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Testing the Cable Free Guitar Waters

Relsom

Relsom

Supporting Member
Nov 23, 2013
5,194
8,536
The Old Dominion
#1
Let me get this off my chest before I even begin...Yes, I should buy the best, most respected and trusted pro industry named system I can afford, for sure, I know this. There.

I don't require wireless. Haven't used one in decades. Heck, I spend most of my time on gigs sitting on a stool in about a 4x4 foot area with my amp and pedal board, so really....I don't need wireless. I still have my old 19" Rack VHF system. I think a good cable sounds better anyway and I just don't care to spend the time setting it up at gigs. My curiosity has gotten the best of me though so I just had to test the waters with these new fangled all battery powered 5.8Ghz deals. I see these more as toys than serious gear....and I love to tinker.
So...
I have a package on the way from CFG. I highly suspect that they are rebranded Lotmusic units found on Amazon for half the cost, but they claim a slightly lower latency and come with a 2 year warranty...so we'll see.
I'll at least give them a shot. They offer 30 day returns. If they work well enough I may keep them and even order the Lotmusic version anyway just to dissect them when they eventually die just to spill the beans on my rebranding theory.
 
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#3
s0c9 said:
Your old VHF rack system is probably non longer legal (700 band?) and wireless has come along way since.
Digital, no more companding and sounds just as good as cable.
5.8 is not yet cluttered, so you should be fine.
Click to expand...
The UHF bands are the ones that the FCC took over, most recently the 600Mhz in the 614~698Mhz range. VHF is still legal as it operates in the 174~230Mhz range. I got rid of my 600Mhz IEM gear and replaced it with 500Mhz band Carvin EM900 from the TB classifieds. Even playing mostly stationary, I hate being tethered, though it's all a PITA setting it up. I may look at one of those cheap all battery solutions for IEMs too if the CFG thing works out.
 
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#4
I have my Senn wireless in the same rack as my Mipro IEM transmitter. Two XLR cables..1 to PA (wireless into pedalboard to PA) the other back into my IEM. All I do is manage rechargeable AA batteries.. no PITA in setting it up. All permanently wired in the rack.
All my bands have their own IEM mixers with full mix control. Quick setup.
YMMV.
 
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#5
s0c9 said:
I have my Senn wireless in the same rack as my Mipro IEM transmitter. Two XLR cables..1 to PA (wireless into pedalboard to PA) the other back into my IEM. All I do is manage rechargeable AA batteries.. no PITA in setting it up. All permanently wired in the rack.
All my bands have their own IEM mixers with full mix control. Quick setup.
YMMV.
Click to expand...
I'll have to look into a more simplified setup. We're using X32 into P16s... which I pretty much have to set up for the other players since they aren't too proactive in learning how to do this for themselves. This leaves me as the last one to get my bass, amp, and pedalboard up and running while about to keel over from COPD. It's going to be in the mid 90s out there today. I really want to go ampless and stop lugging the amp. I just don't have the energy or the lungs for it.
 
#6
Look forward to see what you think of these. I don't use their wireless, but I have three of their bass straps. They are great and the real deal. Their advertisements of them are not just marketing crap.
 
#7
s0c9 said:
Your old VHF rack system is probably non longer legal (700 band?) and wireless has come along way since.
Digital, no more companding and sounds just as good as cable.
5.8 is not yet cluttered, so you should be fine.
Click to expand...
700 MHz is UHF and yes, technically illegal, but also subject to TONS of interference in large urban areas. VHF is mostly just outdated, although I have the impression it's had a mild resurgence due to the FCC UHF sell-offs.

BBB
 
#8
This low cost Joyo 5.8 system has been great for me the last 3 months for both practice and gigs. I get about 100’ of range. Sounds good and the recharge case is pretty sweet. For our gigs in our little town it is plenty. 5 stars so far. I did put electrical tape over most of the blue lights on the transmitters to reduce distraction.

JOYO Wireless Guitar System... Amazon.com
 
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#10
Relsom said:
I still have my old 19" Rack VHF system. I think a good cable sounds better anyway
Click to expand...
Digital wireless swaps compounders and expanders for latency. Perfect as-good-as-a-cable sound, just minutely delayed. I hope you enjoy the new toys man, let us know what you think?

Relsom said:
I'll have to look into a more simplified setup. We're using X32 into P16s... which I pretty much have to set up for the other players since they aren't too proactive in learning how to do this for themselves. This leaves me as the last one to get my bass, amp, and pedalboard up and running while about to keel over from COPD.
Click to expand...
I stopped this game a while ago. Every gig with my hard rock band the singer forgets how to connect mixer>subs>tops. Sorry dude, I've explained it several times, I've labelled the speakers with numbered stickers, there's a laminated sheet with a diagram and I'm fairly sure that some of this works because my day job is learning design, teaching teachers the best way to teach people. Now it's just kind of on you. :D
 
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#11
Parzival said:
Look forward to see what you think of these. I don't use their wireless, but I have three of their bass straps. They are great and the real deal. Their advertisements of them are not just marketing crap.
Click to expand...

Jack said:
Digital wireless swaps compounders and expanders for latency. Perfect as-good-as-a-cable sound, just minutely delayed. I hope you enjoy the new toys man, let us know what you think?


I stopped this game a while ago. Every gig with my hard rock band the singer forgets how to connect mixer>subs>tops. Sorry dude, I've explained it several times, I've labelled the speakers with numbered stickers, there's a laminated sheet with a diagram and I'm fairly sure that some of this works because my day job is learning design, teaching teachers the best way to teach people. Now it's just kind of on you. :D
Click to expand...
The package didn't arrive in time to try out on a gig. After charging, I tested it out at home. Pleasantly surprised so far. The output is solid and robust, with just a hint of brighter eq compared to a good cable. Easily compensated for with only slight on board knob adjustments. On par with CFGs graph.
I ordered the "Air-Pocket" leather pouch that attaches to my strap for 2 reasons... 1 - to get the TX away from my preamp. I remember the old days when a holstered Nextel phone would cause all kinds of problems if it got to close to my active basses; and 2 - I was unsure how the TX was going to fit into the jack on my Kubickis, since that's pretty much all I play. However, I found that the TX caused no interference or had any affect in being in close proximity to my preamp AND was able to be inserted into the bass's jack without being in the way physically. In fact, there's even a little rubber bumper on the back of the TX that holds the unit off of the bass's finish... win-win! Now, whether this is overpriced compared to the identical looking Lotmusic LTX-02 remains to be seen, but I'm diggin' it so far.

3 outdoor gigs in the last week was a struggle for us old guys, considering the heat. My next opportunity to try the CFG Soniksphere 5.8 won't happen until the middle of August. We tried to outsmart mother nature by not booking any outdoor gigs in July and August....and we don't play bars. Still..it was in the 90s..... Oh well.

I did pull out the Carvin EM900 on Saturday's gig in an attempt to go wireless with my IEMs. I found that they weren't bad sounding... noticeably less robust than connecting my AS10s directly to the headphone output on my P-16. The main thing that led me to put the EM900 back in the case was the lack of headroom. Kind of weak. I'll persue a remedy....or not. Another AC power hookup, cables, etc, etc. Did I mention I have Stage 4 COPD....I get SOB just leaning over to tie my shoes...... not worth the extra effort.

I'll leave this comment with a photo of the CFG TX connected to an ExFactor. Notice that I had not mentioned latency in this review. Not enough to go on about....at all. This really has potential....
PXL_20250624_113524029.jpg
 
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#12
Relsom said:
I did pull out the Carvin EM900 on Saturday's gig in an attempt to go wireless with my IEMs. I found that they weren't bad sounding... noticeably less robust than connecting my AS10s directly to the headphone output on my P-16. The main thing that led me to put the EM900 back in the case was the lack of headroom. Kind of weak. I'll persue a remedy....or not. Another AC power hookup, cables, etc, etc. Did I mention I have Stage 4 COPD....I get SOB just leaning over to tie my shoes...... not worth the extra effort.
Click to expand...
Remember that IEM mixes need to be gain staged to the transmitter. Lack of headroom indicates lack of input level to the EM900 (yes, I've owned and used one). That applies to any IEM system tho. If you get noise when turning up the receiver level, that's another indicator of poor levels. Need to adjust mixer buss output level with EM900 input level.
What do you mean by “less robust”?
 
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#13
I bought a $60 Lekato 5.8GHz set on a whim last winter, and for me it's been an amazing quality of life improvement. Even practicing at home it's such a joy not being tethered to anything but my headphones, and so far I've had no issues with it live (small venue open mics). Sounds fine to my ear, and has only hiccuped once, which was resolved by power-cycling the transmitter and receiver. Absolutely love it!

Showed the lead guitarist in one of my bands and he bought the Fender set for $200. Tried it on stage last night and the transmitter fell out of the jack mid-song, bounced off his amp, bounced down a hallway, around a corner, and headed for the state line. Ok, so it just fell behind his amp, but it seemed to take an eternity for him to recover. Might have to invest in a roll of gaffer.
 
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#14
I also don't really need a wireless, but this has been my experiment:

A couple years ago I got a used XVive U2 from my guitar pal for low dough when he switched into something that was, well, "more". The furthest that I'll wander is out in front of our stage to hear the balance of the sound that's going into the room - not too far but I like not having to mind a cable when I move around here and there.

I expected this little thing (actually these little things) to be so-so, but after dozens of gigs with them, they've sounded terrific for me and I haven't experienced even a single hiccup.

So my general faith in these little digital wireless gizmo's is pretty good. I know that there are a few other wireless brands offering similar little setups and I'll be happy to sample one of those soon enough. I still like to use an amp on stage, but it's nice to reduce the overall number of cords we need by at least one or two.
 
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#17
I've been using the CFG Soniksphere set for several months, maybe a year, and have been happy with it so far. I've tried sevearl of the "budget priced" wireless kits and have had mixed results. Actually, they've worked just fine, when they work, but I've had a Getarria 5.8 unit and a Lekato 5.8 unit fail. I also have a Lekato UHF kit and a NU-X 5.8 kit that have been working well.

I had been using a Shure GLXD16 and was very happy with it until I starting noticing interference at some gigs. The GLXD16+ hadn't come out yet, so I bought several of these budget units in a mix of UHF and 5.8 GHz to see how they'd worked. The Lekato UHF, the NU-X 5.8, and the CFG 5.8 have worked quite well. At least so far.

FWIW, the one I use most often on gigs, at least since I bought it, is the CFG. The Lekato UHF unit is what I most often at a weekly basement jam session, so it gets quite a bit more use than my CFG or NU-X and it's been good for over a year.

That being said, I would like to finally get the Shure DLXD16+, but our old guitar player left about a year ago and since he had been doing our sound, I got volunteered to replace him in that role. So I've been buying a lot of PA gear and stressing over learning to use it, so I've postponed buying the Shure kit until my PA purchases subside. These budget wireless units (and the instrument cable I run between my mic stand and my amp as a backup) will have to suffice for now,
 
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#20
DJWhitJr said:
Great looking collection! I too don’t need wireless but did buy the Shure GLXD16+ a year or two ago. It’s been super reliable and don’t regret the purchase at all. I like to move around the stage and got tired of kicking the cable out of my way.
Click to expand...
I have the same rig and it has advantages. You can walk out and hear how you sound in the room and screw around with the crowd once in a while. Plus you never have to step on your cable or mess with it. Set your bass stand anywhere. No loss of sound quality. I could get by with a cable of course, but prefer wireless. Super easy to find a good channel.
 
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