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Wireless Microphone systems...again!


cmccabe

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Hello,

 

We are looking into purchasing a kit of 4 mic systems, handheld to start with, then probably adding 4 headsets after.

 

We ahve narrowed it down to two:

 

Senheiser ew135 G3 (channel 38)

Line 6 XD-V70 or the new XD-V75. (wifi)

 

Does anybody have any experience and preference over them? Any other advice?

 

Many thanks

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Give just those two options, the EW135 all the way. Is there any reason you've discounted the Trantec S5.3 systems? They're nice mics and cost a bit less than the Sennheisers. I recommend you give them a look before committing.

 

Josh

 

For me the Trantec systems feel and look a bit cheep. I wouldn't be surprised if they physically broke with gigging.

 

Having said that, I haven't owned any, nor extensively used them, it's just when I have come across anyone with any trantec kit, it makes me cringe if I have to touch it, a bit like maplins kit.

It maybe I have only ever come across the cheep kit before and the s5.3 is a whole different kettle.

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I think you need to look at the facilities they each offer and decide which will be more useful for you.

 

Both systems work well and sound good. You'll need a licence for the Sennheiser. The L6 can cause issues with nearby wifi. The Sennheiser has some nice touches like being able to automatically lock the TX a few seconds after it switches on. The L6 has an encrypted mode should you need to avoid eavesdropping. You'd need extra antennae distro for the G3 whereas the L6 has this built in. The G3 is easier to cross hire should you wish to do so.

 

It's things like this that you need to consider; only you can decide which system is best for you. You'll get more recommendations for Sennheiser here simply because more people have used them. I've used both and am pretty happy with either. The L6 had some teething problems with their early units but that's been sorted now.

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Give just those two options, the EW135 all the way. Is there any reason you've discounted the Trantec S5.3 systems? They're nice mics and cost a bit less than the Sennheisers. I recommend you give them a look before committing.

 

Josh

 

For me the Trantec systems feel and look a bit cheep. I wouldn't be surprised if they physically broke with gigging.

 

Having said that, I haven't owned any, nor extensively used them, it's just when I have come across anyone with any trantec kit, it makes me cringe if I have to touch it, a bit like maplins kit.

It maybe I have only ever come across the cheep kit before and the s5.3 is a whole different kettle.

 

I've got loads of Trantec S5.5 and its really, really solid.

 

Very well built, reliabe and for a resonable price.

 

I worked on a few big West-End shows that was using Trantec and never had a fault hence me investing my own money into it.

 

Lots of hire companies rent Trantec out because its solid and cost effective.

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I havent used either, do you think that people would choose the sennheisers because of the badge? Or is there a clear advantage over the line 6??

 

The Line 6 system has been discussed at length in THIS THREAD. Results have been fairly positive but certainly not totally trouble free.

 

The Sennheiser reputation is definitely more than just the badge--their gear (even at entry level like mentioned here) has a good reputation for quality and ruggedness.

 

However, for the OP, don't forget that in Channel 38 you'll have an annual license fee to factor into your budget--£75 or £80 per year when I was last in the UK but double check me at the JFMG website.

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I did a show a few weeks back and the guy the company had hired all the gear off brought three different types of wireless microphones.

 

Guess which one had no problems? And guess who got sick of all the problems with the other types they brought in their wireless microphones from work, again with no problems.

 

Sennheiser till I die or if another, better brand is brought out.

 

EDIT: Having said that, one of the four Trantec microphones he brought worked fine so I'm not cutting them down at the first hurdle.

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I did a show a few weeks back and the guy the company had hired all the gear off brought three different types of wireless microphones.

 

Guess which one had no problems? And guess who got sick of all the problems with the other types they brought in their wireless microphones from work, again with no problems.

 

Sennheiser till I die or if another, better brand is brought out.

 

 

 

EDIT: Having said that, one of the four Trantec microphones he brought worked fine so I'm not cutting them down at the first hurdle.

 

 

 

Which Trantec model, could have been old or not looked after properly??

 

If you do a search on trantec S5 on here you will read nothing but positive coments.

 

I used to hire the Sennheisers before buying my Trantecs and they let me down on 2 consecutive hires.

 

The TRS Jack input on the Sennheiser Beltpack TX's would pop and bang as they would become loose from the main circuit board inside the pack.

I had this on around 6 out of 18 transmitters and on both hires.

Some other people have reported this on here as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The L6 can cause issues with nearby wifi.

 

Please let me bring everyone current on this topic. Wi-Fi interference to Line 6 wireless is seldom a problem that cannot be managed however the opposite is far less the case. So in an effort to minimize the Line 6 units stepping all over your Wi-Fi system we have released a new transmission scheme we call "RF2" mode. This ships in the new series of wireless (XD-V 75, 55 and 35) and is a free firmware upgrade to all previous Line 6 2.4G systems.

 

Basically this system uses 2 channel frequency diversity instead of 4 channel frequency diversity. In this way we can place the spacing of our channels in a way that lowers the impact to wi-fi channel assignments. A new channel scanning feature will assist you in picking XDV channels and avoiding contact with wi-fi channels. I should mention that upgrading to the newest firmware gives users the option to select either RF1 (4 channel) or RF2 (2 channel mode).

 

An additional benefit to RF2 mode is the reduction of overall system latency to <2.9ms.

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I have a set of five line 6s some g2 and g3 and for Panto was using Shure and trantec s5. If I needed to buy more I'd be happy with any and the package price would probably swing the deal. Price wise the line 6 aerial loop throughs mean no extra costs. I've had no interference problems to the line 6, although I didn't know about the firmware update so I will do that when I have free time. If presented with any of these I'd be quite happy. Paul
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