Transmitter / Receiver for wired headphones

[richardash1981]

This is a follow-on to

which went on hold shortly thereafter for the usual reasons. The requirement for headphones when mixing on a tablet is gradually making a come-back (and I now own an XR12), so I'm thinking I need to get some sort of wireless headphones to use whilst mixing (or at least whilst setting up in a hurry). Having already got a pair of headphones I like (Studiospares M1000) it seems to me obvious that I want a transmitter and receiver set to feed them.
 

IEM options at the compatible-budget end of the market seem to be quite thin:

• Xvive U4 seems to be the only 2.4GHz option, but fixed in rechargeable batteries does not feel like a good idea.
• ANLEON S2 in Channel 70 seems to get OK reviews (and I have set one up, though not used it) but Channel 70 is very congested. Seems to be very hard to find a new one at the moment.
• If I'm buying second hand, maybe a second hand Sennheiser EW (on the correct channel) is a better bet?

This tends to take me in the direction of a Bluetooth pair, which might be equally congested but has some more ability to work round it. It seems to me that I would want Bluetooth 5 and one of the aptx codecs, but I'm not really sure. I suspect I'm not that latency sensitive as I find lip syncing video edits very hard to see! As far as I can tell I'll have to buy the two ends separately and persuade them to communicate ...
One possible pair with apt-x seem to be this and this from 1Mii (never heard of them). Getting apt-x (especially the low latency version) at the receiver end seems to be the hard bit, not many options for a battery powered receiver which will drive headphones with modern codec support?

[cedd]

I can recommend the LD Systems IEM's. Only a little more expensive than the ones you're mentioning there. Have a couple of them and they've been really good. The channel 70 system tunes down to channel 65 as well which was a big bonus for me. 

[richardash1981]

Thank you, I hadn't heard of the LD Systems IEM before. Channel 65 gives a way out if channel 70 gets too full without staring again, which seems like a good idea!

There seem to be two systems at very similar price points and the same frequency ranges, but obviously different hardware:

• U308
• MEI 100 G2

Gear 4 Music have stock of one and Thomann the other ...
 

[cedd]

Mine is the MEI 100 G2, and seems pretty good. Can't comment on the U308 other than to say it maybe looks like a more rugged beltpack (MEI is plastic with an almost rubbery finish). Don't think you'll really go wrong with either to be honest. 

[richardash1981]

To update on this, an open-box B-stock LD Systems MEI 100 G2 system arrived earlier this week, and I'm currently listening to my laptop's headphone out through it with no issues. So it's got no problem driving the (low impedance) StudioSpares M1000 MK2 headphones - will go up very loud on the beltpack if I want to (I'm sure it will need to be louder at an event than in a quiet room).

The noise floor seems to be good, even with the input level set fairly low (first point on the transmitter meters) it sounds fine (I suspect there is lots of companding going on, but it works!). Oddly, a quick go with the supplied earbuds makes it sound a lot noisier - a nasty treble lift in the supplied earbuds (which I don't intend to use).

The only thing which doesn't sound great is the headphone socket on the front of the receiver (which has noise / interference pickup on it which isn't there on the RF out!). I don't intend to use it however, so it doesn't bother me.