Anyone have any time with these wireless units? Liking some of the features it has. Wondering about any real world users out there. Build quality, Sound quality, reliability?
Line 6 XD-75
- Thread starter Ben Lawrence
- Start date
Re: Line 6 XD-75
logged a bunch of hours with these and their predecessor at my church. random thoughts.
1. built well. metal beltpack. metal receiver. however, if you put the handheld in your back pocket and then sit on it, it WILL break in half. thanks to one of my children's workers for doing the research on that one.
2. if you get a bunch [think 8 or more] of these going and then try to run your local WiFi on 2.4 gHz as well, you might have a bad day. the mics will be fine. the WiFi not so much.
3. the battery compartment for the beltpack precludes any of the newer rechargeable NiMh AA batteries. they just won't fit. the handhelds are fine.
4. The battery door latch for the belt packs sometimes gets a little loose. can require tape to keep it shut. minor annoyance, but there it is.
5. Very easy to operate.
6. if you run more than 4, get the paddle antennas. makes a difference.
that's all i got right now....
logged a bunch of hours with these and their predecessor at my church. random thoughts.
1. built well. metal beltpack. metal receiver. however, if you put the handheld in your back pocket and then sit on it, it WILL break in half. thanks to one of my children's workers for doing the research on that one.
2. if you get a bunch [think 8 or more] of these going and then try to run your local WiFi on 2.4 gHz as well, you might have a bad day. the mics will be fine. the WiFi not so much.
3. the battery compartment for the beltpack precludes any of the newer rechargeable NiMh AA batteries. they just won't fit. the handhelds are fine.
4. The battery door latch for the belt packs sometimes gets a little loose. can require tape to keep it shut. minor annoyance, but there it is.
5. Very easy to operate.
6. if you run more than 4, get the paddle antennas. makes a difference.
that's all i got right now....
Re: Line 6 XD-75
That is some good feedback thanks. I would likely be running more than 4 at times. Are the paddles proprietary or can you rig a 2.4ghz antennas?
That is some good feedback thanks. I would likely be running more than 4 at times. Are the paddles proprietary or can you rig a 2.4ghz antennas?
Re: Line 6 XD-75
Presumably you could use any log-periodic or yagi antenna tuned for the frequency, but IIRC the Line 6 paddles were affordable and you *know* they were designed to work with the gear you're using.
Seriously, you're going to drop $2400 - $4800 on 4 -8 units. Trying to save $100 on antennae seems silly.
Presumably you could use any log-periodic or yagi antenna tuned for the frequency, but IIRC the Line 6 paddles were affordable and you *know* they were designed to work with the gear you're using.
Seriously, you're going to drop $2400 - $4800 on 4 -8 units. Trying to save $100 on antennae seems silly.
Re: Line 6 XD-75
I have pretty much ONLY read good things about them, so I recommended them to a friend who got out of some Sennheiser G3 stuff into 4 units of XD-75...
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get anywhere near the same range out of them as he did the Sennheiser G3 systems (mainly the beltpacks, but the handhelds weren't stellar either). I went over to verify for myself and literally had issues getting down the driveway with the lav, switched freqs and had the same issue. The signal strength meters on the RX seemed to indicate that the signal was very unstable at relatively short distances (< 50ft at times). Perhaps the remote antenna's would have helped but the tech we spoke to seemed to imply this wouldn't necessarily solve our issues.
Also noticed when using the built in antennae distribution, the signal strength on the last RX in the chain was considerably lower than the first unit in the chain when tuned to the same channel/receiving signal from the same TX.
Build quality however is excellent on the RX and Belt Pack TX, Handheld TX is ok. Sound quality is everything you might read about ; very very good. At the end of the day my buddy went back to Sennheiser. YMMV
I have pretty much ONLY read good things about them, so I recommended them to a friend who got out of some Sennheiser G3 stuff into 4 units of XD-75...
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get anywhere near the same range out of them as he did the Sennheiser G3 systems (mainly the beltpacks, but the handhelds weren't stellar either). I went over to verify for myself and literally had issues getting down the driveway with the lav, switched freqs and had the same issue. The signal strength meters on the RX seemed to indicate that the signal was very unstable at relatively short distances (< 50ft at times). Perhaps the remote antenna's would have helped but the tech we spoke to seemed to imply this wouldn't necessarily solve our issues.
Also noticed when using the built in antennae distribution, the signal strength on the last RX in the chain was considerably lower than the first unit in the chain when tuned to the same channel/receiving signal from the same TX.
Build quality however is excellent on the RX and Belt Pack TX, Handheld TX is ok. Sound quality is everything you might read about ; very very good. At the end of the day my buddy went back to Sennheiser. YMMV
Re: Line 6 XD-75
i don't think this experience is entirely out of line. we've done really well with these in situations where range wasn't an issue. i've got a number of Shure analog systems in use in our main auditorium and elsewhere and without a doubt i get more range with those than i do the Line6 units. Of course they are all significantly more expensive as well. And frankly, in many cases, don't sound as good. Go figure.
One other thing to watch out for. The transmitters have a low power or high power mode. Obviously this will affect system range.
And yes, the end of the chain in the signal distribution will suffer. They also say don't chain more than 4 of them. i tried to push this. it didn't work out well for me. One trick i have done is to start the A antenna from receiver 1 and chain it through to receiver 4. Antenna B i start at 4 and chain through sequentially to receiver 1. That way every receiver has access to at least one signal that is no more than one generation from the original. Seems to work okay.
All that being said, we've been able to deploy these in classrooms and our children's theater [seats about 200] without any issues. YMMV, of course.
i don't think this experience is entirely out of line. we've done really well with these in situations where range wasn't an issue. i've got a number of Shure analog systems in use in our main auditorium and elsewhere and without a doubt i get more range with those than i do the Line6 units. Of course they are all significantly more expensive as well. And frankly, in many cases, don't sound as good. Go figure.
One other thing to watch out for. The transmitters have a low power or high power mode. Obviously this will affect system range.
And yes, the end of the chain in the signal distribution will suffer. They also say don't chain more than 4 of them. i tried to push this. it didn't work out well for me. One trick i have done is to start the A antenna from receiver 1 and chain it through to receiver 4. Antenna B i start at 4 and chain through sequentially to receiver 1. That way every receiver has access to at least one signal that is no more than one generation from the original. Seems to work okay.
All that being said, we've been able to deploy these in classrooms and our children's theater [seats about 200] without any issues. YMMV, of course.
Re: Line 6 XD-75
You have to think a little differently about "signal strength" with digital wireless as the level itself doesn't directly relate to sound quality. Of course if it falls below the threshold required to make audio you have a problem.
I'm surprised that your tech didn't automatically advise the use of paddles. As always ... it all depends ... but the Line 6 paddles have built-in amplifiers and since they are relatively inexpensive I would never consider running 4 receivers with chained antennas without them. Usually just the benefit from getting the antennas up in the air a bit and being able to split them apart by itself is a strong reason to add them. In this case they would certainly add to the reliability and could also extend the range (if you really need it).
Don Boomer
Line 6, Inc
You have to think a little differently about "signal strength" with digital wireless as the level itself doesn't directly relate to sound quality. Of course if it falls below the threshold required to make audio you have a problem.
I'm surprised that your tech didn't automatically advise the use of paddles. As always ... it all depends ... but the Line 6 paddles have built-in amplifiers and since they are relatively inexpensive I would never consider running 4 receivers with chained antennas without them. Usually just the benefit from getting the antennas up in the air a bit and being able to split them apart by itself is a strong reason to add them. In this case they would certainly add to the reliability and could also extend the range (if you really need it).
Don Boomer
Line 6, Inc