Wireless Systems

[lukeward2004]

Hi Guys,

My 5 year old Shure T series wireless died last night - well, it didnt die, but over the last few weeks, its been "farting" somewhat and I have tracewd it back to the bodypack. It has been through many gigs and has been knocked around a lot, so its seen a fair bit fo abuse. Ive been through the usual troubleshooting of checking cables, batteries and power, and its definately the bodypack.

Im looking for a new wireless unit as ive been meaning to upgrade for some time now, I like the look of the Senheiser Freeport system, any advice? Other alternatives I have seen are the Shure PGX and SLX ranges, and the Trantec S2000 series.

I would prefer a rackmounted unit, as its one less thing to carry - is the Senheiser Rack-mountable? Do you have any experiences with these various wireless systems?

Any recommendations appreciated, im looking to buy something soon - but my GAS is for the Senheiser at the moment. Any Freeport owners?

cheers

Luke

[Tinman]

I've got the Freeport. I stopped using it a while back because I thought it was affecting my sound, however thinking about it, I realise that was possibly because I hadn't set my amp up properly. I'm going to go back to it and give it another try, I'll let you know.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Tinman' post='6340' date='May 25 2007, 10:59 AM']I've got the Freeport. I stopped using it a while back because I thought it was affecting my sound, however thinking about it, I realise that was possibly because I hadn't set my amp up properly. I'm going to go back to it and give it another try, I'll let you know.[/quote]

Quick! before it goes.. have a look on basstalk and search for sennheiser ew172 g2
Cracking wireless. rack mountable (with an arial extention gizmo)
No tone loss if any, all sorts of goodness about it.
I typed it all in before and it should all be there

Best price I found was £325 from stagebox.com but that was Feb 2006 ... should be a few on t'bay.

[Tinman]

[quote name='OldGit' post='6347' date='May 25 2007, 11:06 AM']Quick! before it goes.. have a look on basstalk and search for sennheiser ew172 g2
Cracking wireless. rack mountable (with an arial extention gizmo)
No tone loss if any, all sorts of goodness about it.
I typed it all in before and it should all be there

Best price I found was £325 from stagebox.com but that was Feb 2006 ... should be a few on t'bay.[/quote]

Si, are you trying to get me to buy something else? My God man, she'll kill me

[OldGit]

[quote name='Tinman' post='6354' date='May 25 2007, 11:10 AM']Si, are you trying to get me to buy something else? My God man, she'll kill me [/quote]


ha ha
I really should get commission

[tonyf]

[quote name='OldGit' post='6347' date='May 25 2007, 11:06 AM']Quick! before it goes.. have a look on basstalk and search for sennheiser ew172 g2
Cracking wireless. rack mountable (with an arial extention gizmo)
No tone loss if any, all sorts of goodness about it.
I typed it all in before and it should all be there

Best price I found was £325 from stagebox.com but that was Feb 2006 ... should be a few on t'bay.[/quote]

Good shout that man!

I've had a 172 for ages now and it's brilliant. I've had a couple of other wirelesses in the past and I was always a bit skeptical about the quality and reliability of wireless in general. However, one of my mates recommended the sennheiser and I haven't looked back.

Absolutely transparent, no obvious compression that you sometimes get from some cheaper wirelesses. It's got the flexibility to swap frequencies, alter the gain of the transmitter and also vary the "squelch" to keep the signal clean. The transmitter is built like a brick, mine's taken loads of abuse over the years.

I've got the optional rack mount kit, bit more expensive but it keeps it safe in my rack with the DTR-1 and my EBS head and being all contained in one 8u box, it's a simple case of taking the front and back off plugging in the speaker and power and it's go, go, go.

HTH

Tony

[Kiwi]

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='6327' date='May 25 2007, 10:34 AM']Hi Guys,

My 5 year old Shure T series wireless died last night - well, it didnt die, but over the last few weeks, its been "farting" somewhat and I have tracewd it back to the bodypack. It has been through many gigs and has been knocked around a lot, so its seen a fair bit fo abuse. Ive been through the usual troubleshooting of checking cables, batteries and power, and its definately the bodypack...

...Any recommendations appreciated, im looking to buy something soon - but my GAS is for the Senheiser at the moment. Any Freeport owners?[/quote]

Rich and I swear by our old Trantec systems. I've got three of them secondhand off Ebay and they were each about £100. I can use them all at once as they occupy different frequencies, so in principle I could have the Alembic running wireless in stereo and have the Pentabuzz ready as well.

Build-wise they're almost bomb-proof with sheet metal cases. The only downer is that they're not rack mountable but given that I run combos now, its not a great inconvenience with the use of adhesive velcro gripping pads.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='6479' date='May 25 2007, 01:45 PM']Rich and I swear by our old Trantec systems. I've got three of them secondhand off Ebay and they were each about £100. I can use them all at once as they occupy different frequencies, so in principle I could have the Alembic running wireless in stereo and have the Pentabuzz ready as well.

Build-wise they're almost bomb-proof with sheet metal cases. The only downer is that they're not rack mountable but given that I run combos now, its not a great inconvenience with the use of adhesive velcro gripping pads.[/quote]

I think Rich has a Senheisser 172 now ...

I had a Trantec s2000 and was happy as larry for a while. but it's VHF and the sound way way inferior to a cable. and when theres 5 or 6 radios in the band, disco, support band etc there's only so many VHF frquencies to go round so the Senn is better for me as it works out it's own frequency and chooses one that's not in use. It also sounds almost as good ad an OBBM cable and a hell of a lot better than a cheapy one

Edited May 25, 2007 by OldGit

[chris_b]

Isn't the government planning to take the frequencies away?

[ZPQ]

[quote name='OldGit' post='6347' date='May 25 2007, 11:06 AM']Quick! before it goes.. have a look on basstalk and search for sennheiser ew172 g2
Cracking wireless. rack mountable (with an arial extention gizmo)
No tone loss if any, all sorts of goodness about it.
I typed it all in before and it should all be there

Best price I found was £325 from stagebox.com but that was Feb 2006 ... should be a few on t'bay.[/quote]

Good price, you ned to make sure that you get the rack kit and cables to move the ariels as they aren't included.
I looked at lots of wireless setups last year and rate the Sennheiser. It seemed to me that the cheaper ones are ok ish but with the proper setup you know it'll work everytime which is worth paying the extra for.


[quote name='chris_b' post='6741' date='May 25 2007, 07:18 PM']Isn't the government planning to take the frequencies away?[/quote]

I'm not sure how definite that is, but it won't be for a few years iirc.

Cheers
John

[douggy]

i have a shure ulx professional and its the best wireless ever

check them out , honestly they are sweet as

doug

[KevB]

Still using the Samson Airline, works fine for me and dead easy to switch basses mid-gig.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='OldGit' post='6517' date='May 25 2007, 02:25 PM']I think Rich has a Senheisser 172 now ...

I had a Trantec s2000 and was happy as larry for a while. but it's VHF and the sound way way inferior to a cable.[/quote]

Does he? I was going by his photos in Bass Porn and I thought he was showing another Trantec... ...maybe it was his old one. Anyways, in all honesty, I'm hard pushed to tell the difference between cable and wireless on my units. All three sound pretty crisp and full to me during an AB test - maybe I just got lucky?

[Muppet]

I've got the Sennheiser 172 also (not the G2 but the older model). It's exceptional in my opinion, apart from the rubbish instrument lead that is supplied with it.

[nottswarwick]

Luke - as you know I use Shure - SLX, rackmountable - with the rack stuff included (it is extra on the Sennheiser).

I wanted the ULX, but it is very expensive, and the SLX does just dandy. Huge numbers of frequencies to use, and auto scan and all sorts.

I had a couple of Sennheiser units which were from a faulty batch (dodgy conectors - isolated problemn tho), but what I found when I got the Shure instead was in my opinion an ever so slightly clearer sound.

I cannot tell the difference in a gigging situation, but when solo at home a lead is better.

Tre www.dv247.com - for me it was the best price and LEGENDARY after sales service, the best I have ever had.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Muppet' post='6891' date='May 25 2007, 11:01 PM']I've got the Sennheiser 172 also (not the G2 but the older model). It's exceptional in my opinion, apart from the rubbish instrument lead that is supplied with it.[/quote]


Oh yeah OBBM did me a top class one. The screwdown mini jack is costly but it's worth it. The supplied cable is too long anyway..

[Toasted]

X2

[Muppet]

[quote name='OldGit' post='6914' date='May 25 2007, 10:46 PM']Oh yeah OBBM did me a top class one. The screwdown mini jack is costly but it's worth it. The supplied cable is too long anyway..[/quote]

Ah - Just after I made my post I thought about OBBM so I have PMed him. Cheers!

[phatbassdood]

[quote name='KevB' post='6802' date='May 25 2007, 08:54 PM']Still using the Samson Airline, works fine for me and dead easy to switch basses mid-gig.[/quote]

yeah, I've got one of these, bought from gaf on bassworld, it works fine and fits on my pedalboard. The only down side is my DI+ hisses when it's switched on.

[OldGit]

[quote name='phatbassdood' post='7090' date='May 26 2007, 12:26 PM']yeah, I've got one of these, bought from gaf on bassworld, it works fine and fits on my pedalboard. The only down side is my DI+ hisses when it's switched on.[/quote]

I had one but I couldn't live with the big thud it gives out through the backline when you turn the transmitter off.

[King Tut]

Dude! I've got a freeport and gig with it a coupla times a week. Some say it loses bottom, but in the bread and butter world of sweaty clubs, no one's gonna notice if you compensate by using your amp's eq a little. I use NMH rechargeables with mine - recharge before every gig. With all the controversy over frequencies being taken away, I certainly wouldn't invest too much dough in a radio at the mo!! freeport all the way!

[lukeward2004]

OK, having pondered this a lot over the last few weeks, ive decided to sell the Sennheiser Freeport system and replace it with an AKG WMS400 - which seems to be the dogs danglies.

[tayste_2000]

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='13606' date='Jun 7 2007, 02:32 PM']OK, having pondered this a lot over the last few weeks, ive decided to sell the Sennheiser Freeport system and replace it with an AKG WMS400 - which seems to be the dogs danglies.[/quote]

You know it's good cos I have one

[oddjob]

The AKG WMS 400 looks amazing for the price.
tayste; does the system allow you to choose any frequency between the 660 - 863 MHz or is it only in one of the blocks of 30MHz, i'm looking to get a wireless for playing at church and we have specific frequencies licenced for use in the building we meet in. So if the unit only comes in a 30MHz block would i have to conact the supplier with the particular frequency block i want?

Also, does anyone know the difference between the WMS400 and WMS450 i can't find any difference appart from an extra 2MHz frequency band from 863 to 865 MHz and a price increase of £130.

[tayste_2000]

[quote name='oddjob' post='13703' date='Jun 7 2007, 05:10 PM']The AKG WMS 400 looks amazing for the price.
tayste; does the system allow you to choose any frequency between the 660 - 863 MHz or is it only in one of the blocks of 30MHz, i'm looking to get a wireless for playing at church and we have specific frequencies licenced for use in the building we meet in. So if the unit only comes in a 30MHz block would i have to conact the supplier with the particular frequency block i want?

Also, does anyone know the difference between the WMS400 and WMS450 i can't find any difference appart from an extra 2MHz frequency band from 863 to 865 MHz and a price increase of £130.[/quote]

Hehehe Don't laugh but I've never changed the frequency on it so I wouldn't know, I wouldn't have thought it would have gone up in such high jumps of 30mhz though. Just checking though are any of you guys finding the AKG 400 for less than 199?

FYI people looking for a cheap good wireless ElliotMinor is selling on the AKG bugs in the For Sale Section they are great units as long as you don't throw your bass around your head