Has anyone had a bad experience with the Sure GLXD16+?

[kcducttaper]

My current wireless is a Sennheiser EW 500 G4-Ci1 and it has been absolutely phenomenal! I've used it somewhat extensively in venues with a couple thousand folks for probably 3 or 4 hours of play time per session. During sound checks, and rehearsals, I've walked all around the room, to the FOH board, backstage, through a couple hallways, back into the green room, and have not had even one single drop. Ever. I did use a spectrum analyzer to see where an open frequency spot was to tune my AW+ band, but I have been nothing but happy as can be with it!

That said, it does take up a lot of space on my pedal board. Hence why I'm looking at the Sure GLXD16+. It should replace the footprint of both my receiver AND my tuner, so that's a decent bit of space saving. I know the Sure has a lot of fans on here, but my biggest concern is it's running on 2.4GHz. During a session, there are literally thousands of devices in the building also running on 2.4, so it seems that band would be saturated as heck and a drop is more or less inevitable - especially if I wander more than a couple dozen feet away from my board.

Has anyone ACTUALLY had drops using the Sure system? Does the battery last a solid 4+ hours without issue?

 

[dave64o]

Doesn’t the GLXD16+ work on both 2.4 GHz an 5.8 GHz? I had the old GLXD16 and that model was 2.4 GHz only.

FWIW, I rarely had interference issues with it, though I still bought a few inexpensive 5.8 GHz and UHF units (CFG, NU-X, and Lekato) to try them out while waiting for the + version to come out. But those have been working well enough for me that I’m still using them. I haven’t sprung for the + model yet.

FWIW #2 - I never had an issue with the battery running down at a four hour gig, which is what we typically play. IIRC, it advertised as something like 12 hours?

 

[klokker]

+1. You'll have way more than enough battery for a 4 hour gig. Plenty left on the battery level. Yes, it's 2.4 and 5.8 on the 16+. I've used mine for 2 years now at shows. Dropped the receiver a few times on hard floors, nothing broke. Easy to link up to. Never have dropped a signal on a gig. The only thing on mine is that supposedly the receiver should show a green light at full charge, but mine never does. I was going to call about that, but after a while I just forgot about it. I charge it for an hour before the show and always have more than enough.

If you don't mind wearing the receiver on your belt, I would recommend it. Solid and works.

 

[DonaldR]

FWIW, I rarely had interference issues with it, though I still bought a few inexpensive 5.8 GHz and UHF units (CFG, NU-X, and Lekato) to try them out while waiting for the + version to come out. But those have been working well enough for me that I’m still using them.

Which specific models are you using?

 

[dave64o]

Which specific models are you using?

CFG Soniksphere 5.8

NU-X C-5RC 5.8

Lekato WS-70 UHF

Also forgot to mention the Swiff. Not sure they still make this model, but it's the one I have and it's still available on at least Amazon.
Swiff WS-50

I mostly use the CFG and NU-X for gigs and the Lekato and Swiff for rehearsals and with the weekly basement jam I play in. But, now that I think about it, I should probably do a swap so that I have both a 5.8 and a UHF system for gigs. That way, if I have any interference problems, I could try going to a completely different frequency band. FWIW, I do keep an instrument cable handy at all times, just in case.

 

[dave64o]

I also recently bought a CFG XL-aiR UHF Wireless Mic kit. I used it at one rehearsal so far and it seemed to work nicely. We're taking a few weeks break from gigs while our guitarist recovers from eye surgery, but hopefully I'll have at least one or two more rehearsals to use it before the next gig at the end of the month. Am looking forward to seeing how well that one works.

I do realize that these inexpensive units are NOT the equivalent of the GLXD16+ or even more expensive units. But, we're basically a bar band, we're not A-Listers. So I thought it would be fun to experiment with these kinds of units to see if they're usable for typical gigs for a band like us. If so, great, that saves me a little bit of time setting up and tearing down at gigs and makes our "stage" area a little neater. I'm trying to talk our LS/BL into trying a similar unit for her vocal mic so she can wander out if so inclined (as well as remove yet a little more clutter from our stage area) but she's a little leery, which I get. But I told her I have cables handy in case of any issue and she could always go to my mic or our keys players mic if her wireless causes an issue mid-song and I'll quickly run a cable after we finish that song. She's still hesitant which, as I said, I get.

 

[scubaduba]

The SHURE is rock solid. I have used mine now for probably 6 years or so. Never had a dropped signal or more than a millisecond of interference on busy stages. Probably one of the most impressive pieces of gear I’ve ever used.

 

[Jack]

+1. You'll have way more than enough battery for a 4 hour gig. Plenty left on the battery level. Yes, it's 2.4 and 5.8 on the 16+. I've used mine for 2 years now at shows. Dropped the receiver a few times on hard floors, nothing broke. Easy to link up to. Never have dropped a signal on a gig. The only thing on mine is that supposedly the receiver should show a green light at full charge, but mine never does. I was going to call about that, but after a while I just forgot about it. I charge it for an hour before the show and always have more than enough.

If you don't mind wearing the receiver on your belt, I would recommend it. Solid and works.

Link Removed

 

[Bonecat]

Been running the GLXD 16+ for a few years with no real complaints. I’ve had two occasions where it struggled with interference in very crowded urban venues with lots of competing WiFi sources, but have always been able to find a clear channel with a few button pushes. Battery life has been great -4+ hours with absolutely no worries… The built in tuner works well. I use a Levy’s strap pocket for the transmitter and that’s also been great…

 

[_Some Dude]

The only place I've had issues is at home, where it's located too close to the router for my house. I can fix it by moving the board further away.

I haven't had any issues live. The battery is good for around 12 hours, and it's a fairly quick charge; a 10-minute charge will get you through a set.

It has a high performance/4.5ms latency mode, and a high reliability/8ms latency mode. It'll auto select which mode when you search for a channel. I don't notice the latency.

 

[DJWhitJr]

I agree with all the comments about the GLXD16+. I've had one for a couple years now and it's been ultra reliable. The battery life is excellent and can easily get 10-12 hours per charge. The auto scan feature is also great. The system will automatically scan for the best channel when you power it up. I believe it will also automatically switch channels during operation if it detects interference and I've yet to have a drop out...knock on wood.

The attached picture is probably the biggest crowd I've performed in front of so far and I had no interference problems.

 

[BaltBass5]

Nope…it’s ROCK SOLID! I play about 100 times a year in a congested Mid-Atlantic scene and I’ve never had a single issue in the past several years! Well worth the $$$.
For context we play at multiple band festivals, dock bars, etc…500-2000 cap venues.

 

[s0c9]

My current wireless is a Sennheiser EW 500 G4-Ci1 and it has been absolutely phenomenal! I've used it somewhat extensively in venues with a couple thousand folks for probably 3 or 4 hours of play time per session. During sound checks, and rehearsals, I've walked all around the room, to the FOH board, backstage, through a couple hallways, back into the green room, and have not had even one single drop. Ever. I did use a spectrum analyzer to see where an open frequency spot was to tune my AW+ band, but I have been nothing but happy as can be with it!

That said, it does take up a lot of space on my pedal board. Hence why I'm looking at the Sure GLXD16+. It should replace the footprint of both my receiver AND my tuner, so that's a decent bit of space saving. I know the Sure has a lot of fans on here, but my biggest concern is it's running on 2.4GHz. During a session, there are literally thousands of devices in the building also running on 2.4, so it seems that band would be saturated as heck and a drop is more or less inevitable - especially if I wander more than a couple dozen feet away from my board.

Has anyone ACTUALLY had drops using the Sure system? Does the battery last a solid 4+ hours without issue?

Why not move the Senn to a rack (or rack bag) and put it next to your backline amp - assuming you use an amp.
I am wireless in and wireless IEM out. Both units sit in a 2-Space rack bag underneath my pedalboard which sits behind me - where an amp,would normally go. I don’t often switch pedals on/off, and use a tube DI, so cable runs to House and/or our IEM mixer are shorter. Less stage clutter and cables running everywhere!

FWIW - I originally had your setup with xmitter on the pedalboard, but it took up so much room and was bulky!
My solution- as I said - was to move it to the backline location. All I have in front of me (for most gigs) is my wired E835 mic. I DO have a Senn wireless E835 mic, but only use it on larger stages. It is an alternative vs a new wireless unit!
YMMV

 

[Dollar2]

This thread jinxed me. Last night, my Shure couldn't lock in a signal. I noticed too late to find a better channel so I just played wired and didn't worry about it. Cool thing is that you can plug a 1/4 inch right into the unit. It was definitely a venue problem because it worked normally this morning when I went to check it out.

 

[Jack]

This thread jinxed me. Last night, my Shure couldn't lock in a signal. I noticed too late to find a better channel so I just played wired and didn't worry about it. Cool thing is that you can plug a 1/4 inch right into the unit. It was definitely a venue problem because it worked normally this morning when I went to check it out.

That's why I finally upgraded to the + units. 5.8 is nice to have but ultimately overrated. Being able to plug in if I have a failure is great. Still, I'm about 8 years in between the various Shures and no failures yet.

 

[Igotsoul4u]

I am jumping on this thread. Also looking for a new wireless setup. I am looking at the SLX or QLX range. Anyone find the SLX to be inadequate? I play in NYC and Philly so I am wondering if the QLX is worth it for finding more open frequencies. I am going to be using this for my guitar, bass, and trumpet setups. Any thoughts? I have stayed away from the GLX because of the plastic housing. One drop and it could be toast.

 

[_Some Dude]

GLXD is metal.

 

[Rocksolid]

The GLXD16+ is fantastic. Super reliable. Love that you can adjust the dB output of the transmitter (via the receivercontrols) to compensate for different output basses.

 

[Nuisance]

I had the 16 and the 16+ over the past decade. They are both fantastic units as long as you are within 20 feet of your pedalboard (usually not an issue for most players). That said, I mix from out front with a tablet and both units were cutting out at about 25 feet. I ended up going with a Sennheiser unit in the 500 Mhz range. I can go easily 100 - 150 feet with no issues on the Sennheiser, but it takes up a LOT of board space and doesn't have the built in tuner. I'll go back to my 16+ as soon as I no longer work sound for this band.

If they made a 16++ in the 500 mhz range I would be all over it.

 

[richntiff]

I had the 16 and the 16+ over the past decade. They are both fantastic units as long as you are within 20 feet of your pedalboard (usually not an issue for most players). That said, I mix from out front with a tablet and both units were cutting out at about 25 feet. I ended up going with a Sennheiser unit in the 500 Mhz range. I can go easily 100 - 150 feet with no issues on the Sennheiser, but it takes up a LOT of board space and doesn't have the built in tuner. I'll go back to my 16+ as soon as I no longer work sound for this band.

If they made a 16++ in the 500 mhz range I would be all over it.

I regularly step out in that same 100-150' range with my old GLXD when I'm running sound from stage, and I have had no issues with dropouts. I'd suspect it's very venue/environment dependent.