: a fully charged Nux power case can recharge the wireless system 2-3 times, which actually is a very useful feature (but just need to remember to engage the charge button, haha!) The manual also states that when fully charged the transmitter / receiver should work for around 4 hours - which I assume applies to a relatively new unit. I'm just checking what my 2-3 year old units can still manage on a full charge when paired (and not in the charge box!)

Well, very first impressions of the CQ18T are that it's decently compact and should mean one fewer bag to take to take to gigs! That's a good start...😄

Maybe the easiest way to check is to fully charge each of ours and then put them on to see how long it takes to discharge them? Rechargeable batteries do get worn with usage, as we will all be familiar with. Yours sound like you bought yours new and have used < 20 times? Mine were bought used and are therefore probably 2 to 3 years old now and I've used mine 100+ times at gigs. I'm just charging mine up now and will report back later...

Yup 😊 Just checked - I've had my set for 18 months and now done 100+ gigs and been very happy with them! They replaced my 2.4 GHz Boss WL-20s which I'd had for a couple of years before my Nux - great bit of kit but I was experiencing drop outs. I also tried the Lekato WS-50, which were also good and great value, but I found they introduced a little bit of noise with a couple of my basses. The Nux seem to have hit the sweet spot for me in terms of quality, range, lack of drop-outs and price. The only thing I would like them to do better is longer charge retention - they're fine for a 2 hour gig, but I take the precaution of switching them off between sets if we have a long gap.

+1 for the Nux 5.8 Ghz. Really good range and I've not experience drop outs which I did get with some of the 2.4 GHz systems.

What's Google? Tbf totally no need to post any pics of bugs 😅

Oooh some great bits of kit coming up on here already...Be even better if you all added some cool pics of your aforementioned kit? 😊

Well...I've managed to source a B stock CQ18T from Andertons for £40 more than the price of a new CQ12T, which has made the decision on which one to get much more straightforward 😊 Should be arriving later this week.

Following on from the same topic we've successfully run since 2018 - a chance for some useful hints and tips with Black Friday and Xmas goodies still ahead, and, of course, nothing to stop us changing our minds between now and year end! As with previous years, the only "house rules" are that it's bass gear and something you bought (or at least arrived) in 2024. Here's the last thread in the series from 2023 as a reminder of some of the goodies we bought then. And definitely post your GAS inducing pics please!

A wireless set up on bass does certainly help to hear yourself in the mix from the audience, in my experience. Having the ability to adjust the desk settings on the fly while you're still in the audience rather than having to walk back up to the stage and then back out to the audience and back again etc., should help speed things up during sound check? Only usually possible with a digital desk with wifi? I suspect a digital desk such as the A&H with no sliders or gain knobs, is going to be trickier for bandmates back on stage to figure out menus and adjust settings, unless they are prepared to put in the time to get up to speed, vs being able to adjust a post EQ volume slider or a pre EQ gain knob? So I can see that being able to tweak the desk settings from your phone or tablet from the audience as definitely having some benefits, which the built in router allows. We're a 4 piece band, so the 12 channels on the CQ12T would be ample for us, but I'm thinking that the wifi/built in router on the CQ18T could well come in very handy.

Would the router on the 18 not have come in handy? eg being able to stand in front of the speakers and real time adjust the FoH band mix via your phone or tablet?

Excellent thanks! Just what the doctor ordered!

I've also seen that the CQ18 has three multifunction rotary knobs not available on the CQ12 - do folk find these useful? Can these be used as a master volume control for the desk? The lack of anything obvious in that department in the CQ range is a bit of a concern if you there is a sudden volume/feedback spike!

Thanks Phil - I was hoping you could just let us know when each of the set ups comes up at what point in the video, as it's almost a 19 minute clip and be helpful in terms of going back and forth to compare?

Ah that's a shame - I'm guessing there was a fair bit of loss of low end from the phone mics and considerable further compression when uploaded to YT?

Thanks for sharing that. Could you note the time when each PA is playing at what point in the video for us please?

And you get to choose which channels each of the four FX channels applies to i.e. you can tailor for vox plus 3 additional instruments?