Which wireless?

[M@23]

Looking for what people are using in 2023. My last unit was the Line 6 G75. Which was great and didn’t give me any problems. Looks like they’ve been ditched by L6. The rest of the range seems high prices for old tech. 

Don’t really want to stretch to the Shure units, even though I know they’re great. So potentially looking at the Boss WI50, as the 60 isn’t available. 
Pros look to be, pedal seized receiver that is solid and compact, good battery life, low latency. 
 

is there anything else worth considering for under £250?
My bass is a passive Yamaha BB

 

Thanks for any thoughts/feedback. 

[walshy]

I have the Boss WL50 for home use and it's great. However I use the Shure GLXD for all gigs and it's worth the money and more. Its just that good IMO

[bassfan]

Plus 1 on the shure glxd. Love mine. 

[Lozz196]

I used the BOSS WL20 for a couple of years, was great so I’d expect the same of the WL50.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I've tried quite a few, but the Shure GLXD wins for me too. Even if you just take @walshy, @bassfan and my word for it, the three of us combined have tested the GLXD through most scenarios with no issues.

There was a period not so long ago when they stopped making them due to issues sourcing the parts, but the GLXD has been rebooted as the GLXD16+.

Not cheap, but worth it. 

[M@23]

Damn it… thanks all… perhaps it worth the initial outlay then. 

 

[walshy]

17 minutes ago, M@23 said:

Damn it… thanks all… perhaps it worth the initial outlay then. 

 

Im Afraid it is mate. I now have the newer version and it’s so so good

[Al Krow]

Must admit I'm very tempted to step up to the GLXD16+ because of its available 5.8GHz band which is going to be outside the crowded 2.4GHz space - I've found my WL-20s intermittently cutting-out / not really giving me much range recently at a couple of venues maybe coinciding with the band also starting to use wireless IEMs also operating at 2.4GHz. Baulking at the £549 price tag, though (as that's more than I've just spent on our mixing desk, which seems the wrong way around!) and I managed to pick up my WL-20s used for < £100 and really enjoyed using them for the past couple of years.

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

Well I've just ordered a pair of wireless bugs costing half the price the Xvive U2s that kept dropping out and, as they're 5.8 GHz, represent a truly poor man's version of the Shure GLXD16+.

 

What could possibly go wrong? 😂 

[EBS_freak]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

What could possibly go wrong? 😂 

That would take me far too long to type out...

[Al Krow]

I mean it claims 100m range. I'd be content with 20m so there's some headroom there and 6ms latency, which I can live with and comparable to Smooth-hound, which were fine. So if the 5.8 Ghz means it drops out less and hopefully not at all, then that should be fine. I'm about to find out...

[Paul S]

25 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 I'd be content with 20m 

 

Crowd surfing again, Baz?  

[thisisswanbon]

I'm having great results with the NUX C-5RC set and an extension jack cable to plug it into.  Budget friendly, 5.8ghz, sounds great and is really convenient to use with rechargeable case!

[EBS_freak]

So with 5.8Ghz, you have less interference - but the nature of RF propagation for 5.8, means that the radio waves are less good at passing through mediums that lie between transmitter and receiver (e.g. when comparing to 2.4 using the same transmission power). This is still true for all radio waves, but the higher the frequency, for a fixed power amount, the effectiveness of penetration (oo-er) is less. 

 

So yes, less interference - but more likely to drop out if you haven't got direct line of sight between transmitter and receiver. And of course, for the same power, range will be considerably less for 5.8 compared to 2.4.

 

If you are getting problems, take this into account, make sure that any body worn transmitters/receivers, aren't placed as such so that the radio waves have to pass through your torso to get to their destination.

 

As with everything I say though, do take things with a certain pinch of salt - because if this stuff works for you, it works for you... just don't go into things blind and then scratch your head when the result isn't what you are expecting.

[thisisswanbon]

2 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

So with 5.8Ghz, you have less interference - but the nature of RF propagation for 5.8, means that the radio waves are less good at passing through mediums that lie between transmitter and receiver (e.g. when comparing to 2.4 using the same transmission power). This is still true for all radio waves, but the higher the frequency, for a fixed power amount, the effectiveness of penetration (oo-er) is less. 

 

So yes, less interference - but more likely to drop out if you haven't got direct line of sight between transmitter and receiver. And of course, for the same power, range will be considerably less for 5.8 compared to 2.4.

 

If you are getting problems, take this into account, make sure that any body worn transmitters/receivers, aren't placed as such so that the radio waves have to pass through your torso to get to their destination.

 

As with everything I say though, do take things with a certain pinch of salt - because if this stuff works for you, it works for you... just don't go into things blind and then scratch your head when the result isn't what you are expecting.

I'll be honest, I wasn't aware of ANY of that, except for the less interference.  I did think it was strange that people stuck with 2.4ghz when 5.8ghz was less congested!  I had a drop out with a 2.4ghz set when standing next to some vertical LED lighting systems and panicked so swapped it out.  I also use a 2.4ghz IEM system, so liked the fact that they wouldn't interfere.

 

My transmitter tends to go in my back pocket, with my receiver in my pedal board on the floor and touch wood I've had no issues, although I'm likely to start panicking now haha.  Appreciate the words though, great to have that info and no doubt a massive help for people who go down the google rabbit hole for wireless info in future.

[Lozz196]

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Well I've just ordered a pair of wireless bugs costing half the price the Xvive U2s that kept dropping out and, as they're 5.8 GHz, represent a truly poor man's version of the Shure GLXD16+.

 

What could possibly go wrong? 😂 

Are they the SubZero ones from Gear4Music Baz, if so you’ll have no problems, they’re decent little bits of kit.

[EBS_freak]

57 minutes ago, thisisswanbon said:

I had a drop out with a 2.4ghz set when standing next to some vertical LED lighting systems and panicked so swapped it out.  I also use a 2.4ghz IEM system, so liked the fact that they wouldn't interfere.

 

This doesn't really make any sense with me? The 2.4 range which is widely used by routers, only has 3 truly intermodulation free (no overlaps) frequencies in the range (channels 1, 6, 11). It's when people start putting in wireless systems that make use of the other channels (like mics, IEMs etc), that the chaos starts. Like all of these things, radio require careful consideration when deploying... so for example, 3 routers in close proximity, for example for different companies, should be all on different channels. Dont be surprised if you then do a gig in an office block where 2.4 starts going crazy... for everybody (assuming fairly close proximity there). So if you turn up at a gig where there is a lot of contention in the 2.4, you've got the beginnings of understanding why. Likewise, upping transmission power could make matters worse when there's multiple bits of wireless around.

 

Like channel 38, 70 and 2.4. and 5.8, all of this is a bit of a free for all with no strict management. However, when you get into the realms of site licenses or leases, things are VERY co-ordinated.   

[Al Krow]

53 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Are they the SubZero ones from Gear4Music Baz, if so you’ll have no problems, they’re decent little bits of kit.

Cheers Lozz, 

 

They're actually Lekato WS-50 (5.8 GHz) - normally £60 but Amazon have them on currently for £48 so I thought I'd give them a punt. 

 

I've had pretty good experience with the Lekato kit I've had - really good vfm, so fingers crossed with this. I've got my Boss WL-20s (2.4 Ghz) as a fall back, but was getting a disappointing amount of drop out at a gig on Sat night to the extent I ended up firstly standing right next to the receiver and then swapping it out for a good old fashioned cable by the second set! 

 

The drop out maybe entirely related to us starting to use wireless IEMs as noted by Russ in his post above. 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

19 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

I'm having great results with the NUX C-5RC set and an extension jack cable to plug it into.  Budget friendly, 5.8ghz, sounds great and is really convenient to use with rechargeable case!

 

These look good, but I guess I was hoping they might deliver a significant improvement in latency for the 2.5x price premium, but apparently not? 

• Nux C-5RC 5.8GHz, Latency 5ms, Range 30M
• Lekato WS-50 5.8GHz, Latency 6ms, Range 100M (I'm guessing pinch of salt time for that) Correction - manual says 30M+ (unlike the larger figure on the website)

Edited April 26, 2023 by Al Krow

[thisisswanbon]

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

This doesn't really make any sense with me? The 2.4 range which is widely used by routers, only has 3 truly intermodulation free (no overlaps) frequencies in the range (channels 1, 6, 11). It's when people start putting in wireless systems that make use of the other channels (like mics, IEMs etc), that the chaos starts. Like all of these things, radio require careful consideration when deploying... so for example, 3 routers in close proximity, for example for different companies, should be all on different channels. Dont be surprised if you then do a gig in an office block where 2.4 starts going crazy... for everybody (assuming fairly close proximity there). So if you turn up at a gig where there is a lot of contention in the 2.4, you've got the beginnings of understanding why. Likewise, upping transmission power could make matters worse when there's multiple bits of wireless around.

 

Like channel 38, 70 and 2.4. and 5.8, all of this is a bit of a free for all with no strict management. However, when you get into the realms of site licenses or leases, things are VERY co-ordinated.   

I definitely wouldn't expect to get sense out of me! I just know it's the only drop out I had with them, and it happened after I had to move closer to the standing led light batons we use due to repeat stage invasions. There's every chance I've put 2+2 togethe and come out with 5... But there you have it! I wasn't using the IEMs at the time either... I'm a sucker for sales jargon, and NUXs website made their 5.8 system look better than their 2.4, so I was sold 🤣

[thisisswanbon]

27 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

These look good, but I guess I was hoping they might deliver a significant improvement in latency for the 2.5x price premium, but apparently not? 

• Nux C-5RC 5.8GHz, Latency 5ms, Range 30M
• Lekato WS-50 5.8GHz, Latency 6ms, Range 100M (I'm guessing pinch of salt time for that)

 

I've no idea, Al! I chose the NUX as I'd had a generally good experience with the 2.4 system. I LOVE the rechargeable case that charges the units in storage, I enjoyed the cable tone and ease of use, and hadn't noticed or felt any latency, which is good enough for me! 🙂. The case was as much a deciding factor as anything though 

[nemesis]

Been looking to get a wireless system but the boss wl-20l I borrowed has the blue light blinking off at times and losing sound which I can't tolerate. Anyone recommend someone 100% for my passive bass ampeg pf800 setup?

[jimmyb625]

There are a couple of threads here that are full of suggestions from people, covering all price ranges.

What I would say, is if you want something that will give 100% reliability, buy a cable (or 2, so you have a spare).

I'm not anti-wireless at all, but whichever unit you go for will always have the potential for failure, usually at the most inopportune time.

Digital systems are generally cheaper than analogue systems, but there is latency with them (how noticeable that will be to use is subjective) and the frequency range commonly used (2.8GHz in the case of your Boss unit) is getting quite congested with all sorts of digital things like fridges and the like trying to talk to each other. The new Shure unit also operates in 5GHz (there's a thread).

In the analogue world, you get what you pay for to a large extent. I haven't used them for bass, but I would be looking at something from the sennheiser G3/G4 range, or the equivalent Shure units.

[tauzero]

8 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Cheers Lozz, 

 

They're actually Lekato WS-50 (5.8 GHz) - normally £60 but Amazon have them on currently for £48 so I thought I'd give them a punt. 

 

I've had pretty good experience with the Lekato kit I've had - really good vfm, so fingers crossed with this. I've got my Boss WL-20s (2.4 Ghz) as a fall back, but was getting a disappointing amount of drop out at a gig on Sat night to the extent I ended up firstly standing right next to the receiver and then swapping it out for a good old fashioned cable by the second set! 

 

The drop out maybe entirely related to us starting to use wireless IEMs as noted by Russ in his post above. 

 

 

That's the ones I've got for home practice and rehearsals, and also used for some gigs. No problems at all.

[Jack]

Not even cables are 100% and cables are infinitely more reliable than wireless. 

 

Having said that, most wireless systems are really good these days. I used a couple of units on my way 'up' to the Shure GLX and they were all completely fine, or at least their problems weren't to do with dropouts. Having said that, I finally bit the bullet and bought a Shure. Those, and the new GLX+ replacements are the top dog before you get into touring/professional systems.