Wireless IEMs: Xvive U4 & alternatives

[Al Krow]

Interested in getting your experience of the Xvive U4 system as the transmitter/receiver for a wireless IEM set up.

 

Seem to be mostly very positive comments online including low latency, although some have had interference issues given that it's operating at the congested 2.4 Ghz frequency. The latter could be an issue for us given that both singers are now also using wireless mics.

 

The attractions for me are compact footprint and not outrageously expensive plus ability to have multiple receivers per transmitter combined with up to 6 channels. So should be relatively straightforward to have one transmitter --> several receivers for full band mix and then, if needed, other individual transmitters --> vocal heavy mix or bass heavy mix etc.

 

Anyone using them and able to recommend?

Anyone had them and were disappointed and have swapped them out for another system?

Edited November 2, 2022 by Al Krow

[EBS_freak]

In short, they are mono and latency is 5ms (depending upon your viewpoint, 5ms is not low latency and any review that says it is, shows up the reviewer for not being that clued up on the RF world). If that latency works for you (taking into account any cumulative latency in your chain (think wireless bass, digital pedals, digital desks etc)) then it is what it is and could work well for you.

 

With 2.4, you are always going to be at risk of interference as there are only 3 truly intermod free frequencies on the 2.4 band... and of course, they may already be in use where you are playing.

 

They seem to do the job OK for most. Just have a bailout plan if they do display drop outs.

 

PS beware shared mixes will cause arguments and could put people off IEM use.

Edited November 1, 2022 by EBS_freak

[Adee]

Our singer and myself have used the Xvive U4 system for rehearsal and gigs for the last few months with very few issues.

For us, latency is not an issue at all, I've not felt or noticed it. not really had any interference issues either to complain about.

Nothing changing channel hasn't sorted. 

 

For the money its a great system, very solid, as long as you're happy with a mono mix. I have the mix I want in mine, my backing vocals

have also benefited too as I can pitch my harmony way better which was my main goal.

 

I'd happily recommend the U4 just don't expect pro quality for £200 .... plus you'll need a good set of in ears too

[dudewheresmybass]

both myself and the singer both use the u4 rig.

Both myself and guitarist use wireless rigs (Line 6 g series), and the singer uses a wireless mike.

We've never had an issue with dropouts or clashing frequencies once we'd set them up.

 

[dave_bass5]

19 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

 

Anyone using them and able to recommend?

Anyone had them and were disappointed and have swapped them out for another system?

Dawn uses then in my band. Does the job and a lot less hassle than the UHF set up she used to have. 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Dawn uses then in my band. Does the job and a lot less hassle than the UHF set up she used to have. 

Thanks Dave - what UHF set up did Dawn previously have and what was the hassle factor she was experiencing with them? 

[dave_bass5]

16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Thanks Dave - what UHF set up did Dawn previously have and what was the hassle factor she was experiencing with them? 

Just a generic  one from G4M. It worked fine some of the time, but we ended up taking a monitor with us as quite often it wouldn’t be solid enough to rely on. 

That things cost more than the Xvive. 

[Al Krow]

@Phil Starr just seen your post on the IEM Bible thread and going for something decent that doesn't break the bank for bandmates is very much a quest I'm on too. Guess that shouldn't surprise given our RCF 310A shared history, haha!

 

Just pulling you onto here, in case the Xvive U4s prove to be a decent compromise solution with the ability to upgrade down the line. Seem to be getting pretty good feedback from users so far. 

[Greg Edwards69]

13 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Just a generic  one from G4M. It worked fine some of the time, but we ended up taking a monitor with us as quite often it wouldn’t be solid enough to rely on. 

That things cost more than the Xvive. 

If it's anything like the generic G4M system my band has, it's not great. The problem, according to the IEM bible thread, is the cheap compander in the system. It's fine for a vocal only mix, but if you put the whole band through it, the bass is the first thing to disappear. I end up using one earpiece and an earplug in the other ear.

 

We're in the process of rethinking our IEM setup. I've pretty much given up using my Line 6 wireless, it's often too much hassle for many of the smaller venues we play in. So we're thinking out going wired with behringer P2 units for the musicians, and the current wireless for the 2 singers up front. I'm thinking of making up a loom cable so I can put the P2 on the floor with my Helix, and have a single 'cable' for guitar and headphone extention.

[dave_bass5]

31 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

If it's anything like the generic G4M system my band has, it's not great. The problem, according to the IEM bible thread, is the cheap compander in the system. It's fine for a vocal only mix, but if you put the whole band through it, the bass is the first thing to disappear. I end up using one earpiece and an earplug in the other ear.

 

We're in the process of rethinking our IEM setup. I've pretty much given up using my Line 6 wireless, it's often too much hassle for many of the smaller venues we play in. So we're thinking out going wired with behringer P2 units for the musicians, and the current wireless for the 2 singers up front. I'm thinking of making up a loom cable so I can put the P2 on the floor with my Helix, and have a single 'cable' for guitar and headphone extention.

The one we have was a Sub Zero IIR. The sound was ok but it quite often just didn’t connect to the receiver. 
The Xvive has been much better, although on more than one occasion it has clashed with the guitarists Xvive. That’s just user error though and because he was pushing buttons he had not right to. 
I’ve got a P2 and it works really well, being fed from my small desk, but I only have me in the mix. I do much prefer using a monitor as it keeps things in perspective and also gives everyone on stage something to hear. 
 

Currently I’m looking to get a QCS K8.2 to get things a bit more compact, but do always have my IEM’s with me just in case. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by dave_bass5

[Phil Starr]

23 hours ago, Adee said:

Our singer and myself have used the Xvive U4 system for rehearsal and gigs for the last few months with very few issues.

For us, latency is not an issue at all,

 

17 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

both myself and the singer both use the u4 rig.

 

17 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Dawn uses then in my band. Does the job and a lot less hassle than the UHF set up she used to have.

I guess the question is which mixer do you all use? I'm using a digital mixer and I'm not sure what the latency is on that. Adding a further 5ms could be an issue.

 

FWIW I use a P2 for rehearsals and an old UHF wireless at a gig. The sound quality in rehearsal is stunning, at a gig not so much which i guess is down to the compander. It's workable with and saves my hearing but not very rewarding.

[Al Krow]

4 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

FWIW I use a P2 for rehearsals and an old UHF wireless at a gig. The sound quality in rehearsal is stunning, at a gig not so much which i guess is down to the compander. It's workable with and saves my hearing but not very rewarding.

What do you think is the main source of difference in sound quality between rehearsal and gig? 

[dave_bass5]

One other thing about using a P2, which might not be relevant to most, is that you can have a stereo mix if the desk allows this. This is the only reason I never got a wireless system for my IEM’s. 

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

What do you think is the main source of difference in sound quality between rehearsal and gig? 

The wireless. Wired in rehearsals, analogue wireless (hence with compander) at the gig.

[Greg Edwards69]

1 hour ago, Phil Starr said:

FWIW I use a P2 for rehearsals and an old UHF wireless at a gig. The sound quality in rehearsal is stunning, at a gig not so much which i guess is down to the compander. It's workable with and saves my hearing but not very rewarding.

You've gotten me thinking now. Me and the two guitarists use a helix, we always bring individual FRFR speaker to rehearsal. One of them doubles on keys, and the drummer has a little trigger device with a couple of pads that he sometimes puts in a spare channel of my headrush speaker. We could potentially just bring a 12 channel mixer to rehearsal, plug everything into it and rehearse with IEM. 

[EBS_freak]

12 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

You've gotten me thinking now. Me and the two guitarists use a helix, we always bring individual FRFR speaker to rehearsal. One of them doubles on keys, and the drummer has a little trigger device with a couple of pads that he sometimes puts in a spare channel of my headrush speaker. We could potentially just bring a 12 channel mixer to rehearsal, plug everything into it and rehearse with IEM. 

You wait til you figure out you can do that at gigs and get that brilliant in ear sound too.

[dudewheresmybass]

6 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

 

 

I guess the question is which mixer do you all use? I'm using a digital mixer and I'm not sure what the latency is on that. Adding a further 5ms could be an issue.

 

FWIW I use a P2 for rehearsals and an old UHF wireless at a gig. The sound quality in rehearsal is stunning, at a gig not so much which i guess is down to the compander. It's workable with and saves my hearing but not very rewarding.

I use both analogue and digital mixers, which are dependant on venue

[Woodinblack]

Absolutely love mine, ok, they are only mono, but the quality sounds pretty good, they are easy enough to use, and now my X18 has a 5GHz router, it all works well. It did take the default X18 wireless out, but then most things do, so not really surprising. 

They are also pretty cheap. 

Obviously there are a lot of things better if you can pay more, but they work well for me, I am certainly not looking for anything else at the moment.

[Greg Edwards69]

5 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

You wait til you figure out you can do that at gigs and get that brilliant in ear sound too.

That’s is the plan, but not until we get a subwoofer. But it didn’t occur to me that it could make rehearsals easier and in many ways, better!

[Phil Starr]

9 hours ago, Al Krow said:

What do you think is the main source of difference in sound quality between rehearsal and gig? 

 

8 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

The wireless. Wired in rehearsals, analogue wireless (hence with compander) at the gig.

This

[Phil Starr]

8 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

You've gotten me thinking now. Me and the two guitarists use a helix, we always bring individual FRFR speaker to rehearsal. One of them doubles on keys, and the drummer has a little trigger device with a couple of pads that he sometimes puts in a spare channel of my headrush speaker. We could potentially just bring a 12 channel mixer to rehearsal, plug everything into it and rehearse with IEM. 

Just to back up what @EBS_freak is saying I still take my RCF310's as floor monitors to gigs and rehearsals but as a safety net until everyone is happy with the in-ears. I didn't tell the band but I muted the floor monitors at last Sat's gig about halfway through. That's with an electronic kit too. They were on really low at the previous rehearsal until the singers in-ears worked loose and I had to rescue her.

 

[Phil Starr]

2 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

That’s is the plan, but not until we get a subwoofer. But it didn’t occur to me that it could make rehearsals easier and in many ways, better!

I use over ears at rehearsal and encourage the others to do the same. No-one cares how you look and they are much more comfortable.

[dave_bass5]

I really wish i could use my AirPod Pro’s as IEM’s. They have such a great transparency mode. I know i can, in theory, but the latency would mean its not a good idea. 

[EBS_freak]

10 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

I really wish i could use my AirPod Pro’s as IEM’s. They have such a great transparency mode. I know i can, in theory, but the latency would mean its not a good idea. 

200ms+!

[Greg Edwards69]

12 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

I use over ears at rehearsal and encourage the others to do the same. No-one cares how you look and they are much more comfortable.

That make sense. I use a pair of open back, on-ear headphones for quiet practice. Nothing amazing, just a Jabra Move set, but they sound great and dead comfy (I chose them after extensive research for a pair of inexpensive headphones, with bluetooth and optional wired connections, with decent sound and sensible non-hyped bass response - they also don't look ridiculous if I wear them in public).

 

I can imagine that an on ear set could work better in rehearsal, as you get some of the room ambience to hear the drums properly, whilst being comfortable to wear for 4 hours. If I do need additional protection, I could switch to IEM or simply stick some earplugs in underneath the headphones.

 

EDIT: I wonder how well bone conduction headphones would work in this regard?

Edited November 3, 2022 by Greg Edwards69