Woodinblack

5 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

would be the full commercial rate of £232

What was it before, as it doesn't seem terribly bad if there are 23 of us at £10, or maybe putting in a bit more for £15?

Will post back if I get any dropouts, haven't so far, but early days. I don't think I had any dropouts with the U4 (although I did have a total transmitter failure) so maybe I just don't go far enough!

I also haven't had any inteference with any of the other wirless stuff.

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I suspect a well designed tv has one

volume step = 3dB.

That would be a terrible design!

Played in places where that seems like a luxury!

Or you can just get an IEM system and plug in whatever you want. They aren't bluetooth though

We do the small venues too and didn't have a problems. However we went to 5.8 in the first place was I used to use the internal router on the X18. As soon as I turned the XVive U4 on, there was no X18 connection. You could have one or the other, so I had to go to a an external 5.8 router.

I havren't had any problems with 5.8 being busy, even though I am a heavy user of it - i have the IEMs, the XVvive transmitter for the bass and a 5.8g modem for the X18, also the singer is on my wireless microphone transmitter and has just got a wireless sax. Its surprisingly been trouble free

11 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Not sure 5G has anything to do with 5.8 Ghz, though, Dave?

No, it doesn't touch that band - its a combination of 700MHz, 3.5GHz and 26-40GHz, all clear of 5.8GHz (and 2.4)

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

even better upgrade over the Xvive U4 than Xvive's own recent U45 update?

I haven't actually tracked that, so I am not sure what that upgrade offers?

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Lack of sufficient monitor outputs on my desk is going to prevent us all going stereo and feels a bit cheeky for that to be an option for just a couple of us and not the whole band, haha! I'm guessing without that key benefit the decision to switch over becomes a little more marginal?

Well, it is less of an upgrade but for me I would still do it. I am lucky in my groups, in the metal group we are entirely IEM but have the P16s so you can have as many stereos as you have people (and get to set it up yourself). In my other band, the drummer has one channel (and seeing as he only has himself in it, I doubt he needs stereo), and the guitarist and singer don't use IEMs - the guitarist doesn't like the sound, the singer won't have any ear protection at all

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Oooh can you go into a bit more detail on why you're liking this better / what the key improvements over the U4 are?

Several things. Obviously the features that really matter are:

Its stereo. Yes, I keep banging on about that but if you have used stereo IEMs, you wouldn't want to go back to mono.

Sound quality is better - no noise, no hiss, sound seems fuller, but maybe that is the stereo, although note that on my main band I haven't really explored the stereo too much, other than having the guitarist on one side, keys on the other, singer on the side of the keys, other backing singer on the other side (mostly - vocals are more centred). In general I get more clarity of sound through this than the U4, when using with the same IEMs.

Mechanical. Its one self contained box which contains everything. Yes, I know, you can get a box for the XVive (I have one, although it was an extra), but this is how it comes. Its also cheaper.

Connectivity - no contest here. I know, it may not matter to some because you are normally going to connect it one way, but I have two bands and I connect it different ways with both, one with a TRS and one with the 1/8th". The XLR is stereo, and also TRS in the centre, then there is a mono TS (probably less useful as you could presumably use the stereo TRS with a TS), and an 1/8th inch stereo jack which can come from an line aux source or a headphone socket. There is also a USB-C rather than stupid USB-micro socket, and it is one USB-C lead not having to remember where you have put your USB to dual USB-Micro lead. The transmitter charges the receiver.

Then when you open it, there is the receiver, sitting in the case, charging. The case is also the transmitter. Handy mono / level switches and a max volume knob so you can set up the type of input nicely - hmm.. a bit susceptible to fingerprints, but I didn't actually notice that.

Then you lift the transmitter up, press and hold its screen, and it gives you a mute switch (double press) or a volume (even if it takes a while) on a big metal spinny knob that isn't going to be knocked by your strap like almost every single gig with the U4 halfway through the gig, and if it did, you wouldn't be having to dive for it trying to remember which one is the volume because its the huge knob on the front! Its also very solid and metal and it has nothing fiddly on it at all, unlike those terrible buttons on the front of the U4. There is a pretty solid clamp on the back, and also a USB-C socket - I assume if you wanted to charge two receivers for one transmitter.

It also shows the level coming through the IEM, so you can see if it is actually working without listening to it.

I loved the U4 when I got it, even though I had to move everything else way from 2.4GHz as it splatted all across the X18s connection, but this is just another step for me, even if the sound wasn't better (and it is), and it wasn't for the stereo thing, it is just a nicer device to use, it feels more sturdy.

the big caveat in all of this is that I have had it just over a week, I have used it in one practice and one gig, so who knows how it will get on in future. I had stopped using my U4s, in place of the MS-1s, as the stereo was compelling, but the MS-1s were just so cheaply built and the power switch was more than a little flakey, and the quality wasn't all that great but I still carried around the U4s charged and ready, as frankly I didn't trust the MS-1s, but I think I can probably stop doing that now with these. But maybe after a couple more gigs.

7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Is that the Swiff WX520 Woody? Did you have the Xvive U4 before and feel these are a step up?

Yes to both, absolutely a step up (I still have the XVive U4, but haven't used it for a long time).

On 04/01/2026 at 00:28, BigAlonBass said:

Would it be possible to get rid of the "Confused" Emoji, and insert a "Rolling Eyes" Emoji instead? 

Recently, some of the Comments on a few Threads have become sillier, or even more radical, and they deserve nothing less.

There is a really clever trick you can try in these circumstances that not many people are aware of. You can:

a) use 'Words' to express that you think they are silly, and why or

b) scroll on by, roll your eyes manually and go to some other, more interesting and less silly posts that deserve your attention more

30 minutes ago, prowla said:

Yup - my generation got it free and pulled up the drawbridge after them.

Utterly disgraceful!

Agreed, in lots of ways.

6 minutes ago, prowla said:

Aren't all uni students paying for it?

They weren't at the time I did mine.

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I always found people who had decided to leave work and go to uni as mature students were excellent as they had passion and determination as well as having taken their study really seriously. 

There is a lot more focus on the education when you are paying for it yourself thats for sure!

My dad was against us going to university, not to the point of forbidding us to go, but just that we should be out working, so we both went out to work at 16.I went to the Open University later on

I had ordered one too (not entirely sure why, but thought it would be good as a drop D thing for a new group), but it was shown as out of stock, to be sent on the 2nd January, but now it has been delayed by 3 weeks. I am not actually that bothered, quite happy to wait if it does turn up!

On 16/12/2025 at 17:57, Woodinblack said:

 

Thats the one I use instead of the U4, although mine cost me £32! But the switch can be a bit intermittent, sometimes the quality can slip and after a lot of gigs and practices the receiver battery life is starting to get close to the end of our gigs if I forget to plug it in at half time.

OK, I got the WX52- and I have been pretty impressed with it, tried it tonight in a practice, really good sound quality and a solid build.

I have a fender one and it has been good, which is a surprise as every other fender cable I have had has been junk. Maybe it was a lucky accident.

31 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

I was just pointing out that adjusting any one setting does change the perception of the overall sound

Yes, but in a passive system, changing the volume does actually change the EQ, not just the perception of it.

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Ah... but that's what I don't agree with. There are plenty of passive low-z pickups out there used in active basses and they aren't associatedwith noise issues.

Not low-z like the EMGs are though. obviously the main issue with those isn't noise, the main issue is that they would just be completely useless without a preamp / buffer, so why bother having an external preamp.

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Agreed but there's nothing magical about active pickups that you can't do with 6" of shielded cable and the right preamp.

Agreed there is nothing, but what it does mean is that you can make very low impedance pickups (with a very low output), which means that you aren't choking your own frequencies with the pickup, which is what EMGs do.  They are active because not only would the noise be an issue, even with 6" of shielded cable, but there would be no point using them without a preamp as the signal would be too small, so might as well put one there. 

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

But any instrument with an onboard buffer, even without tone boost is active.

Agreed - active has nothing to do with tone circuits, its just that if you have gone to the trouble of making it active, might as well make a tone circuit. Most of my basses are active, I rarely touch the EQ on the bass. In fact, nowadays that I play on a wireless all the time, there is little point me using an active, as I am already buffered by the wireless, hence most of the time I am using my Ric.

3 hours ago, ped said:

Further research shows that there is indeed a second cap fitted, which some people snip for more treble (I won’t) 

 

You can see them both here - one rectangle (the one some people snip) and a circular one behind it. I guess the rectangular one is the additional one to better voice the pickup for bass 

Interestingly, one of those is wired permanently on, one is added by the tone control

They only seem to sell roland items, and their vat number is real, so probably real, even if it is a private house. Maybe they just get demo stuff

12 hours ago, ezbass said:

Glad it’s over, only 365 days until the next one. At least it was an easy drive home.

So why bother next year? Why don't you just slope off to the keyboard players NYE family!