Line 6 Relay G-50 Review/Question

[Akami]

That's great news, because I'm a happy owner of both the same units and definitely like the idea of better runtimes, although my biggest gripe was lack of range at times with the XDR95.

By the way, do you know if any of the after market cables are any better than just replacing the straight plug yourself?

[Clammy]

Originally Posted by Akami

That's great news, because I'm a happy owner of both the same units and definitely like the idea of better runtimes, although my biggest gripe was lack of range at times with the XDR95.

By the way, do you know if any of the after market cables are any better than just replacing the straight plug yourself?

I got one from this guy:
Line6 Relay G50 G90 Wireless Cable Lead Silent Jack RA | eBay

It's WAY beefier than the stock one supplied, and he was really easy to work with (I asked for a Switchcraft plug). I recently put the whole setup through the ringer in South America and it performed flawlessly (the G50 system, and the cable).

Cheers!

[Ryan L.]

Originally Posted by Akami

That's great news, because I'm a happy owner of both the same units and definitely like the idea of better runtimes, although my biggest gripe was lack of range at times with the XDR95.

By the way, do you know if any of the after market cables are any better than just replacing the straight plug yourself?

I bought a Shure cable for mine---I think the model number of it is WA304.

[Akami]

I think the Shure WA304 looks like the one I'll be getting. Looks pretty good but I'm going to hold off ordering a cable until the unit gets here.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by walterw

as for the G50, it works nicely except for the connector on the beltpack; the little ta4f has an annoying habit of falling out of the unit with any kind of gentle tug

i can bend the little metal tabs up and get a better grip on the transmitter jack, but it is not a positive lock like it should be.

an important detail:

the line 6 rep happened to be in our store today, and when i complained about the cable issue, he wanted to see the unit. he quickly determined that the edge of the jack in the transmitter had been broken out in the area that holds the cable in place, which is why the cables didn't lock tightly in.

he's sending me a replacement jack (no charge),but the larger point is that when intact, the jack will lock the cable to the transmitter just fine.

(i'm looking into replacing it with a metal jack instead, we'll see how possible that is.)

[walterw]

"Wile E. Coyote, Super-Genius!"



it was an absolute pain to get it in there (like open-heart surgery on a hamster), but a switchcraft metal TA4F jack will work. (edit: it's a TB4M jack, for a TA4F plug.)

the best part is that line 6 designed the unit with the jack mounted to a little PC board that uses spring contacts to connect to the rest of the circuitry. you have to take the thing completely apart to get to it, but a replacement will pop right in with no soldering or anything. that means i could order a factory replacement jack and put the transmitter back to stock, no harm, no foul (and no voided warranty).

now my cables will not pull out.

[jasonbraatz]

Awesome work!

The jack breakout board seems like it'd be a nice thing to get a spare of even if you stick with the TA4f...wonder if they'd sell them separately?

[Gearhead17]

I am having the exact same problem with my jack - the cable will just fall out on a light pull or just by itself.

Now I am considering doing what you just did. PM Sent!

[newwavefrank]

Update. Took my G90 in to be fixed on March 22. The service center is still waiting on a part from Line 6. 2 months? not impressed...

[Clammy]

Originally Posted by walterw

"Wile E. Coyote, Super-Genius!"



it was an absolute pain to get it in there (like open-heart surgery on a hamster), but a switchcraft metal TA4F jack will work.

the best part is that line 6 designed the unit with the jack mounted to a little PC board that uses spring contacts to connect to the rest of the circuitry. you have to take the thing completely apart to get to it, but a replacement will pop right in with no soldering or anything. that means i could order a factory replacement jack and put the transmitter back to stock, no harm, no foul (and no voided warranty).

now my cables will not pull out.

Do you know the part number for that jack? I've had no problems with the jack on my transmitter, but in case it goes south, I'd like to be prepared.

Thanks.

Cheers!

[walterw]

to "be prepared", i'd just get a replacement jack assy or two from line 6.

like i said, you have to take the whole beltpack apart to get to the jack, but once you do, the complete jack assy just pops out to be replaced. watch out, because there's several tiny screws and a couple little spacers that all have to go back on just right, as well as the buttons and various little parts that can fall out when it's opened up. (this thing is not really "user-serviceable" unless you're pretty skilled.)

the stock jack is attached to a little circuit card, which has the spring contacts to get to the rest of the guts. to install the metal jack (a switchcraft "TB4M", i found it at mouser), i had to de-solder the original from its little card, then run 4 tiny flying leads from the new jack, through the mounting hole in the transmitter, and finally to the solder points on the card.

i also had to ahead of time get an extra hex nut (like the one from the old jack) and grind it down to a square shape so it would fit inside the beltpack hole and serve to thread into the new jack to hold it in place. (the old one threaded from the front while the new one threads from the back.)

so it's:

take apart beltpack

pull old jack assy and its little card

de-solder jack from card (an absolute bitch without a solder-sucker, liquid flux and de-soldering braid)

grind down leading edge of the little card so new jack will clear it

solder 4 thin leads in card, maybe 1 1/2" long

modify nut to fit just inside hole in beltpack

feed the 4 wires through that nut and out the hole in beltpack

thread the included nut for the new jack onto said jack, to space it out so it clears the guts in the beltpack

solder the 4 wires to the new jack (i used a bit of ribbon cable with 4 different color wires, so i could keep track of what went where)

screw new jack into hole, threading it into that squared-out nut (i plugged a cable-end into the jack to give me a handle to turn it), letting the circuit card on the other end of the wires spin freely so the wires don't twist up

re-seat card in its little slot, tucking wires around it to clear everything

re-assemble beltpack

cross fingers and test unit

...
i shoulda took pictures, 'cause i'm not about to take it apart again!

[Clammy]

Originally Posted by walterw

to "be prepared", i'd just get a replacement jack assy or two from line 6.

like i said, you have to take the whole beltpack apart to get to the jack, but once you do, the complete jack assy just pops out to be replaced. watch out, because there's several tiny screws and a couple little spacers that all have to go back on just right, as well as the buttons and various little parts that can fall out when it's opened up. (this thing is not really "user-serviceable" unless you're pretty skilled.)

the stock jack is attached to a little circuit card, which has the spring contacts to get to the rest of the guts. to install the metal jack (a switchcraft "TB4M", i found it at mouser), i had to de-solder the original from its little card, then run 4 tiny flying leads from the new jack, through the mounting hole in the transmitter, and finally to the solder points on the card.

i also had to ahead of time get an extra hex nut (like the one from the old jack) and grind it down to a square shape so it would fit inside the beltpack hole and serve to thread into the new jack to hold it in place. (the old one threaded from the front while the new one threads from the back.)

so it's:

take apart beltpack

pull old jack assy and its little card

de-solder jack from card (an absolute bitch without a solder-sucker, liquid flux and de-soldering braid)

grind down leading edge of the little card so new jack will clear it

solder 4 thin leads in card, maybe 1 1/2" long

modify nut to fit just inside hole in beltpack

feed the 4 wires through that nut and out the hole in beltpack

thread the included nut for the new jack onto said jack, to space it out so it clears the guts in the beltpack

solder the 4 wires to the new jack (i used a bit of ribbon cable with 4 different color wires, so i could keep track of what went where)

screw new jack into hole, threading it into that squared-out nut (i plugged a cable-end into the jack to give me a handle to turn it), letting the circuit card on the other end of the wires spin freely so the wires don't twist up

re-seat card in its little slot, tucking wires around it to clear everything

re-assemble beltpack

cross fingers and test unit

...
i shoulda took pictures, 'cause i'm not about to take it apart again!

Thanks muchly for the detailed description. I'm pretty mechanically/electronically adept, so if the need ever arises, I can do the job, but I sure hope I won't HAVE to!!!

Cheers!

[walterw]

the other thing to keep in mind is that if you've bent the latch part of your cables up a little to get it to stick better in the plastic jack, do not use them with the metal jack, because you won't get them out! (ask me how i know )

fortunately, the entire metal shell of the cable plug slides right off and can be easily replaced with no soldering.

[walterw]

used my new "ruggedized" G50 for the first time last night at a gig, worked perfectly, and for once, when the whole band was jumping up and down on the last song, my goddamn cable didn't fall out right at the rockinest part!

[Akami]

I played two Saturdays in a row on my first set of batteries and have experienced zero dropouts while hanging out at the bar singing with all the customers last night. My original XDS95 used to cut out at times due to bodies being in the way, but no problems with the G-50 so far.

[Ryan L.]

The battery life on my G50 seems to be about at least twice what it was on both my XDR95 and XDS-Plus. Even more if I use Energizer lithium batteries (about $6 for a pair, but I got 4 4 hour gigs out of that set).

Never had a drop out, never had a problem with the cable coming out (so far). Still really impressed with this thing.

[Akami]

I miss the bling LED displays on my XDS-Plus receiver but I'm willing to live without them for the longer battery life and compact receiver of the G50. I might try picking up some rechargeable batteries at some point, since my others are all 9volt, but for now, changing batteries twice a month, I'm not going to worry too much!

[RichardCranium]

Just wanted to +1 on the G50 I've been using one for a while and it's great no dropouts and love the small form factor I mounted it on my pedalboard.

[The Universe]

Hi,

Tried out a G50 system yesterday with my American Vintage P-Bass and Markbass CMD121.

When compared to a standard 10' cable (Yorkville, in case anyone's wondering), I noticed a negligible loss of extreme high frequencies, and a more noticeable but tolerable loss of extreme lows.

I'll make note that I have extremely good hearing, so I might be unusually picky about things that most people can't hear.

I noticed none of the compression that's typically present with wireless systems, and aside from the minute frequency loss described above, my tone throughout the frequency spectrum remained the same as when using the cable.

The one negative thought I have about the sound is with regard to the AD/DA conversion. The tone (while clear and accurate) does sound slightly processed. I have a feeling that when adding in band members, PA sound, and audience noise, this wouldn't be noticeable whatsoever, but I could hear it during my test, so I figured I'd mention it.

I had a colleague play my bass walking up to about 200 feet away, in a music store filled with hundreds of amps, keyboards, PA and lighting gear, walls, people, mobile phones and computers. I noticed NO change of signal or sound at all. My test subject said that as long as he was in a room where he could still hear the amp, there seemed to be no lag either.

As for the components themselves, everything seems well-built. I'd replace the cable with something a little more significant, and may consider replacing the plastic jack with a metal one just for peace-of-mind.

Aside from the slightly digitized sound, this unit outperforms any other system I've tried in the same price range, and some slightly more expensive ones from AT and Sennheiser.

[sKyLiNe505]

I have a relay g50 for a year and I love it. No signal lost. I got a great custom cable from lavacable.com, is better than the shure cable.