Phynex Pro PTM-10 2-Year Review

[74hc]

This was purchased on Amazon for $209 two years ago, and I've used it every Sunday plus weddings, funerals, and some extra gigs. This a total of about 160 gigs including setup and tear down of the full unit every time.

Disclosure is that I am not affiliated with the company in any way, and received no compensation from them. Additionally, I purchased it from their stock on Amazon as a random person they did not know.

Lets take a look at the cost per gig so far (and final too, more down below). Each gig costs about $1.30 USD. That's darn good since I probably couldn't approach that if I rented a professional unit.

Here are the problems on why it was just retired from it's last gig today.

Just short of the one year of use mark, one of the battery compartment springs (negative side of the AA battery holder) broke off. It wouldn't power on. Took it home, disassembled it. It disassembles easily and goes back together as easy too.

What happened is the factory crimp that holds the spring to the power strip was cheaply done and there was not enough crimp material for durability. So I soldered the spring to the metal strip. That worked for nearly another year. It broke off from one of the solder joints and finally broke off the second solder joint I did.

Next up, I dropped the receiver unit on the floor trying to put it on my belt in our "green room" (dropped only once). That's the mens room with tile flooring. The display cracked and was unreadable, but functional. I dare not tried to channel channels from that point on. Oddly, the LCD display is recessed in the plastic housing which did not crack. No usable information was displayed including the battery level.

Just today, the belt clip holder which is molded into the receiver case broke. The belt clip would no longer stay attached. The remaining holder on the other side was still intact, but the hole where the wire goes into has stretched into an oval. It appears that it would have failed another month or so.

The plastic housing of the receiver is not durable. I would describe it as average plastic grade used in child toys.

Other thing to keep in mind is the disadvantages of the unlicensed 900Mhz band. It's crowded with all sorts of stuff that periodically transmits. I've found these band works great in my home, but finding a relative clear channel on the PTM-10 in commercial buildings took some work. I would not remotely consider this band if I was frequently changing gig locations. As it were, the vast majority of my gigs are in two locations which made it easier to find a decent channel and reuse it.

So, would I recommend it? Not if you can swing the cash for Audio Technical, Sennheiser, or Shure. If you have a limited budget for $250 IEM wireless unit, and it for about a dozen times or less a year, it might be for you. If you are looking for a workhorse IEM wireless system, spend more or plan on spending $90 for a receiver replacement every couple of years.

The audio quality is not great and the low end rolls off too soon for me. I would describe as acceptable, but I would prefer a good quality state monitor like KSC or even Mackie. However, I really don't want to be hauling those every time as I don't bring an amp or cab.

This showed up today from SW... ATW-3255. Although the receiver is plastic, it is of better quality than the PTM-10. We'll see how much mileage I can get out of it in the next 2 years.

I will compare the audio quality between it and the PTM-10, but in reading reviews from bass players on reddit, it should be a significant improvement.

 

[drpepper]

Thanks for taking the time. Hopefully some can make use of the information and although I'm not in the market, it'll be interesting to learn what you find in your sound quality comparison.

A couple of thoughts in reading...we can really only speak from our own experience so I don't know for sure, but I'd feel safe in assuming that averaging almost 7 gigs per month is at the very top of the range for the weekend players and for-profit hobbyists that this would be targeted at. And I can't help thinking how the drop on a hard tile floor is really an incidental matter that has such an impact on the overall impression (what if you had never dropped it?). While having dropped it does go to the robustness of the receiver, I'd think that the statistical case is that most units won't suffer a damaging drop. Gratuitously applying my personal experience with cell phones in thinking about it...with the dozen or so that I've had, only one was dropped on a hard surface, and even then, it was just happenstance that it hit the ground just perfectly to crack the screen. Falling from about waist height, it could have landed probably in hundreds of other ways that wouldn't have cracked the screen.

 

[74hc]

Hopefully, yes. Researching for this, most of the Youtube videos were from reviewers who were given a unit to evaluate. Those are really internet influencers, or wanting to be one. I don't recall any of them reviewing it from gigging with it. All seemed to unbox it, and review it at their home studio.

Hence, why I started off with a disclosure that I have no ties to Phenyx Pro, paid for mine just like any regular customer would do, and stated that I actually use it gigging.

The ATW-3255 is the same way too, but it's new. All the videos are either from the manufacturer or sellers which are not that helpful, imo.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Not a slam but a strong recommendation Any iem user should invest in a Levy's or neo tech pouch to protect the body packs to me that is cheap insurance to help keep your stuff working top notch. I do think the move to the Audio Technica 3000 system is the right move. The features and specs on that system are top notch. I think you'd be hard pressed to top it it has more channels available then even the flagship Shure psm 900/1000 and Lectrosonics duet stuff at least if I was understanding the specs sheet right.

 

[74hc]

That was the selling point for me on the ATW-3255 - the wide frequency range. I've never had to find and set frequencies in the TV white space. In the past, when it was available, somebody has already coordinated and configured the frequencies.

Other guitarists in the bands started to get PTM-10s as well, but they camp out in my frequency because they are too lazy to find another channel that is clear. I don't mind others getting a receiver and using my mix. In fact, I encouraged it, but these guys are using my channel on their transmitters. This is so annoying that I want to fire the drummer, lol.

The ATW-3255 comes with a protection case for the ear buds, but not the transmitter or receiver. The full case that comes with the PTM-10 was a life saver. I don't believe I would have come any where close to 2 years use without it.

So I bought a pelican laptop case with the foam pluck stuff. I need to get plucking.

Interesting preview of my testing of the Audio Technica is the RF output is not flat across the entire frequency range. It's a slight smiley face if graphed. Channel width is about 100khz at 602.600mhz. I have not yet tested it to see if that's consistent across the frequency range.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Looking forward to hearing more of your experience with it I've been wanting to pick up a set just haven't had it in the budget yet.

 

[74hc]

Frequency response is night and day compared to the PTM-10 at rehearsal last night. Clarity over the PTM-10 is amazing. So much so that I have to get use to it and re-adjust my mix. The AT has more low and high end, plus it doesn't sound as compressed. Worked well with my B string unlike the PTM-10

We needed to tune better last night as I could hear it whereas the PTM-10 not so much. Particularly the 12-string acoustic guitarist. He had a cheap clip-on that doesn't seem to work well enough, but I never saw him tune-up. He probably tuned at home during his warm-up, put it back in the case, and came to the rehearsal and played. We all want to get the songs done and go. I did have to bring him almost off in my mix as I couldn't take it.

I noticed he plugged into the channel of another guitarist that uses a Taylor. Since I often play with that guitarist as a two person, I have that channel up higher in my mix to track his rhythm. He's the singer so I let him set the tempo.

I use a KZ ZSN Pro and those are much better than I originally thought. Didn't try the AT ones that came with the system. The ZSN was not a limiting factor with the PTM-10, but those probably are with the AT.