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More cables, less wireless...

Do you prefer using cables or wireless?

  • Total voters
    68
  • Poll closed .
R

Razzmatazz

Oct 23, 2011
184
2
#1
Hi!

I went to a couples of shows lately and I noticed a lot more guitar and bass players using cables instead of a wireless system.

Is this a new trend I'm not aware of or it just happen to be some random occurrences?

I don't have any experience with wireless transmitters but the higher band frequencies and the digital to analog conversion which I think make them even better today shouldn't be a problem.

Any thoughts?
 
#2
It's hard to take a person's observations for fact, unless you've done an exhaustive survey of gear choices among a large enough sample size.

I do recall, however, that Incubus' bassist explicitly chose cables to contrast with their guitarists' choice of wireless transmitters, lest the latter's transmitter fails. That's about as far as I know: reliability over freedom.

Perhaps the bands that you saw were just constrained by budget or local conditions?
 
#4
trowaclown said:
It's hard to take a person's observations for fact, unless you've done an exhaustive survey of gear choices among a large enough sample size.

I do recall, however, that Incubus' bassist explicitly chose cables to contrast with their guitarists' choice of wireless transmitters, lest the latter's transmitter fails. That's about as far as I know: reliability over freedom.

Perhaps the bands that you saw were just constrained by budget or local conditions?
Click to expand...

It is something I find somewhat odd, especially with big names like Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Black Label Society, etc. are still using cables today in 2011.
 
#6
I used to be big into wireless, when i was young and bounding about on stage. Anymore, I usually stay put, so a cable does what I need it to for about a tenth of the price of a wireless. It's also much easier to fix or replace if it goes down. AND I don't have to worry about a battery dying (something that has happened repeatedly to my wireless guitar player).
 
#8
Depends on a lot of factors. Distance from bass player to amp, mobility of the bass player, anal retentiveness about sound quality, active or passive bass, capability for pre-emptive battery replacement.

Me, I'm not extremely mobile on stage as I'm stuck by the microphone anyway. I have an active bass, so cable length isn't much of an issue. And still I run wireless. I have a cheap wireless that I bought over 4 years ago for €85 from Thomann.

It's been absolutely reliable and there are no issues with batteries if I just check before a gig and change if necessary.

Why, you ask? I like having the option of walking out into the audience to hear how we sound. And I like not having to worry about stepping on the cable and unplugging it or tripping on it and falling. If there are any sonic drawbacks I've yet to notice.
 
#9
I use cables because they are cheaper than a wireless. I'd like to get a wireless one of these days though. I would be nice not to worry about getting tangled up in the cable, people stepping on them, having beer spilled all over them (sticky mess), etc.
 
#11
Razzmatazz said:
It is something I find somewhat odd, especially with big names like Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Black Label Society, etc. are still using cables today in 2011.
Click to expand...

Razzmatazz, I agree it is odd to see big name groups using cables. Recently at the Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society, and Judas Priest concert here in Cincy. I think everyone except a couple of musicians & Rob Halford used wires.

I left wondering if it was a fidelity issue, interference problem
or just a matter of preference.
 
#20
Awwwww man! I just spent 300 bucks on Monster Cables, and now you're telling me that there's a device to wirelessly transmit the signal from my bass to my amp!

In all seriousness, I go cable all the way.
I've got a Eden WT300 as my main amp so switching to wireless would eventually result in me buying a rack and stuffing every empty space on it with needless gizmos, (darn that GAS!). Which defeats the whole purpose of a micro head as a lightweight solution.
Plus it's just more to break/lose/get stolen. I prefer my setup and tear down as simple as possible.
 

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