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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sean Verwey" data-source="post: 81160" data-attributes="member: 3809">Re: Upgrading Wireless System, choices...Hey folks, I thought I'd throw in my 2 penny’s worth. We currently have a few Shure VHF systems, some lavalier, but mostly handheld, running them with an antennae distro. They have worked well, but as you can imagine, they are really getting long-in-the-tooth, and bits are breaking, starting to get fuzziness etc. So we have started to upgrade them. Like most countries (I am in New Zealand), digital TV is elbowing out the available UHF frequencies that we can use, and the entertainment industry is suffering from this, having to change wireless systems due to frequency changes. BTW, the VHF units I have are not affected by these changes! It’s a bit ironic, really. So when I looked around for what to upgrade to, I considered Shure PGX and Sennheiser EW300. These were mainstream and we also had good experience with Sennheiser EW-100. I felt the Shures were still very plastic, and rack mounting was an issue. But at the back of my mind, I was always concerned with the frequency band availability that we can use, as the New Zealand government had not yet legislated on what unlicensed band was to be set aside for wireless mics systems. And I didn't want to rush out and get 6 units, to find that I can’t use them two years down the track. So I looked at the Line6 XD-V75, since they use 2.4GHz. Long story short, I now have two of them (handhelds), and they have performed very well. I have them rack mounted in amongst other rack gear, and turned away from the stage and quite low down. The stage is about 20m away, and when the congregation stands up, they are between the mic and receiver. No worries, never had a dropout. Some comments about the XD-V75.1. Since each units’ antennae can loop to the next (up to 4 loops, but I dare say, it will probably work with 6 or 8 loops in less demanding applications), there is no distro needed. I do not know of another receiver that can do this, so this saves heaps on distros. The Shure/Sennheiser distro costs more than a wireless system, so I guess it is a good money-spinner for them.2. Sound clarity is excellent. No question. Modelling can be used in the transmitters, so I use the Sennheiser 945 option. 3. Build quality is good (the handheld mic is steel, the battery cap is plastic) so it feels good to hold with a comfortable weight.4. The receivers' build is good albeit a little too quirky with small rubberised buttons, indented rotary selector and rounded bezel. I would have preferred a simple clean design, sometimes I think Line6 tries to use too much artistry in the design of the systems,5. Up to 14 available channels, more than what we need.6. Receiver's LCD screen is a little too small, I would have happily paid an extra $20 to get a nice, big clear screen.7. Eight hours on the battery is VERY optimistic, we might get four or five hours. I dare say that if we switch to low power on the transmitter, it might get close to eight hours. Not sure. Initially I used a cheap battery, the brand of which we use successfully in our VHF mics, but that ran flat in an hour or so. So now we use Energiser or Duracell. 8. Because the power button on the handheld doubles as a mute, for a non-technical (often older!) vocalist, it is sometimes difficult for them to grasp how to navigate the power/mute functions. It comes down to the length of time that the button is pressed for. I think an extra button would have been better. I personally do not want the vocalist to mute the mic (in any case, the power-down of the mic is quiet anyway, no thump), I will do that from the desk, so it will be good if there was an option to disable the mute function, just On-Off.9. There was mention in this post about the difficulty with fitting the dovetail. BTW, I think that this concept is PRIMO, very classy and it works very well. However, in my version, the path of the dovetail part was obstructed by the head of a screw. Initially I removed the screw until I could get replacement screws that I shaved the heads off, and I could replace the existing screws with the lower profile ones. I could have left them out, but I admit I am a bit pedantic, so I like to make sure it is just right. This might have been an oversight on the part of Line6?10. I would just love it if Line6 would produce a power distribution unit, as those wall-warts are a real pain.11. Just as an aside, I was a little worried about using the 2.4Ghz for these mics, so when I tested the demo unit, I waved a wireless mouse and keyboard right over the antennae’s, then a wireless router, then my Samsung Galaxy with WiFi enabled. No issues or dropouts. Very impressive. I think these are all the comments that I have, I'll edit this post (if I can) if I think of anything more. We will be looking at getting another XD-V75 shortly, and adding one every few months. Comments are welcome....</blockquote>

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