Can someone help me with affordable wireless suggestions, please?

[Michael Stanley 2112]

A few years back, I bought an XVIVE system which worked great ... except with any instrument which had active electronics.

Since half of my basses have active electronics, I need something which is flexible.

I'd rather keep it to a "plug - 'n' - pray" system and I don't want to break the bank. The aforementioned system cost about $160 (USD) and I'd be willing to go to about $250 now.

I would appreciate anyone who has active electronics and has a viable suggestion posting those systems for me, please?

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Bump

On this site, we get all worked up over tort pick guards, but here ...?

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

To whichever moderator/administrator who moved this: thank you.

I honestly thought I had it in the right section. I apologize if I stepped across the line.

Hopefully, you'll be right and I'll get a few responses because I really am at a loss. It's not like the companies selling these things bother to mention whether or not they work with active electronics.

 

[DWBass]

Buy an extension cable and put the dongle in your back pocket. Easiest solution.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Buy an extension cable and put the dongle in your back pocket. Easiest solution.

Yeaaaaah. The XVIVE (and probably others) won't transmit signal from an instrument with active electronics. I tried doing it the way you suggested and there was still no love from the wireless unit.

 

[Aloe]

line6 g10 worked perfectly for all my active instruments, but that was years ago. no hiss or other problems. I had to rewire the jack on some of them not to use the included TS to TRS adapter, but I belive, that's not relevant for G50/30/90, as they use a TS input.

my recommendation from the line6 line would be either G10 (not the G10s) or G50.

 

[andruca]

I've owned a Line6 Relay G30 for some months and it's the best wireless I've ever had as per response (can't tell from a cable), no latency or anything. It's so good that it has a "cable emulation" (treble roll off I guess) function to make it a little worse (I don't use that at all). Got my Relay G30 for a mere 135€ used.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

line6 g10 worked perfectly for all my active instruments, but that was years ago. no hiss or other problems. I had to rewire the jack on some of them not to use the included TS to TRS adapter, but I belive, that's not relevant for G50/30/90, as they use a TS input.

my recommendation from the line6 line would be either G10 (not the G10s) or G50.

dyakuyu. zaraz yo pidou shukati tse!

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I've owned a Line6 Relay G30 for some months and it's the best wireless I've ever had as per response (can't tell from a cable), no latency or anything. It's so good that it has a "cable emulation" (treble roll off I guess) function to make it a little worse (I don't use that at all). Got my Relay G30 for a mere 135€ used.

¡Gracias tambien!. ¡Iré a buscar eso, ahora!

 

[Mike Caldwell]

It would be clunky but try the extension cable with a couple wraps through a ferrite core.
Some of the digital wireless transmitters put a lot of RF noise on the ground, a core may help.
https://www.parts-express.com/Ferrite-Core-1-2-Cord-Noise-Suppressor-110-454?quantity=1

 

[acid bass]

Add my name to the list of Line 6 supporters. I also have a mix of passive/active basses and played a G50 for years with busy cover bands. It was a workhorse, never had any problems with it. There are documented issues with the body pack battery door and belt clip that are easily solved with a neoprene pouch. If you pay attention to what people say about them then I think either the G30 or G50 would work perfectly for you.

 

[Geri O]

I firmly believe, after owning it, that the Sennheiser EW-D digital wireless for $US639 at Sweetwater is the best deal going in wireless bass.

Sennheiser quality, regular frequencies (no sharing frequencies with everyone's iPhone), and I use it with both active and passive basses. Fantastic performance.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I firmly believe, after owning it, that the Sennheiser EW-D digital wireless for $US639 at Sweetwater is the best deal going in wireless bass.

Sennheiser quality, regular frequencies (no sharing frequencies with everyone's iPhone), and I use it with both active and passive basses. Fantastic performance.

Sennheiser certainly has a great reputation, but that is well outside of my budget.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

I go with M-Vave WP-5G (currently $40). Works great with my two active basses.
Cheapest wireless unit you've had good luck with?

 

[hrodbert696]

I'm confused - why would an XVive not work with active basses? Seems to me whether a bass is active or passive, there's still a signal coming out the jack either way for the transmitter to pick up. Did you A/B it with actives and passives and it was really different depending on the bass? My concern about cheap wireless units (and I used XVive for IEMs) is that they transmit in the same frequency range as cell phones, so in some environments you're more likely to get interference and signal drop because of that. But I'm just curious how a bass having a preamp would affect it.

Anyway, yeah - the next step up from those units is the Line6 stuff, I would look at that.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I'm confused - why would an XVive not work with active basses? Seems to me whether a bass is active or passive, there's still a signal coming out the jack either way for the transmitter to pick up. Did you A/B it with actives and passives and it was really different depending on the bass? My concern about cheap wireless units (and I used XVive for IEMs) is that they transmit in the same frequency range as cell phones, so in some environments you're more likely to get interference and signal drop because of that. But I'm just curious how a bass having a preamp would affect it.

Anyway, yeah - the next step up from those units is the Line6 stuff, I would look at that.

I A/B(ed) that sucker with every bass I owned (some of them, passive) and half my guitars (all but one; passive).

It did not work with any instrument with active electronics. I just talked to my "guitar guru" and he told me: "It's because of the proximity of the transmitter to the active electronics. They flummux the transmitter.

Other units (belt units and strap units) have the transmitter far enough away from the active electronics so that the EMFs don't interfere with it."

So ... it seems an extension cable between the instrument and the transmitter would do the job, but since I can't stand, that presents some challenges, too.

I need to cogitate on all of this.

Thank you, all for the great suggestions!

 

[Rune Bivrin]

The only issue with wireless and active basses is when the transmitter has a "stereo" plug, and the ring is the charging contact. That will generally cause issues with active basses that use the same contact in the jack on the bass to connect the negative from the battery to the ground on the bass. I have a Line6 G10 with this feature, and they include a simple adapter to use in these cases.

The XVive does not seem to suffer from this design, so it seems a bit odd.

That the electronics in the bass would be influenced by the 2.4 GHz signal from the wireless transmitter seems a bit unlikely. With all due respect, I don't really think this is the issue. But if you test it with an extension cable and it starts working, I'm ready to reconsider...

 

[Geri O]

I A/B(ed) that sucker with every bass I owned (some of them, passive) and half my guitars (all but one; passive).

It did not work with any instrument with active electronics. I just talked to my "guitar guru" and he told me: "It's because of the proximity of the transmitter to the active electronics. They flummux the transmitter.

Other units (belt units and strap units) have the transmitter far enough away from the active electronics so that the EMFs don't interfere with it."

So ... it seems an extension cable between the instrument and the transmitter would do the job, but since I can't stand, that presents some challenges, too.

I need to cogitate on all of this.

Thank you, all for the great suggestions!

…which would make it all that more important to spend the money on a quality wireless system (whatever form that may take).

The issues with active basses and certain transmitters indicates issues with that transmitter, not the bass. I would avoid that brand of wireless regardless of active or passive basses. If they scrimped on that part of the transmitter, what else did they scrimp on?

This is a harsh rule, and not my rule, but one I try to live by. If I can’t afford a quality piece, I either don’t buy it or I save my money to get it. I do not settle for a lesser quality piece.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

The only issue with wireless and active basses is when the transmitter has a "stereo" plug, and the ring is the charging contact. That will generally cause issues with active basses that use the same contact in the jack on the bass to connect the negative from the battery to the ground on the bass. I have a Line6 G10 with this feature, and they include a simple adapter to use in these cases.

The XVive does not seem to suffer from this design, so it seems a bit odd.

That the electronics in the bass would be influenced by the 2.4 GHz signal from the wireless transmitter seems a bit unlikely. With all due respect, I don't really think this is the issue. But if you test it with an extension cable and it starts working, I'm ready to reconsider...

I agree with this ^
I think there is something going on other than what your guitar tech suggests. I worked with audio gear and RF (Radio Frequency, aka high powered broadcast transmitters) for only about 50 years now, and never experienced cross "flummuxing" causing something to just not work at all. It might cause interference/noise in rare instances of transmitter into audio pre, but not the other way around, and not totally dead audio.
I tend to think it's a mismatch in how the active basses are wired to the transmitter.
I'd suggest reviewing the connectors on your wireless gear and the nature of the cables used to connect to the bass to see if there is an incompatibility.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

I'm confused - why would an XVive not work with active basses? Seems to me whether a bass is active or passive, there's still a signal coming out the jack either way for the transmitter to pick up. Did you A/B it with actives and passives and it was really different depending on the bass? My concern about cheap wireless units (and I used XVive for IEMs) is that they transmit in the same frequency range as cell phones, so in some environments you're more likely to get interference and signal drop because of that. But I'm just curious how a bass having a preamp would affect it.

Anyway, yeah - the next step up from those units is the Line6 stuff, I would look at that.

Yeah. Doing a similar head scratch over this.