Recommend me a wireless system

[neepheid]

I think if you go into this wireless game expecting it to sound exactly the same as wired, you'd better come prepared to spend.

 

TL:DR you are being too analytical.

[Al Krow]

8 hours ago, ped said:

I’ve fallen out of love with the NUX. In some environments you can hear a level of background noise which is sort of ‘gated’ with an Audible ‘pop’. I also think even with cable tone engaged it’s too trebly compared to my cable. I only really noticed this when using my Eich combo in lean back mode so I can hear the top end super clearly. It wasn’t too noticeable on my last gig but at practice the other night it was, and once I noticed the signal noise it was kind of game over. I think perhaps I’m a bit too analytical about signal noise but I’m not willing to compromise on it. I think with a less clean rig then this wouldn’t be an issue and even less so in a band mix but in my situation it sort of robs me of the clank and makes it too sharp. The tone with the cable - bang on. 
 

I think the perfect mix for me would be the sound of the Boss unit combined with the form factor, case and bandwidth of the Nux. The boss altered the treble range too but in more of a curtailed way at a lower frequency. 

 

I agree that the Boss WL-20 had the cleanest tone of the wireless I've used. 

 

Downsides for me were all practical live use ones:

- 2.4 GHz and consequent noticeable drop outs (key deal breaker for me);

- 'rigid' form factor was not so good eg with Ibanez SR basses;

- my older ones had a not great battery life of around 3 to 4 hours, if I remember correctly.

 

The NUX trumps it on all three counts, plus the handy charge case, so whilst I would have loved to have held onto the Boss, it was a no brainer for me to switch.

 

I generally use a cable at home which is where nuances of tone are going to be most prominent - in a live mix I wouldn't be able to notice it, as you have alluded. Besides, I'm too preoccupied trying to get the notes right!

 

Edited November 13 by Al Krow

[ped]

40 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

I agree that the Boss WL-20 had the cleanest tone of the wireless I've used. 

 

Downsides for me were all practical live use ones:

- 2.4 GHz and consequent noticeable drop outs (key deal breaker for me);

- 'rigid' form factor was not so good eg with Ibanez SR basses;

- my older ones had a not great battery life of around 3 to 4 hours, if I remember correctly.

 

The NUX trumps it on all three counts, plus the handy charge case, so whilst I would have loved to have held onto the Boss, it was a no brainer for me to switch.

 

I generally use a cable at home which is where nuances of tone are going to be most prominent - in a live mix I wouldn't be able to notice it, as you have alluded. Besides, I'm too preoccupied trying to get the notes right!

 

I agree. Perhaps it was bad timing to have got the Nux at the same time as the Eich, because all of a sudden I could hear myself really well, maybe too well in this case, especially at band practice where there tends to be more start-stop and less out and out playing as a full band. In particular I noticed the noise when discussing and breaking down bass parts with the keys. 

[warwickhunt]

Is 2.4GHz just a no go for you @ped?  I only as as units like the Line 6 have a cable tone control to dial back that inherent cleaner top end.  

 

I know it sounds daft but if the NUX is 'adding' top end to your overall signal (I know technically it isn't but it is revealing top end maybe), can you not dial back that top end on your Eich combo.  I suppose I'm suggesting that the NUX was OK before the combo, so the combo having a clearer top end is the issue!    

[ped]

20 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

Is 2.4GHz just a no go for you @ped?  I only as as units like the Line 6 have a cable tone control to dial back that inherent cleaner top end.  

 

I know it sounds daft but if the NUX is 'adding' top end to your overall signal (I know technically it isn't but it is revealing top end maybe), can you not dial back that top end on your Eich combo.  I suppose I'm suggesting that the NUX was OK before the combo, so the combo having a clearer top end is the issue!    

2.4 gives dropouts at home quite frequently, probably due to the proximity to other stuff. 
 

The Nux has a cable tone option too but it evidently doesn’t do enough! I can roll it off to an extent at home (using my headphone setup where the difference is still apparent though to a lesser extent) and with the amp but I don’t feel it’s optimal to do so, and I’m still left with the ‘noise’ when a signal is detected or below threshold. And sure I’m being very critical and could probably work around it, but given my setup which I have lovingly saved and researched over the years to what I find is my best sound, I don’t want to compromise it for the sake of a little convenience yet (even just a tiny bit!)

[Muppet]

11 hours ago, ped said:

I’ve fallen out of love with the NUX. In some environments you can hear a level of background noise which is sort of ‘gated’ with an Audible ‘pop’.

I'm the same. Whatever we try in a gig situation this thing is introducing a noticeable hiss, and when everyone is running IEMs this isn't acceptable.  I'm also experiencing the pronounced top end. I can dial this out with EQ but I don't want to have to adjust it every time. I'm persevering for the time being but keep switching ba k to the GLXD....

 

[ped]

1 hour ago, Muppet said:

I'm the same. Whatever we try in a gig situation this thing is introducing a noticeable hiss, and when everyone is running IEMs this isn't acceptable.  I'm also experiencing the pronounced top end. I can dial this out with EQ but I don't want to have to adjust it every time. I'm persevering for the time being but keep switching ba k to the GLXD....

 

 

I think I'd prefer it to make the background noice all the time rather than than cut out when there's no signal; it makes it more noticeable! 

 

We're nearly there - as @Al Krow says, the technology is getting better and each version is improving - now we just need the best elements of each to combine into a device which truly competes with a cable. With a handy charging case.

[BigRedX]

@ped and @Muppet, either I have a completely different version of the NUX wireless system or there is definitely something wrong with your devices. I've just done a fairly critical listening test on headphones turned up as loud as I felt was comfortable, and I can't hear any of the artefacts that you are describing. I'm listening via my Line6 Helix on a patch with all the modules turned off so only the AD-DA convertors should be affecting the signal. Admittedly, now I'm in my 60s, my hearing isn't as brilliant as it could be, but I can't discern any additional background and no "gating" sounds, which from your descriptions should be at least detectable even if my hearing is no longer good enough to consider it a problem. Also the sound with the cable tone turned off is only slightly brighter and louder than using my 5m OBBM lead. With the cable tone function engaged, the jack lead definitely sounds brighter.

 

Also I've done a couple of gigs where the PA engineers were complaining about a very low-level hum coming from our backing playback (which I've since managed to track down and cure), and if my bass system had been outputting similar audio nasties I'm sure they would have let me know about that too.

 

Mine is the NUX C-5RC.

[ped]

Hm, weird. I have packed it up to send back but maybe I'll crack it open and record it to show you if I have time before the return window.

[SumOne]

I've now tried out the Lekato WS90 (£48 via Amazon) at home and in a band practise and it's good, easy setup, not a noticeable change in tone, I can't notice latency and there haven't been dropouts. The band also had two wireless mics and three sets of IEMs running and there was no interference. It was quite liberating being freed from being tethered to the pedalboard/amp in a rehearsal room, and is even quite an improvement for home practise being able to freely move around a room without considering a cable.

 

Going through a fuzz pedal set to high gain there definitely is noise added that's noticeable when not playing - high pitch white noise and some 'squiggly' sort of sounds like radio tuning, whereas the cable adds a different lower pitched 'hum' grounding sort of noise with the same setup. I wonder if having a Passive single coil Jazz Bass with a transmitter right next to it and not having a physical audio cable interferes with what the pickups 'pickup' and the grounding, and if that the case for all wireless devices? It isn't a big deal for me  - I can't hear any difference when not going through the fuzz set to high gain, and the cable adds just as much noise - just different,  and I've found a lot of high-gain fuzz pedals are picky about the signal they receive: what else is in the signal chain - buffered or not and how they are powered etc. and noise gates are useful for them it it becomes an issue. The noise isn't noticeable once going through an Amp/Cab and playing with a band, and it isn't noticeable when not going through the fuzz set to high gain, but anyone particularly sensitive to added noise might not like it. 

 

It doesn't give the impression of being the most 'road worthy' and sturdy thing though, a bit flimsy compared with something like the Boss WL-20 that I used with the Waza-Air headphones, so for now I will stick with using a cable at the gig this weekend. I'll give the Lekato a go live if no issues after a few more rehearsals though, and I think it would be useful even if just for standing in different places during soundcheck.

 

AliExpress are doing them for £24 including postage. But form what I've heard, ordering from them isn't without risk!

 

 

Edited November 14 by SumOne

[tauzero]

11 hours ago, SumOne said:

AliExpress are doing them for £24 including postage. But form what I've heard, ordering from them isn't without risk!

 

Pretty much risk-free from my experience of 20+ orders.

 

The WS-50 feels a bit more solid and is a bit smaller, but with a shorter nose so it can't get into Ibanez SR jack sockets, and doesn't have the switchable channel selection of the WS-90.

[mcnach]

On 16/10/2024 at 11:47, Twigman said:

I'm after a wireless connection between my bass and my pedal board so I can strut around without getting tangled in my cable.

There seem to be many options.

I'd like one where the Tx doesn't stick out too far from the bass - my favourite bass is my EBMM USA Sterling 4HH - the output jack is on the bottom edge - i don't want the wireless Tx to be sticking out for perhaps my leg to get caught on it - so flush to the body would be good.

Batteries: I'd like them to be rechargeable and be able to cope for at least 5 hours between charges.

Ideally I'd like the Rx to be on my pedalboard and run off the pedal board power supply. (T-Rex Chameleon - so 9V/12V/18V DC or 12V AC)

Range: I'd like a reliable range of tens of metres ideally.

I'd like the system to not require a radio licence in UK/EU or USA.

Is there such a package?

Link me up with your recommendations please.

TIA

 

 

 

I used the Line6 G30 for over 10 years. I still have it, but lately I don't need a pedalboard for most of what I do, so bringing the additional power supply etc felt a bit clumsy. I recently got a Lekato WS-90 set, which uses the 5.8GHz band and presumably more resistant to interference. It may still be early days but it just works fine and charges quickly (USB, which we always have available on several of our extension units).

 

The only drawback, perhaps, is that it's the type that plugs in directly on the bass. I don't like that. So I do what I was doing with the Line6 already: a small 40-50cm M-F cable from the bass to the wireless transmitter, then the transmitter in my pocket or in a holder on my strap. 

 

 

 

 

[mcnach]

On 22/10/2024 at 12:52, tauzero said:

On the battery life front, as an experiment I didn't recharge my Lekato WS-90 after doing the last gig (2.5 hours left switched on), and since then they've done three open mic nights (2 hours left switched on every time) and managed an hour of rehearsal before the transmitter threw up its little hands. About 9.5 hours then.

 

That's good to know, thank you! 

 

I recently got the WS-90 system and the one thing I don't like is the battery monitor: it just does what it does until level is low and then turns red. The G30 was simple but the 4-bar green/red leds were perfect. 

 

[SumOne]

The Lekato WS90 didn't last me long, I dropped the transmitter and some fault has developed where it is working intermittently (and this is at close range, fully charged), seems like a loose connection.  It's a shame as it had been working very well - and at distance and even through walls. Just not very tough though (whereas I feel the Boss would've taken that 4ft drop to the floor and been fine).

 

 

Edited November 28 by SumOne

[StingRayBoy42]

5 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 I feel the Boss would've taken that 4ft drop to the floor and been fine

 

 

When you drop Boss stuff, the floor will probably come off worse...

 

I dropped a TU-2 down a flight of concrete stairs, still works fine!