So I recently picked up this nice Sennheiser EW D digital wireless and being my third digital wireless I’ve owned I thought it would be a good idea to give a little insight into this fine unit.
Foreground: My first digital wireless was a Line 6 xdr 95. It had this amazing, perfectly reproduced sound to it, absolutely no loss of volume or signal to speak of. It had a pretty good transmission range, nothing close to what it was advertised as though. Unfortunately, there were many faults with the system; the transmitter ate 9v batteries like no tomorrow. Also the transmitter itself was made cheaply of a flimsy plastic, the battery door was prone to not working , and the instrument cable was delicate as well.
Later I moved onto a Shure GLXD system which was a vast improvement. When I bought this in 2017ish, the 2.4 landscape wasn’t as crowded and I had zero issues while using the system. The rechargeable battery was brilliant. As was the screen, which I found to be a little annoying in low light situations. That’s my only gripe with that system, was the bright screen. Which is pretty minuscule. I sold that system when I took a break from gigging to raise my daughter, as I knew how fast the wireless game moves and wanted to sell it while it was still current.
Enter the EWD. I decided on this unit because it features the latest technology in combating crowded air space: UHF transmission. Now I can’t tell you how all the technicalities work, but essentially it uses all the positives of digital format but with UHF transmission which eliminates the possibility of 2.4 interference. No gigs on it yet, but no complaints about lag or interference or anything. It’s not as plug and play as the Shure was, that was deadly simple. It took my challenged butt about 20 minutes to figure it all out through some trial and error. Setting the in and out gains can be a little tricky, I used a db meter app on my phone set about 3 ft from my practice amp, played with a cord and got a 85db average, so I matched that to the wireless unit adjusting the two gain structures. Again, not as simple as the Shure.
The screen being a white on black display is much better than having the feeling of a 747 getting ready to land on stage
The transmitter runs on AA battery and it’s suggested it gets a 8hr run time which I cannot yet confirm. It’s made of steel which is a great selling point. One last gripe… the power button in the inside of the battery door. That should definitely have been on the outside. This inconvenience is compounded if you use a wireless pouch as you now have to slide it out of the pouch to open the door.
So far it’s a great piece of gear time will tell once it’s out and put to the real test. We are talking some fairly high profile opening gigs so it should get a good run for its money.
Foreground: My first digital wireless was a Line 6 xdr 95. It had this amazing, perfectly reproduced sound to it, absolutely no loss of volume or signal to speak of. It had a pretty good transmission range, nothing close to what it was advertised as though. Unfortunately, there were many faults with the system; the transmitter ate 9v batteries like no tomorrow. Also the transmitter itself was made cheaply of a flimsy plastic, the battery door was prone to not working , and the instrument cable was delicate as well.
Later I moved onto a Shure GLXD system which was a vast improvement. When I bought this in 2017ish, the 2.4 landscape wasn’t as crowded and I had zero issues while using the system. The rechargeable battery was brilliant. As was the screen, which I found to be a little annoying in low light situations. That’s my only gripe with that system, was the bright screen. Which is pretty minuscule. I sold that system when I took a break from gigging to raise my daughter, as I knew how fast the wireless game moves and wanted to sell it while it was still current.
Enter the EWD. I decided on this unit because it features the latest technology in combating crowded air space: UHF transmission. Now I can’t tell you how all the technicalities work, but essentially it uses all the positives of digital format but with UHF transmission which eliminates the possibility of 2.4 interference. No gigs on it yet, but no complaints about lag or interference or anything. It’s not as plug and play as the Shure was, that was deadly simple. It took my challenged butt about 20 minutes to figure it all out through some trial and error. Setting the in and out gains can be a little tricky, I used a db meter app on my phone set about 3 ft from my practice amp, played with a cord and got a 85db average, so I matched that to the wireless unit adjusting the two gain structures. Again, not as simple as the Shure.
The screen being a white on black display is much better than having the feeling of a 747 getting ready to land on stage
The transmitter runs on AA battery and it’s suggested it gets a 8hr run time which I cannot yet confirm. It’s made of steel which is a great selling point. One last gripe… the power button in the inside of the battery door. That should definitely have been on the outside. This inconvenience is compounded if you use a wireless pouch as you now have to slide it out of the pouch to open the door.
So far it’s a great piece of gear time will tell once it’s out and put to the real test. We are talking some fairly high profile opening gigs so it should get a good run for its money.
