Who uses a wireless system?

[CJK84]

I'm looking into a wireless system but I'm leery.

Anyone actually have live playing experience with Shure's system (which supposedly works for either guitar or bass)?

Or live experience with the Nady Encore unit?

[countrythumper]

I've got the Nady 201 bass system and ran all over the bar two weeks ago, and this weekend we played outside and I was out probably 500 feet wth no problems.

[CJK84]

country,

Thanks, but what about the tone?

Do you feel like the wireless system colored your tone at all?

I hate the thought that my tone may be altered.

[NicJimBass]

I don't have experience with the systems you mentioned, but I do use a Samson UHF Synth 32 system, which you can get pretty cheap now. I highly suggest you get a wireless, as the freedom it gives you is phenomenal. If you just stand still onstage tho, it may be a waste of money!

[Derakh Djinn]

I have used a Shure system in the past, always worked flawlessly as long as you keep it on a separate channel than your guitarist uses.

As for the Nady, I bought a Nady as my first wireless, and took it back to get the Shure. I sold my Shure when I got my V-bass system because I was connected using the midi cable, but now that has gotten old for me and am looking to get another Shure system...

Go with Shure, you won’t be let down. Just make sure is UHF.

[Woodchuck]

I have a Samson that I bought cheap about 8 years ago, and she's still going strong. I noticed that it boosts the volume a tad.

[embellisher]

I am interested in getting a wireless, but concerned about frequency response. Most of them don't go down to 31 hz, and playing a 5 string, that is a necessity.

Moved to Miscellaneous.

[Transverz]

Lots of threads on wireless systems (I believe under Misc?) but...

The whole wireless thing is not an exact science nor perfect. In fact, its a bit subjective.

First, find one that is reliable and clean. If its not reliable or gets a clean signal to it, then no matter how good it sounds or what frequencies it works on, you will kick yourself for it dropping out or crackling during the gig/show. That is for sure.

Then there is the whole UHF vs VHF thing. I think most people will agree to try as hard as possible to get a UHF due various reasons including less chance of interferance, reliability, and increased signal response. But I still see some people using VHF units on stage with no notice from me, so go figure.

Anyway, after you find one well built, reliable, and all that, its time to see if it sounds good enough for you. Some people will not sacrifice tone at all. These will most likely be the ones that go back to wires the fastest. Not that there aren't any that sound perfectly like you are on a wire, but these tend to be either expensive or hidden gems. And like I said, the listening is subjective, so some will SWEAR their $100 Nady sounds perfectly like their original wired tone, and some will SWEAR that their $1,000+ X-wire sounds like crap (though not many ). You just have to judge for yourself.

But you can't try all of them, so I rely on the frequency response specs to give me my own requirements. I went with a Shure UT14 based on its specs and that it was affordable. It was one of the few UHF units that goes down to 20Hz (so they say). I play four string so that is WAY beyond the call of duty, but its nice to have that kind of assurance. I've found that it does produce the lows rather nicely and REALLY REALLY close to my wired sound. Almost not noticeable, but if I listen real hard, I can hear a bit of compromise, but not much. And that's why I go with it. Close enough, and has the convenience / freedom of wireless.

If you want a simple, clear answer on how to find the right unit, look for a frequency response around 20-35hz. Maybe even 40hz. It should be fairly usable for bass. Then consider your budget, and unless your last name is "Gates", you will have whittled down your list of contenders quite a bit. But if your tone isn't so LOW in the first place and/or you aren't so concerned about duplicating your sound EXACTLY, you'll have a large amount of options to choose from.

Sorry for the long read. Lots of stuff written too if you search on this topic. Good luck!

-T

[Sufenta]

I use a Shure SLX4. I works great, no signal breakdown that I can notice. I just wish I had bought it years ago.

[mikezimmerman]

I don't have experience with the Shure or the Nady, but I use a Sennheiser Evolution wireless.

Can I tell a difference in tone from a cable when playing by myself in a quiet setting? Yep, there's slightly less "openness" to the tone, though it's very subtle. Can I tell the difference in a loud live preformance setting? Nope, and that's the only setting where it makes sense to use the wireless anyway. The specs say list the lower frequency response is somewhat higher than 31Hz (forget exactly what it is--60Hz?), but I don't notice any loss of low end on the 5.

I also like the fact that the wireless makes it easy to mute when I switch basses, and insulates me a bit from getting shocked by the flaky wiring in some of the places we play. And of course, I like the fact that it lets me wander around the stage or out into the club if I feel like it!

Mike

[txmulletrocker]

I have owned Shure, Sennheiser, AKG, AudioTechnica, Nady, and used a few others that I borrowed from friends. The only 2 wirelesses that I think are even worth going wireless for are the high end Shures and my current wireless the Sennheiser.

I would totally go with the Sennheiser. It has sooooo many cool features, that none of the others offer. It uses 2 AA batteries instead of the 9v batteries that most other systems use. It works very well with my 5 String with minimal effect to the tone. I can hardly tell a difference from going direct into my head through my Monster Cable. If you want to make it perfect, I would suggest a Sonic Maximizer. The Sennheiser has a longer range that any other wireless I have used. I recently played at an extreme sports show in a 8,000 seat auditorium. I walked all the way to the back of the room and was still playing along with my band who was on stage, probably close to 350-400 yards away, practicing. I work in live pro audio, and we have sold every wireless system that we owned and bought all Sennheiser.

Another thing to consider is your battery choice. It dosen't seem like this would be a big deal, but that is ooohh so wrong. It dosen't usually effect your tone too much, althought it defanently will a little bit, but rather the power that your bass seems to have will slowly fade. So slow that you wont really notice until it is quite bad. I would suggest Duracell ProCell batteries. I haven't found a store that sells them, so I just order them.

[tplyons]

I started off on a Nady system, just the basic guitar system and sold it because the wire into the transmitter kept popping in and out of place and caused lots of popping. More trouble than it was worth.

I later bought a cheapo Nady unit to use, but it was broken, no return so I sold it to someone who fixed it.

I now, strangely enough, have returned to Nady after swearing them off. I have the Encore 200 VHF Bass kit that I use daily in practice and live, and no I can't tell the difference between a cable and the wireless. The only problem is their cables are absurdly long to begin with, so I got an extra and shortened it to the perfect length (be warned, that the cable doubles as an antenna, so I actually cut my wandering range down significantly, but I'm not playing anywhere where I need to be 200 ft from the stage in any case) and they fixed the problem by hot gluing the jack to the case, so it doesn't move, is rock solid and doesn't pop.

For $110, it's the best damn wireless system ever for bass. However, I'd much rather have a Sennheiser EW172 kit, but you can't beat the Nady for the price.

[Eric Perry]

I use the Sennheiser EW172. It's perfect for me. I honestly hear no loss of signal or frequency repsonse at all in live situations. Battery life is grand. It has a TON of channels to choose from AND it can auto scan if you are picking up interference. I've used that a few times and it's always worked flawlessly.

My only other unit I have experience with is a Samson Airline. Great little unit, but had a problem with interference. Only one channel also. Can cause problems at times.

Hope that helps!

[JimmyM]

I've tried the Nady and thought it was crap. Squashed the signal with this nasty compression algorithm. I like the Sennheisers alright. The Shures I thought were OK, but the ones I always buy are Samsons. I've got a Synth 32, two VLX (old one-channel unit replaced by the Stage 55), and a Stage 22 (really old version of the Stage 55). They all sound just like the cord (albeit with a slight slight treble boost), have good battery life, and are reliable.

[Edwcdc]

I have been gigging with my Audio Technica wireless system for about 3 solid years now with no problems. I don't notice any difference between wired and wireless mainly because I only go wireless. I use Radio Shack rechargable 9 volts and in three years I have gone through 3. One charge gets me through a typical 3 set gig. My guitar player on the other hand has been through 3 different Senheiser units and two Shure units and is now using his third Shure unit. I'm in no way saying that the Audio Technica is better that the other two units, I'm just saying my guitar player doesn't take very good care of his stuff.

[randlk]

I use a Samson UHF Series One that I bought used for under $100.00 on eBay. I have used it for some time now and I wouldn't trade it for any other wireless system. It handles any of my basses (fretted, fretless and acoustic/electric) with no problems and no loss of tone that I can notice. I'd even go so far as to say that my fretted Ibanez actually sounds deeper and better through the Samson than when wired.
I know lots of guitarists who use Shure systems and really swear by them. Only know one bassist who's used a Shure (UHF) wireless and he liked it; all the others I know of have used VHF systems and they mostly have complaints with them, although I do know one bassist who has never played with anything except really cheap VHF systems and NEVER compained.
Sorry this post got to be so long-hope it helps you some!

[QORC]

I used a Nady. Never had a problem...except the one time I broke the portable part of the unit and busted it!

But in all seriousness, this UHF system has not given me any problems

[txmulletrocker]

If you are going to be playing at many different places, then you defanently want a multi channel unit. Then if someone else has your same unit, you will still both be able to go wireless. The more "value" oriented units only have one frequency you can use. The companys producing these units only use about 5-10 different frequencys for all the units they produce. If you by a fairly popular unit then the chances you have of having the same frequency as someone else at you gig is pretty great. Especially if you are playing gigs with multiple other bands. Given, you could go your whole life without ever having this happen, but that's not likely.

Also, stay away from VHF if you want to travel any distance at all from your rig. UHF is much much stronger, and will be a much purer signal.

my $.05 haha

[Trevorus]

Well, I have played with a lot of wirelesses (is that a word? ). True diversity is great, and the auto scan ones are amazing. There was an audio technica that had all those features, and a digital display and stuff on the pack. But it was over 400 dollars.

I currently use a Nady system I got for 20 dollars at a local music store's "garage" sale. I find it actually sounds more open to me than using my cable and pedal setup. I stand on stage, but the stage has a lot of cables around, so it consolidates a few things. It is the "Wireless One" untit, and it has always been super quiet, and I have never had any intereference. It is VHF, specifically at 191.30 MHz, and it is very clear. And for the price, nothing comes close.

[tombowlus]

I've used Nady and Samson units in the past, when my rig was pretty meager and I was only playing 4-string, and in general, they sounded fine and were a great convenience (espeically when running our own sound). When I switched to 5-string (and after my rig went through multiple evolutionary leaps), I wanted a better wireless. Well, that, and someone stole my old Samson Stage 22. The first unit I wanted was the Sennheiser, because it was built like a tank and did offer a lot of great features for the price. But after reading in the manual about the 60 Hz limitation (as mentioned above by mikezimmerman), I took it back in favor of the Shure ULXS unit. Some time later, I also picked up an X-Wire. To my ears, both the ULXS and the X-Wire sound identical to a high quality cable, and I have been very happy with both. The X-Wire is arguably a better system, but the transmitter pack requires that I use my own short cable from the bass to the input, and I like the more flexible cable on the Shure, so I tend to use the ULXS a bit more often.

Later, Tom.