Battery life or other issue ??

[s0c9]

nice! i see it does an automatic frequency scanning thing. what's the latency?

Doc says 3.9ms..
I believe the G90 is in the 3.5 -> 4.0 ms range. Can't find "actuals" and there's nothing in the L6 doc about it.
I've been VERY happy with the G90 for the last 7 yrs.. so if the Senn is close.. . and anything like the G3 I have.. I'll be happy with it too.. stay tuned.. may hold off on a review until I get the back-ordered batts and get some time on them - they are rated at 2300 mAh 3.7v rechargeable via USB. I ordered 2...

 

[walterw]

may hold off on a review until I get the back-ordered batts and get some time on them - they are rated at 2300 mAh 3.7v rechargeable via USB. I ordered 2...

took me a few minutes of digging through the manuals to figure this out; the bodypack comes with a housing to take two AAs, but you can swap the whole housing out for a special li-ion battery.

way awesome.

now, can you charge one li-ion battery while using the other one?

 

[s0c9]

took me a few minutes of digging through the manuals to figure this out; the bodypack comes with a housing to take two AAs, but you can swap the whole housing out for a special li-ion battery.

way awesome.

now, can you charge one li-ion battery while using the other one?

yeah.. they have an add-on charger base unit ($200 - Sennheiser CHG 2), but any USB charger cable that you use for your phone will work to charge a single battery pack. I ordered 2 BA30's - so I can rotate them. I can always charge one while using the other - if I need to.

Meanwhile, you can use regular AA batts with the housing that comes with the system. I manage 2 sets of AA rechargeables right now, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the BA30 packs work.. I'm hoping to reduce the AA's down to the one set of 2800 mAh EBL's that I use for my G3 IEM receiver. I can get from 2-3 FULL gigs with one set of those.

 

[walterw]

any USB charger cable that you use for your phone will work to charge a single battery pack.

so you can charge an extra battery directly with a USB thingy?

that's the problem with the shure GLX-D 16, as it comes you can't charge another battery while using the pack.

 

[s0c9]

so you can charge an extra battery directly with a USB thingy?

that's the problem with the shure GLX-D 16, as it comes you can't charge another battery while using the pack.

My understanding is yes, you can. You do NOT need the charging station - unless you want to charge multiple batteries at once.
You can be using one and independently charging the other - like you charge your phone.

 

[s0c9]

So.. baptized the new Senn EW-D1 wireless last night at a gig..
It went great.
The battery packs (BA30) are back-ordered, so I used the 1.5v AA's that came with the system.
I also bought the GA4 rack-mount kit, removing the G90 and replacing with the D1.
The D1 does come with the now-standard wal-wart style power adaptor, so I had to wrap the cable around the anchor pin to prevent accidental removal from the receiver body.. That is one thing I DID like about the G90.. standard IEC power cord.
Set up was a no brainer.. left everything at default settings, and the xmitter/receiver were already factory "paired".

I DID do a firmware upgrade using their WSR ipad app.. from v1.0 to v2.0.
Simple. Hooked D1 up to my home network (cat5 port on rear of D1). WSR identified it, told me there was an upgrade available. Click yes.. receiver done in about 3 mins.
Then when I turned on the xmitter it tells me it need to be upgraded.. press OK to upgrade. I did.. placed xmitter on top of receiver and it took about 3 mins to complete.

One issue I had is that the xmitter clip is too wide to fit into the adjuster holes on my strap.. the G90 slipped right into them.
I did not want to have the connect cable pointing at the audience, or behind me, nor did I want to go the gaf-tape route, so I rigged up some velcro across the strap, locking it in place with more velcro wrapped thru the top strap hole. This lets me slide the pack so it is parallel to the strap -like my G90 pack was. However, the pack clip was also oriented so that the 1/8" cable connection point up (at ones head) when mounting it.
Luckily, the clip can easily be reversed (which I did) so the connector points down.

The unit worked flawlessly, with plenty of battery left at the end of the night - typical 4-hr gig.

Two somewhat minor but none the less niggles (not really annoying) that I found during first use. Nothing that is a show-stopper.

1. When the xmitter pack is off, the receiver flashes "no connection" messages on the display. It's great to know (for a multi-unit setup), but the inverse vid it uses catches one's eye (which I guess it's supposed to) as it flashes that "about" once a minute. I did not measure exact intervals.
2. The xmitter pack is hard to read on a dim stage.. the display is standard LCD (black/grey), unlike the G90 which is backlit orange. I guess I need to get used to watching the red power light on the bottom of the pack to verify on/off.

In short.. VERY happy overall. Signal quality.. no dropouts, excellent audio quality. I did NOT test the range of the unit. I was within 15-20 feet of the unit the entire time.
Overall.. I'd give this - based on first blush - a 9/10.

 

[s0c9]

Well, looks like the BA30 batteries for the Senn D1 are in stock, and mine ship today. Hopefully, they'll get here by Friday, so I can use them Fri night.
If not, Sat gig will have to do...

 

[walterw]

One issue I had is that the xmitter clip is too wide to fit into the adjuster holes on my strap.. the G90 slipped right into them.

this is my one complaint about my new G75!

my old G50/G90 pack had a terrific sturdy metal clip that i could pop out and put in sideways. it went right on my bass strap with the cable pointing down, while on my guitar gigs (where i'm switching off) it went right on my belt with the cable pointing towards the guitar.

with the G75 pack i have to just gaff tape it to my strap every time.

at least it's made so i can still pop it open while gaffed to the strap. still, i see one of those levy wireless strap pouches in my future.

 

[s0c9]

this is my one complaint about my new G75!

my old G50/G90 pack had a terrific sturdy metal clip that i could pop out and put in sideways. it went right on my bass strap with the cable pointing down, while on my guitar gigs (where i'm switching off) it went right on my belt with the cable pointing towards the guitar.

with the G75 pack i have to just gaff tape it to my strap every time.

at least it's made so i can still pop it open while gaffed to the strap. still, i see one of those levy wireless strap pouches in my future.

I'll try and post a pic of what I did to be able to hook he xmitter up to my strap and have it point down (tonight Central Time). Might give you some ideas

The BA30 batteries for the unit are in my mailbox (according to USPS) so I'll be charging them tonight and using them at my Fri/Sat gigs.. Will report back on how they work.

 

[s0c9]

UPDATE: the new fully-charged Senn BA30 battery handled the entire gig with the new D1 last night with plenty juice left over.
Should be able to get thru tonight's gig on the same battery.
One a funny note.. I checked my IEM battery before the 1st set.. levels looked OK.
Died 1/2 way thru the FIRST SONG!!
Pulled an ear to get thru it.. then grabbed fresh batts while frontman schmoozed..

 

[s0c9]

UPDATE #2:
2nd gig with a single BA30 battery under my belt.. and .. per the battery levels STILL at 60% charge LEVEL !!
Wow !! That's impressive...
These are Lithium-Ion batteries, not NiCad or NiMh.. so maybe the meters are accurate. Not the largest capacity, but I've got 7 hours use out of one half of battery.. I bought 2 - as backups are always good. We'll see how this plays out in future gigs.. but so far.. I'm impressed.
BA-30
Output Voltage
3.7 V
Capacity
2030 mAh

 

[Mr-Bassman]

Ever figure out your G90 eating batteries? Had a couple issues with my G50 eating an occasional set the past couple months but is ok most of the time; almost like an occasional short in transmitter draining a fresh set in under 2 hours.

 

[s0c9]

Ever figure out your G90 eating batteries? Had a couple issues with my G50 eating an occasional set the past couple months but is ok most of the time; almost like an occasional short in transmitter draining a fresh set in under 2 hours.

No, never did.. I opened it up and never saw anything that looked like a short, corrosion or any other indicator. I replaced it with the Senn D1 and the G90 now sits in the closet..