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WIRELESS THOUGHTS


tom1946

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Dunno if this is the right place but I'm looking for a wireless system for my bass, I'm currently using Smoothhound kits ( I have 2) and finding them a tad unreliable.

When they work they are very good but I'm plagued with crackly connections and if I move anything when plugged in I get disconnects and bangs so is there anything better and more robust out there?

Looking for recommendations...

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I went from Line6 G30 to SmoothHound because of the battery door falling to bits. I've used the SmoothHound for several years probably a hundred or more gigs and the only time I've had problems was when the batteries were getting low. You should talk to Smoothhound Chris, he's a member on here and the customer service is really good.

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I got my G30 when they were very first released and it’s still going strong - never caused me any problems and the battery door and belt clip are still attached (and I do use the clip, not a pouch). I bought a spare pack just in case but I’ve never needed it. Both guitarists in the band bought them, and one of them converted the bassist in his tribute band; thus far I’ve not witnessed any issues or heard of any regrets that aren’t cheap-battery related. I admit, I wish there were more channels available, but for the price I really can’t fault it as a system.

 

I bought a smoothhound a while back as they were getting good reviews on here, but I didn’t get on with it at all.

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2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Although if you have two crackly, are you sure it is not the thing you are connecting to?

 

Could it be a jack socket issue? It's worth trying your bass with a lead you can trust, if you haven't done that already. 

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3 hours ago, tom1946 said:

Dunno if this is the right place but I'm looking for a wireless system for my bass, I'm currently using Smoothhound kits ( I have 2) and finding them a tad unreliable.

When they work they are very good but I'm plagued with crackly connections and if I move anything when plugged in I get disconnects and bangs so is there anything better and more robust out there?

Looking for recommendations...


A couple of questions…

 

Will the wireless system just be for casual home use or will it be for gigging etc?

 

What’s your budget?

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3 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

I’m now using the Line 6 G30 system 

 

Purchased the Levy pouch to go on strap 

 

Very good system albeit plastic battery door etc has been reported as poor, fine if you use a pouch 

 

 

 

I've been using a G30 since 2009 or 2010, with a leather pouch attached to my strap as I thought the belt clip was a bit flimsy. Very happy with it, still going strong.

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4 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I forgot to mention that the Xvive has four channels, so four people in the band can use a pair. Enough for most, but a constraint for a few bands I guess.

How is it with active basses? I notice the Andertons website mentions “not suitable for use with active guitar pickups” so wondered if this was an impedance thing?

 

P.S. I’ve been a very happy G30 user for at least 8 years now. Got a little pouch which stops the dodgy battery compartment flying open and keeps the whole unit secure on my strap. But seeing the XU2 has made me ponder a change, as it could offer me a simple chance to slim down my pedalboard 😅

Edited by Merton
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Until recently I had been using an older pre line 6 x2 system which I was incredibly happy with. After 11 years of solid use around the country and abroad, it died 😢

I have now just picked up a g30, and am very happy with it. I use a sweatband in my pocket to hold the receiver to prevent the door opening, as I change instruments through the course of my shows. 
if I’m honest, I loved the form factor of the x2 and it’s ability to use a 9v battery to power the receiver. I am still on the lookout for another transmitter😳

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Although as mentioned above, I have a Smoothhound which I am happy with, I got some of those cheap 2.4ghz dongle type wireless things as an 'around the house' thing a few years ago, used them at a few practices too. Range not as good but pretty reliable, and it meant I didn't have to take my pedalboard. Then they went missing, so later I wanted some more and as I had had trouble with 2.4, I went for some 5GHz ones. They are bigger (no heavier though, a couple of grammes!) and they work fine. Again round the house and practices, but tbh, I would have no problem using them live either, they are very good, and the battery life is good enough for our gigs (3hrs+). The others turned up in the end, in a gig bag of my backup bass that I hadn't taken anywhere since the pandemic!

 

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For those that use wireless systems to practice around the house have you been able to go fully wireless i.e. using bluetooth headphones? If you have then I assume you're going  Bass > wireless transmitter > wireless receiver > pedals/amp etc > bluetooth transmitter  > headphones. If that's the case then I've heard that bluetooth sometimes causes too much latency - is that true?

 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, SumOne said:

For those that use wireless systems to practice around the house have you been able to go fully wireless i.e. using bluetooth headphones?

 

No, because the bluetooth latency is too high. Plus my bluetooth headphones are little earbud things, where my wired headphones are nice large ones.

 

20 minutes ago, SumOne said:

If you have then I assume you're going  Bass > wireless transmitter > wireless receiver > pedals/amp etc > bluetooth transmitter  > headphones. If that's the case then I've heard that bluetooth sometimes causes too much latency - is that true?

 

Yes,

 

I do have wireless in ears for gigging, but not bluetooth and I don't tend to use them in the house.

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I have a G50 on the big pedalboard (which will get used some time), a Smoothhound on the little pedalboard (which before that I was using with a Zoom MS60B as an ultra-mini pedalboard), and also have a pair of Muslady cheapo things for rehearsals so I don't tread on leads. I'm quite impressed by the Muslady ones, and the guitarist got a pair too after trying them out.

 

As for fully wireless, I do have a pair of Sennheiser wireless headphones (not Bluetooth) but the compression on them is very noticeable. I generally used wired and put up with the dangling cable.

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