Which wireless?

[BassAdder60]

3 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

Bought the Legato WS50 (£47 Amazon) which operates at 5.8 and I've not had a bit of bother.  I was genuinely concerned it was going to be garbage at that price (I'd have sent it back via Amazon returns policy) but I hear no difference between it, a cable or my Line 6 unit.

 

I found my Lekato distorted the signal slightly 🙄

[warwickhunt]

2 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

I found my Lekato distorted the signal slightly 🙄

 

I wonder if the different models vary?  Was yours 2.4 or 5.8?

[Al Krow]

10 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

Bought the Legato WS50 (£47 Amazon) which operates at 5.8 and I've not had a bit of bother.  I was genuinely concerned it was going to be garbage at that price (I'd have sent it back via Amazon returns policy) but I hear no difference between it, a cable or my Line 6 unit.

 

 

Yup the Lekato WS-50 5.8GHz is also what I have.

 

It seems to be fine with some basses / preamps e.g. my Spector Euro5LX / Tonepump and that seems to tie in with other folk's positive experience on this thread, but it does distort slightly or noticeably when I'm digging in with my two other gigging basses as also @BassAdder60 has found. So maybe a bit of luck of the draw on that one - and Amazon & being able to return it, if it doesn't, is a good way to find out. But if it hits the spot with your set up, at £47 that's a nice result! I may well keep mine just for back-up use with my Spector.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Al Krow

[BassAdder60]

I have the 2.4ghz Lekato as backup but the 5.8ghz distortion was very noticeable with all my passive basses so it went back. 
 

With many WiFi systems switching to 5.8 it might just be better sticking with 2.4ghz in the long run ? 

Edited July 23, 2023 by BassAdder60

[warwickhunt]

Yes at £47 it was at least going to see use as a spare/back up or for use in the house! 

[Woodinblack]

I have the 5.8GHz - not listed as Lekato, but they are all the same thing, and a 2.4GHz, also not lekato. I gig the 5.8 version now as my main wireless and have had no problems. I don't notice any distortion, but obviously when gigging I probably wouldn't. But I haven't heard it at home either.

I use the 2.4GHz as my home practicing for everything apart from my bongo (where all 2.4GHz dongles have too much interference).

I think the wireless is one of the areas where I am pretty happy and am not looking any more for any changes.

[warwickhunt]

3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

...I am pretty happy and am not looking any more for any changes.

 

Heretic!  Burn him. 

[walshy]

Ive used and gigged the GLXD and the new + and they are both miles better than anything I have used before. Boss, Line 6, Sennheiser, they are just not as good as the Shure. Expensive, yes but you get what you pay for imo.

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, walshy said:

Ive used and gigged the GLXD and the new + and they are both miles better than anything I have used before. Boss, Line 6, Sennheiser, they are just not as good as the Shure. Expensive, yes but you get what you pay for imo.

 

@walshy you've got bags of large stage/audience live experience that most of us can't compare to.

 

What is it about the Shure that makes it worth the extra coin and sets it apart from the competition? 

 

It's unfortunately not always the case that spending extra buys you extra though eg if you compare Shure IEM headphones to eg KZ ZS10 pros you can be spending 5x as much for a no better product (and many on the IEM thread would actually say the Shures are inferior) simply down to the brand name. 

 

And we all know that a £3k bass isn't necessarily going to be better than something costing significantly less!

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Al Krow
Typos!

[BassAdder60]

I use mine ( Boss ) for the following 

Ease of soundcheck

Freedom to move a little without standing on my lead 

No more twisted leads

Nice to feel non tethered !

 

I only need 5-10m max range so it’s perfect without costing £500 ! 

[walshy]

10 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

@walshy you've got bags of large stage/audience live experience that most of us can't compare to.

 

What is it about the Shure that makes it worth the extra coin and sets it apart from the competition? 

 

It's unfortunately not always the case that spending extra buys your extra though eg if you compare Shure IEM headphones to eg KZ ZS10 pros you can be spending 5x as much for a no better product (and many on the IEM thread would actually say the Shures are inferior) simply down to the brand name. 

 

And we all know that a £3k bass isn't necessarily going to be better than something costing significantly less!

It’s the fact that I have never ever had a drop

out or any problem with them for years now.
 

I’ve used others early on and had issues with them cutting out, especially the Line 6 G50/70 and even the Sennheiser too. Clashes on frequencies too when others in the band have used similar wireless stuff. Even when we all sound checked and selected different channels there was always an issue. Aeroplane mode on phones etc selected too, still has problems.

 

Once I changed to the Shure, I never had an issue, drop out, clashes or any noticeable latency at all. Whether playing to a few hundred at a pub or 10k festival stuff, no problems ever. They just work, well. I’ve used multiple packs with one receiver on the pedalboard and they swap and select with ease. Oh and it has a built in tuner of course, runs off either the Noble or a Cioks DC7 and not a bother.

 

I do use a Boss WL50 at home when I’m swapping between basses etc just noodling but I’d never gig it again. The shure is the dogs danglies.

 

You spend all your cash on basses, amps, pedals etc, loads of time practicing, fuel to and from rehearsals/gigs etc, why wouldn’t you buy the one bit of kit that makes it work without any issues ( yes it’s expensive) ?

 

Obviously just my opinion.

 

Or a decent lead of course 😂

[Woodinblack]

See I get that but my cheap 5.8ghz wireless dongle has never dropped out, never clashed, sounds fine, works every time with no effort. I don't have and won't have stages to 10,000s so I don't have to worry about that, but I can't see anything else being better - especially as I don't need anything on the pedalboard for it.

I guess I don't trust Shure that much, the only wireless things we have trouble with is the Shure wireless on the sax. It clicks all the time, needs new batteries every gig and is generally a pain.

[walshy]

10 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

See I get that but my cheap 5.8ghz wireless dongle has never dropped out, never clashed, sounds fine, works every time with no effort. I don't have and won't have stages to 10,000s so I don't have to worry about that, but I can't see anything else being better - especially as I don't need anything on the pedalboard for it.

I guess I don't trust Shure that much, the only wireless things we have trouble with is the Shure wireless on the sax. It clicks all the time, needs new batteries every gig and is generally a pain.

I get that too, if it works for you without issues that’s grand. Like I said a decent lead will also do the same job for much cheaper. We are all different thankfully otherwise it would be a boring old place. 

[Woodinblack]

Agreed. I don't like leads purely from the point of treading on them. It's just convenience and laziness. It's a bit more annoying on the sax because they are a pain to wire up and he is a very active frontman!

stupid thing is, when it is working it is fine, and there is never distortion or anything, when it is working it's just like a lead, just clicking as it drops the connection and picks it up again.

[Al Krow]

58 minutes ago, walshy said:

I get that too, if it works for you without issues that’s grand. Like I said a decent lead will also do the same job for much cheaper. We are all different thankfully otherwise it would be a boring old place. 

 

Do you need line of sight with your Shure?

 

51 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Agreed. I don't like leads purely from the point of treading on them. It's just convenience and laziness. It's a bit more annoying on the sax because they are a pain to wire up and he is a very active frontman!

stupid thing is, when it is working it is fine, and there is never distortion or anything, when it is working it's just like a lead, just clicking as it drops the connection and picks it up again.

 

Which model Shure is your sax player using which you're finding is dropping out?

[walshy]

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Do you need line of sight with your Shure?

 

 

Which model Shure is your sax player using which you're finding is dropping out?

It’s on my pedalboard so I’m sure it’s normally for line of sight to me, I’m a bassist remember not a egomaniac runway loving guitarist 😉

[Woodinblack]

47 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Which model Shure is your sax player using which you're finding is dropping out?

 

Not sure of the model - just had a look on the net, there are a lot of them. it has a yellow screen with channel numbers on it, two aerials, and a strength meter on the left. the sax unit is pretty flat with a single display saying what channel number it has. It has 2 AA batteries - it appears that they last one gig.

We do an autoscan when all of my wireless stuff is on and it picks its own channel. Originally he put it in his saxophone but I thought that was a bad place being metal, so now he has a 3d printed side panel that it velcros on. Still the same problem. We have tried everything, its not the leads, it is the wireless.

[Adee]

I've been using the Shure GLXD for the last month or so and have not had a single issue, no drop outs at all playing large festival stages and theatres with lots of moving around from one side to the other etc. I previously used the Line 6 Relay G70 which did suffer the occasional drop out which is frustrating. To agree with @walshy its a solid well built bit of kit, no drop outs (so far) and for my use, well worth the money in my opinion.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

21 hours ago, walshy said:

It’s the fact that I have never ever had a drop

out or any problem with them for years now.
 

I’ve used others early on and had issues with them cutting out, especially the Line 6 G50/70 and even the Sennheiser too. Clashes on frequencies too when others in the band have used similar wireless stuff. Even when we all sound checked and selected different channels there was always an issue. Aeroplane mode on phones etc selected too, still has problems.

 

Once I changed to the Shure, I never had an issue, drop out, clashes or any noticeable latency at all. Whether playing to a few hundred at a pub or 10k festival stuff, no problems ever. They just work, well. I’ve used multiple packs with one receiver on the pedalboard and they swap and select with ease. Oh and it has a built in tuner of course, runs off either the Noble or a Cioks DC7 and not a bother.

 

I do use a Boss WL50 at home when I’m swapping between basses etc just noodling but I’d never gig it again. The shure is the dogs danglies.

 

You spend all your cash on basses, amps, pedals etc, loads of time practicing, fuel to and from rehearsals/gigs etc, why wouldn’t you buy the one bit of kit that makes it work without any issues ( yes it’s expensive) ?

 

Obviously just my opinion.

 

Or a decent lead of course 😂

It was your opinion that convinced me to try the Shure unit and I heartily second every word of the above.

The other thing I like about these is they’re built like tanks - transmitter and receiver alike. A real solid piece of kit.
The batteries last for an incredible amount of time on a single charge and I’ve had no drop outs either.

I tried a little experiment in an open air amphitheatre during sound check last year and managed to get about halfway to the top of the seated area before there was any signal dropout.

[BassAdder60]

I tend to see that bands playing larger venues and earning better money can justify the cost of a Shure unit 

 

But for many pub and club bands all we need is closer range decent enough wireless which I think most of the Line 6, Boss, Smoothound, Lekato, Xvive, etc offer a good solution. 
 

As mentioned wireless for me is close range freedom not 20m away in a huge auditorium!!

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

44 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

I tend to see that bands playing larger venues and earning better money can justify the cost of a Shure unit 

 

But for many pub and club bands all we need is closer range decent enough wireless which I think most of the Line 6, Boss, Smoothound, Lekato, Xvive, etc offer a good solution. 
 

As mentioned wireless for me is close range freedom not 20m away in a huge auditorium!!

By that rationale, I assume you’re one and only gigging bass is a Harley Benton?

[BassAdder60]

57 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

By that rationale, I assume you’re one and only gigging bass is a Harley Benton?

Not at all !! besides Harley Benton uses on here may find that remark rather condescending !! 🙄

 

But my valid point is why spend over £500 for a “ tour grade wireless “ when you rock out down the pub at a weekend !! 
 

Granted my bass, amps are all pro gear high value ( sensible not outrageous) but you do have to weight up if first it’s actually needed or nice to have etc or a must have and your funds allow it. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by BassAdder60

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

27 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

Not at all !! But my valid point is why spend over £500 for a “ tour grade wireless “ when you rock out down the pub at a weekend !! 
Granted my bass, amps are all pro gear high value ( sensible not outrageous) but you do have to weight up if first it’s actually needed or nice to have etc or a must have and your funds allow it. 

I think there's an argument for questioning the need for wireless at all if the gigs are all pub based. The only reason I bought one was because the 80's show requires movement on sometimes quite large stages. That said, I do also use it for pub/club gigs because it's already on my board. I'm not sure the GLXD even qualifies as tour grade. You can spend an awful lot more on more powerful units.

Yes, it's expensive, but in my opinion, it's worth it. I've probably saved its value in AA batteries had I still been using the Line 6 🤣

[Woodinblack]

2 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I think there's an argument for questioning the need for wireless at all if the gigs are all pub based.

 

Although everything can have an argument, I am not sure I see what the argument for wireless for pub gigs is. The wireless costs less than £50, means I don't tread on any leads, I can go out the front and the end of the hall to check on levels at setup, and I can wander around.

I am not sure I am seeing any downside there?

[warwickhunt]

30 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Although everything can have an argument, I am not sure I see what the argument for wireless for pub gigs is. The wireless costs less than £50, means I don't tread on any leads, I can go out the front and the end of the hall to check on levels at setup, and I can wander around.

I am not sure I am seeing any downside there?

 

Agreed.  

 

I've had radio gear since the 80's 90's starting with Nady stuff, mainly because I disliked the restriction of a lead.  Every gig our guitarist sets sound levels etc out front and then I go out front to check his vocal level in the mix... not so easy with a lead to get the best distance.  As for battery cost etc.  I've always used good quality rechargeable or the unit has a recharge built in.  If I thought a £500 unit would give me even a fraction better sound I'd go for it but I've yet to hear any discernible difference between the cheapie Lekato 5.8ghz and a friend's £800 unit... or a lead for that matter.