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

[eli]

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.

I've just started researching wireless, and I've heard more than one person say the range is rather less when the receiver is on the floor. No experience myself, just tossing in a note.

 

[DJWhitJr]

I've just started researching wireless, and I've heard more than one person say the range is rather less when the receiver is on the floor. No experience myself, just tossing in a note.

My receiver is on the floor and I've been out a 100' with no issues. Granted I do it all the time and some venues and number of people between me and the receiver will have an impact. That said, in a crowded environment, you'll have the same issue with a UHF unit. I say this because I've had my in-ears (UHF) cut out more frequently than my instrument. The human body is a great frequency blocker.

 

[NickyBass]

I've been using mine for almost 2 years at church. I never had an issue.

 

[EdO.]

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.

I've had a Shure GLDX14+ (the rack mountable/tabletop version) for probably a year or so now and I've found that there are venues where I have a difficult time finding an open channel that allows me to wonder more than 10 feet away from the receiver without dropouts or interference. Other similarly busy/crowded venues no issues so not too sure what causes the problem.

We recently played an outdoor venue, kind of an open air park square in the center of a busy walk-in shopping mall area with a mostly metal awning above the stage area (such as it was) where I couldn't get an open channel to save my life, even within 10 feet of the receiver. Had to go corded, which I always have close at hand just in case. Next night played a busy theater full of cell phone users shooting videos etc and had no issues whatsoever. So I'm guessing that the more metallic stuff around the stage area the more likely to be issues?

I'd read somewhere that if you're having issues finding an open channel, switching from Group 1 to Group 2 helps, which it did for me. But we have a couple of places we play where I just know I'll have to use a cord and that's fine. Still love it and use it regularly, however I'm a bit disappointed that it's not quite as issue free as I'd expected.

 

[PolkaHero]

I've had mine for over a year now (first wireless!) and it only gave me issues on one gig. I was too close to our soundman's wireless router that he uses for IEM and it must have interfered. First set was fine and then it started cutting out during the second set. I always keep a spare cable handy so I can plug in direct if something happens.

 

[BaltBass5]

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’ve never had a problem like this. I frequently walk out to FOH during soundcheck with no issues.

 

[Core Creek]

Anyone notice degradation in sound? I used a boss wireless for a few years gigging on guitar and when I switched to bass there was a noticeable loss of low end in the wireless signal. I switched back to a cable. If the Sure retains the full spectrum of sound I might consider going wireless again.

 

[mikeswals]

The Shure retains the sound.

 

[Geri O]

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?

While I realize that the Shure unit is used successfully and is well-liked, I'm of the opinion that that one can't spend too much money on wireless technology where bass is concerned.

I strongly suggest you find a way to make the Sennheiser work for your situation. It's a fantastic wireless system and you've already made the investment. As well as the Shure might work. it's a step backward in quality. And in spite of seemingly everyone having good luck with the 2.4 RF spectrum. I've been witness to 3 GLARING examples of how 2.4 can be affected by the environment and shut down your wireless. The worst was when the PA co I work for implemented a wireless DMX control system for the lighting. They used it for a few months, but a very popular national act showed up with all Line Six 2.4 units. Lo and behold, none of them worked. Too much interference. They opted to go cables and that was that. It was after soundcheck that we overheard our guys talking to the band LD about the wonderful new wireless DMX transmitting all over the place on the 2.4 band!! Their FOH guy and I got the same "Oh Sh$T!" look at the same time. He said to just let it go and they would get through the night. After that, they shelved the wireless DMX system and it's still sitting on that shelf.

Rare examples, I'll grant you, but how many times or cases does it have to be?

I use a small rack with both my EW-D bass wireless and my G4 IEM transmitter in it. I've considered moving that from the rack to a pedalboard that contains only a tuner, Khan Tube DI, and an HX One (for pitch transposition), but it would grow in size, as you are dealing with and I don't want that much stuff on the floor. If I traveled more, I'd have a slightly larger rack to put my Mesa WD-800 and both wireless units in. But the extra 2-space RF rack simply isn't that much trouble for me.

We all have to make choices about our gear that works best for our situations. However, I'd choose the 2-space rack for my RF units over the move to the Shure unit for a smaller footprint any day. And keep my Sennheiser wireless.

 

[Core Creek]

While I realize that the Shure unit is used successfully and is well-liked, I'm of the opinion that that one can't spend too much money on wireless technology where bass is concerned.

I strongly suggest you find a way to make the Sennheiser work for your situation. It's a fantastic wireless system and you've already made the investment. As well as the Shure might work. it's a step backward in quality. And in spite of seemingly everyone having good luck with the 2.4 RF spectrum. I've been witness to 3 GLARING examples of how 2.4 can be affected by the environment and shut down your wireless. The worst was when the PA co I work for implemented a wireless DMX control system for the lighting. They used it for a few months, but a very popular national act showed up with all Line Six 2.4 units. Lo and behold, none of them worked. Too much interference. They opted to go cables and that was that. It was after soundcheck that we overheard our guys talking to the band LD about the wonderful new wireless DMX transmitting all over the place on the 2.4 band!! Their FOH guy and I got the same "Oh Sh$T!" look at the same time. He said to just let it go and they would get through the night. After that, they shelved the wireless DMX system and it's still sitting on that shelf.

Rare examples, I'll grant you, but how many times or cases does it have to be?

I use a small rack with both my EW-D bass wireless and my G4 IEM transmitter in it. I've considered moving that from the rack to a pedalboard that contains only a tuner, Khan Tube DI, and an HX One (for pitch transposition), but it would grow in size, as you are dealing with and I don't want that much stuff on the floor. If I traveled more, I'd have a slightly larger rack to put my Mesa WD-800 and both wireless units in. But the extra 2-space RF rack simply isn't that much trouble for me.

We all have to make choices about our gear that works best for our situations. However, I'd choose the 2-space rack for my RF units over the move to the Shure unit for a smaller footprint any day. And keep my Sennheiser wireless.

And all of this is why I just went back to a cable.

 

[Geri O]

And all of this is why I just went back to a cable.

As I said, in so many words, we all have to pick our poison.