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Wireless System Rant!


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hi

i was looking into buying a Samson Concert 77 wireless kit earlier and then saw this..

"IF YOUR A BASS PLAYER, STAY AWAY!"

Reason for this?
The frequency of the kit is 50hz upwards, with Standard E bass tuning being 40hz upwards. I would also like to add i play in E Flat so the frequency would need to be around 34hz and upwards.

So i then proceeded to look around the net for a wireless kit for the same price that handles UHF frequency of the bass range (just standard 40hz and upwards) and also of around the same price range (around £100 - £150 as the Samson Concert 77 is £110) and found nothing...

I then took out the UHF option so it would search any wirelesses with bass range for the price and still nothing...

Lowest price I found?
Ha... £250

Why is it they make wirelesses so much more expensive for basses?

I did see the AKG Pro 40 WMS wireless for £100 and that handles bass frequency but i have one of them already and it just doesnt do it for me which is why im changing it, plus i dont like the wireless bug, i prefer proper bodypacks.

What do you guys think?
Is it worth trying out the Samson Concert 77 kit?

Cheers!

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Guest johnzgerman

basically if your going to buy a wireless system you need to get a decent one such as sennhiesser ew 300 g2 or a shure equivelent, as all the cheap ones are crap and will cause you more trouble than they are worth wether you use them for bass, guitar, sax or have a radio mic.

they will suffer from interference from taxis, pirate radio, mobile phones and all sorts of other things that are flying about the airwaves. they will also have a short and patchy range and generally be a lot less reliable than a cable. believe me, i am a live sound engineer and regularly encounter musicians with their own wireless systems and it almost always ends up with reduced sound quality for whatever instrument or vocal they are using it for.

i also regularly use the sennhiesser and less often shure systems which if you use the right licensed frequencies will rarely have any problems unless there is someone else in the vicinity useing our frequencies iligally. sorry to put a damper on your plans but unfortunately that is the way things are. (also they will cost you a fortune in batteries as you can only really use duracell procells or something similar to run them reliably for long periods.) hope this helps:)

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Cheers guys
Thanks so much for your help

As for the reply from BT!, the Airline 77 is the same frequencys as the Concert 77, but if you said it works properly then i'll trust you dude

Thanks very much, and thanks for all the advise from everyone

Cant really afford the Sennheiser EW that JohnZGerman suggested but im going to look around, going to give the Concert 77 a try out after BT! said the Airline 77 was good

Thanks

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By the way, BT!, Only reason i am not going for the Airline 77 is because its a wireless bug and i dont like bugs (as i mentioned) but the Concert 77 uses the same CR77 reciever but has a wireless body pack which is what i prefer.

Thanks for your help, if you could do any recordings with it and let me hear them, that would be great. I use alot of treble, alot of bass and no mids on my amp so hopefully it will handle that perfectly

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[quote name='jonthebass' post='584817' date='Aug 29 2009, 11:09 PM']IMO stay away from wireless stuff, just another problem waiting to happen![/quote]

Thats a fair point, they can be problematic but if you have decent batterys in it and keep it regularly maintained, it will work perfectly each time
Thats in my experience anyways and ive done a fair amount of gigs

Thanks for your reply though

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[quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='584855' date='Aug 30 2009, 12:28 AM']By the way, BT!, Only reason i am not going for the Airline 77 is because its a wireless bug and i dont like bugs (as i mentioned) but the Concert 77 uses the same CR77 reciever but has a wireless body pack which is what i prefer.

Thanks for your help, if you could do any recordings with it and let me hear them, that would be great. I use alot of treble, alot of bass and no mids on my amp so hopefully it will handle that perfectly[/quote]


will do dude. :)

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[quote name='johnzgerman' post='584827' date='Aug 30 2009, 12:18 AM']basically if your going to buy a wireless system you need to get a decent one such as sennhiesser ew 300 g2 or a shure equivelent, as all the cheap ones are crap and will cause you more trouble than they are worth wether you use them for bass, guitar, sax or have a radio mic.

they will suffer from interference from taxis, pirate radio, mobile phones and all sorts of other things that are flying about the airwaves. they will also have a short and patchy range and generally be a lot less reliable than a cable. believe me, i am a live sound engineer and regularly encounter musicians with their own wireless systems and it almost always ends up with reduced sound quality for whatever instrument or vocal they are using it for.

i also regularly use the sennhiesser and less often shure systems which if you use the right licensed frequencies will rarely have any problems unless there is someone else in the vicinity useing our frequencies iligally. sorry to put a damper on your plans but unfortunately that is the way things are. (also they will cost you a fortune in batteries as you can only really use duracell procells or something similar to run them reliably for long periods.) hope this helps:)[/quote]

I guess I must be one of the lucky ones. I have a cheap £50 T-bone wireless jobbie from Thomann and have never (touch wood) had interferance, to my ears the sound is indistinguishable from using a cable (although I'm sure that someone with an oscilloscope would be able to tell the difference), and an alkaline battery will last 4 hours (about 2 quid for a pack of 10)

I wouldn't worry too much about the frequency response, even though the fundamental is lower it only makes up a tiny proportion of the note, and the vast majority of the sound you want is well over 50Hz. The best thing as always is to try before you buy, and trust your ears rather than what's written on the box / on the techy pages of your fave mag.
:)


Edit: for spellin

Edited by SteveO
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I've never tried a wireless unit for bass that hasn't compressed the f*** out of the sound.

The other thing to bear in mind if buying a wireless unit of any sort is that with the government selling off the wireless channels the frequency ranges used by these units are going to get very crowded - the chance of interference with vastly increase & you may even end up having to buy licences for them in the not too distant future.

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[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='585054' date='Aug 30 2009, 12:09 PM']I use a cheap Samson Airline bass-specific bug and it suffers from none of the problems listed above. It's seen regular use from the tiniest pubs to 2000+ outdoor festivals and rallies.
The points listed above as 'facts' are grossly inaccurate.[/quote]

+1 for this! I wouldn't be without mine, secured from another Basschatter, and it's become a bit of a trademark. Good when you can't soundcheck, too!

Edit - Look at my avatar for another advantage, access to the bar...

Edited by Mickeyboro
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[quote name='Pete Academy' post='585058' date='Aug 30 2009, 12:14 PM']Why not try the new Ashdown one? Haven't tried it, but my mate has and says it works a treat.[/quote]

Is that the Ashdown FreeBass dude?
If so, i think i may have found it on the net and it looks pretty good actually

And do you think it could be rackmounted?

Cheers man!

Edited by StevieD_FenderP2009
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[quote name='Mickeyboro' post='585194' date='Aug 30 2009, 04:19 PM']+1 for this! I wouldn't be without mine, secured from another Basschatter, and it's become a bit of a trademark. Good when you can't soundcheck, too!

Edit - Look at my avatar for another advantage, access to the bar...[/quote]

I'll agree with that, I've never had interferance from my wireless and ive played some pretty large gigs, and quite a few outdoor festivals

[quote]I've never tried a wireless unit for bass that hasn't compressed the f*** out of the sound.

The other thing to bear in mind if buying a wireless unit of any sort is that with the government selling off the wireless channels the frequency ranges used by these units are going to get very crowded - the chance of interference with vastly increase & you may even end up having to buy licences for them in the not too distant future.[/quote]

I don't mind the compression that some wireless kits give as it helps to boost the whole signal and make it a bit more balanced
But with regards to your thoughts on the frequency licences, i totally agree, it wouldn't suprise me with the way this bloody goverment is going if we do end up having to pay for licences :@ ARGH haha

I mainly play 80's style heavy metal, heavily Iron Maiden (Steve Harris) influenced and my tone is pretty much spot on to what Steve's is, the raw klanky-ness and the heavy bass with it, along with no mids in the mix. My old wireless kit handled it perfectly, but there were to many times when the bug fell out of the guitar and i hated taping it on, then it broke so i had it replaced by AKG and straight away, my old band split, so since then, the new one hasnt been used.
Back in a new band now, [i][b]Crimson Dream[/b][/i], who I play bass and do vocals for. Going to start gigging around november so I'm hoping to get hold of a new Steve Harris Precision Bass 2009 before then, or the American Vintage '57 Reissue P Bass, either that or have my 90's Squire/Fender re-painted. Not decided yet haha

Edited by StevieD_FenderP2009
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You could fashion a strap/belt pack using the bug. Simple cable from bass to a jack into which the bug connects, and then tape the bug to your strap. Voilà - bug quality and belt pack simplicity.

If I have understood you correctly, that is. It seems like your old bug broke and AKG replaced it...so yeah, I think I'm on it!

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[quote name='JimBobTTD' post='585408' date='Aug 30 2009, 09:30 PM']You could fashion a strap/belt pack using the bug. Simple cable from bass to a jack into which the bug connects, and then tape the bug to your strap. Voilà - bug quality and belt pack simplicity.

If I have understood you correctly, that is. It seems like your old bug broke and AKG replaced it...so yeah, I think I'm on it![/quote]

Yes mate, AKG Replace the whole system as it was under warranty and it turned out to be a wiring fault as well

I was thinking of turning it into a pack with a cable but i just prefer proper packs

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[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='585054' date='Aug 30 2009, 12:09 PM']I use a cheap Samson Airline bass-specific bug and it suffers from none of the problems listed above. It's seen regular use .[/quote]


I've been using these since they came out and have only had cab interference once (repositioning the unit cured that) and no problems handling drop D whatsoever.

Edited by ezbass
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I've just been given another AKG Wireless bug kit, the Pro 40 WMS which can be dual rack mounted or single mounted so ive decided to mount both of them, connect them using a double to single jack running into the input on my trace head then running a cable from the 2nd output on my head to a rack tuner.
Phoning AKG tomorrow to see if they can change the 2 bugs to body packs.
Failing that, im going to ask my uncle to build me 2 cases i can put them in and use as body kits
Sorted lads!
I'll upload photos when ive got my rig sorted (Y)

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