The Glendale Community College vocal jazz ensemble—featuring up to 16 vocalists, a rhythm section, and student sound engineers—has long faced obstacles using wired microphones.
Bryon Delto, associate professor of music at the California college, wanted the freedom of wireless without any complexities. With advice from systems and services company Hollywood Sound Systems, Delto found the answer with Shure ULX-D digital wireless systems. Brett Grossman, project manager at Hollywood Sound Systems, recommended the systems.
“In analyzing Delto and his ensemble’s requirements—high channel count, managed frequency deployment, digital audio networking, and intelligent battery operation—ULX-D was our product of choice,” Grossman says. “We took each of these needs into account when designing the rack, while also ensuring the unit easily paired with the Yamaha CL5 console we provided earlier.
“The result was one of the most compact, high-channel racks Hollywood Sound has ever done,” he continues. “Everything packs in nicely and even better, we can deploy the 16 channels Delto requires in just an 8 MHz range. A few years back, this wouldn’t have been possible at this price point.”
Eliminating tangled wires and streamlining audio management, Delto’s adoption of Hollywood Sound Systems’ carefully designed Shure ULX-D rack has been a real benefit to the ensemble’s performances.
The set-up includes four ULXD4Q quad channel digital wireless receivers combined with 16 Beta 58A handhelds. Each of the 16 channels is operated from two single rack units, providing important space savings for Delto and the ensemble, as the gear provides the mobility to move freely from rehearsal rooms to the performance stage.
Delto notes: “With Shure ULX-D digital wireless, the switch to a wireless platform was easy. In a school environment where student sound engineers are in charge, the system must be intuitive with a short learning curve. Students have quickly picked up ULX-D, and the sound we get out of it is incredible. Additionally, it’s extremely convenient to have everything centralized in a small rack space that rolls right into our confined storage space.”
The jazz ensemble has also benefited from the systems’ rechargeable batteries, which eliminate the need for disposables. With the rechargeables, student sound engineers can monitor run time and metering accuracy in hours and minutes. Another advantage of the systems is their Dante digital audio integration, offering multichannel audio networking over a single Ethernet connection and computer-based playback, recording, and signal routing.
Delto concludes, “ULX-D is a ‘wow’ device. Everything is compact, easily moveable, and scalable should our performance ensembles grow and require additional audio support.”
