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Real World Gear: Ingenious Solutions

A look at the latest wireless microphone systems for live performance and touring.

Over the past three or so years, many of the major suppliers have introduced digital wireless microphone systems, with some offering models from entry level to professional, and others remaining at the higher end.

Additionally, one of the earliest entrants into digital wireless, Line 6, released a new generation of its platform last year.

Digital systems represent a paradigm shift, bringing with them new technologies, often greater immunity to interference, typically excellent and uncompressed frequency response, and sometimes the ability to pack more channels within a smaller slice of spectrum.

All of this activity is taking place as the “traditional” UHF spectrum resources are being re-purposed for use by mobile broadband carriers and other licensed and unlicensed wireless users. We won’t know the exact future of the 600 MHz band until at least mid-2015 when the FCC is slated to hold an “Incentive Auction” for mobile broadband telecommunications. (Go here for more about this situation.)

Regardless, the mission will be doing more with less. One of the solutions for packing more channels into less spectrum, employed by many of the newer digital wireless makers, is lower power transmitters – often with variable output levels such as 1, 10, or 20 mW. While this approach can somewhat diminish the maximum range of these systems, closer placement of receivers and the application of remote and/or directional antennas can compensate.

The diminished overall RF level generated by lower power transmitters can make it easier to increase channel density, decrease intermodulation, and allow frequency reuse by offering less potential interference among systems operating in nearby locations, such as at festivals with multiple stages, conventions, or closely spaced theatrical venues. Longer battery life is an additional advantage.

Adding to these benefits, programming transmitters is also more foolproof, with receivers performing environmental RF scans, selecting groups of compatible frequencies, and communicating them to the transmitters through IR or RF links.

In some cases, both the receiver and transmitter settings can be monitored and changed via networking software, and most of these wireless systems can be networked. Audio can be output in the digital domain, so that the conversion to digital audio at the transmitter may remain unchanged until it reaches the loudspeaker system.

Many of the latest digital receivers cover a wide bandwidth, ranging from about 150 MHz to over 300 MHz, so a single receiver “split” is all that needs to be carried on a tour; most of the analog units cover approximately a 25 MHz spread. The front-end filtering is also more consistently and precisely tightened, allowing for closer spacing of channels.

Recent wireless mic systems that fall into the professional/touring class offer rack-mountable receivers, rugged transmitters, the ability to incorporate centralized networking and control, excellent audio quality, resistance to interference, antenna combining, and other desirable features to set the standard in wireless performance.

It will be exciting to see what comes next, both in terms of the technology in general and developments that will help meet new challenges. The circuitry is likely to get even faster, with the ability to predict and proactively make the necessary adjustments to keep the audio signals flowing. So far, product engineers at the various companies have creatively addressed the situation with solutions that sound great and perform quite well. I’m still amazed at how far it has come in the past couple of decades.

Take our Real World Gear Photo Gallery Tour of a range of the latest wireless microphone systems for live applications.

Gary Parks is a pro audio writer who has worked in the industry for more than 25 years, including serving as marketing manager and wireless product manager for Clear-Com, handling RF planning software sales with EDX Wireless, and managing loudspeaker and wireless product management at Electro-Voice.

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