Wired v. wireless

[geoff]

Saw (as regular audience) Simply Red last night. Despite Hucknell being
highly mobile across a wide stage, seems he still prefers a wired mic.
Stage-hand resetting the lay of the cable (in a big "S" during the
several pauses in the show.

geoff
(PS was great show - very slick and great music/musicians).

[Phil Allison]

Post by geoff
Saw (as regular audience) Simply Red last night. Despite Hucknell being
highly mobile across a wide stage, seems he still prefers a wired mic.
Stage-hand resetting the lay of the cable (in a big "S" during the
several pauses in the show.

** What mic was he using ?

Radio mics are dominated by Shure and Sennheiser but you can use any mic you like if it is wired.

Plus there is is lot less to go wrong.


... Phil

[geoff]

Post by Phil Allison

Post by geoff
Saw (as regular audience) Simply Red last night. Despite Hucknell being
highly mobile across a wide stage, seems he still prefers a wired mic.
Stage-hand resetting the lay of the cable (in a big "S" during the
several pauses in the show.

** What mic was he using ?
Radio mics are dominated by Shure and Sennheiser but you can use any mic you like if it is wired.
Plus there is is lot less to go wrong.
... Phil

Was sitting quite far back (to avoid the crappy slapback echo in the
venue) so couldn't make it out.

Black with black grille(?), and handled the dynamics and wide vocal
range very evenly. Quite a bit of bass boost when deliberately cupped
for some deep mumbling parts.

Pretty shure (ha ha) it wasn't the Beta 58 he's usually pictured with,
but the set was quite dingy...

geoff

[p***@hotmail.com]

Post by geoff
Quite a bit of bass boost when deliberately cupped
for some deep mumbling parts.

CUPPED ! Not only does that give you extraordinary bass proximity effect but cupping destroys the polar response too. Basic Physics.


Graham

[geoff]

Post by p***@hotmail.com

Quite a bit of bass boost when deliberately cupped for some deep
mumbling parts.

CUPPED ! Not only does that give you extraordinary bass proximity
effect but cupping destroys the polar response too. Basic Physics.
Graham

It was deliberate, for just a certain sequence .....

geoff

[Rupert]

Post by geoff
Saw (as regular audience) Simply Red last night. Despite Hucknell being
highly mobile across a wide stage, seems he still prefers a wired mic.
Stage-hand resetting the lay of the cable (in a big "S" during the
several pauses in the show.
geoff
(PS was great show - very slick and great music/musicians).

A lot of productions choose wired mics because they're inherently more reliable, especially with the reduced available RF spectrum these days (at least in The States). Also, analog wireless mic systems tend to employ "companding" of the audio signal to squeeze the audio bandwidth into their respective RF channels which will have an effect on frequency response and dynamics. Digital systems my have better sound quality by eliminating the companding issues, but inherently add latency to the signal since the mic much digitize the signal from the capsulel, transmit it, then do a D to A conversion at the receiver. Add the latency that digital desks have (commonly used now in most higher end productions) and the latency of digital speaker processing, it can have a noticeable effect on monitoring for vocalists - especially if they're using IEMs.

With a wired mic, you don't have to worry about RF spectrum issues, companding, latency, and batteries. Plus, they're a hell of a lot cheaper to buy and usually don't break if you drop them. I've had to repair a lot of Sennheiser handheld wireless that have been dropped from folks' hands or that have fallen off a mic stand. They're not very sturdy. If that happens to a dynamic Shure/Senn/AT/Audix/etc wired mic, you pick it up and keep going. With a wireless, there's a 50/50 chance it will still work.

[Les Cargill]

Post by Rupert

Post by geoff
Saw (as regular audience) Simply Red last night. Despite Hucknell
being highly mobile across a wide stage, seems he still prefers a
wired mic. Stage-hand resetting the lay of the cable (in a big "S"
during the several pauses in the show.
geoff (PS was great show - very slick and great music/musicians).

A lot of productions choose wired mics because they're inherently
more reliable, especially with the reduced available RF spectrum
these days (at least in The States). Also, analog wireless mic
systems tend to employ "companding" of the audio signal to squeeze
the audio bandwidth into their respective RF channels which will have
an effect on frequency response and dynamics. Digital systems my have
better sound quality by eliminating the companding issues, but
inherently add latency to the signal since the mic much digitize the
signal from the capsulel, transmit it, then do a D to A conversion at
the receiver. Add the latency that digital desks have (commonly used
now in most higher end productions) and the latency of digital
speaker processing, it can have a noticeable effect on monitoring for
vocalists - especially if they're using IEMs.
With a wired mic, you don't have to worry about RF spectrum issues,
companding, latency, and batteries. Plus, they're a hell of a lot
cheaper to buy and usually don't break if you drop them. I've had to
repair a lot of Sennheiser handheld wireless that have been dropped
from folks' hands or that have fallen off a mic stand. They're not
very sturdy. If that happens to a dynamic Shure/Senn/AT/Audix/etc
wired mic, you pick it up and keep going. With a wireless, there's a
50/50 chance it will still work.

I always sort of grimace when I see a wireless mic that never
leaves a mic stand. Seems kinda pointless.

[geoff]

Post by Rupert
A lot of productions choose wired mics because they're inherently
more reliable, especially with the reduced available RF spectrum
these days (at least in The States). Also, analog wireless mic
systems tend to employ "companding" of the audio signal to squeeze
the audio bandwidth into their respective RF channels which will have
an effect on frequency response and dynamics. Digital systems my have
better sound quality by eliminating the companding issues, but
inherently add latency to the signal since the mic much digitize the
signal from the capsulel, transmit it, then do a D to A conversion at
the receiver. Add the latency that digital desks have (commonly used
now in most higher end productions) and the latency of digital
speaker processing, it can have a noticeable effect on monitoring for
vocalists - especially if they're using IEMs.

A bit like the latency from mouth to mic and floor wedge to ears then ;-)

Another reason to hate in-ears, but they might have their own latency to
further complication matters, or compensate ....

geoff

Post by Rupert
With a wired mic, you don't have to worry about RF spectrum issues,
companding, latency, and batteries. Plus, they're a hell of a lot
cheaper to buy and usually don't break if you drop them. I've had to
repair a lot of Sennheiser handheld wireless that have been dropped
from folks' hands or that have fallen off a mic stand. They're not
very sturdy. If that happens to a dynamic Shure/Senn/AT/Audix/etc
wired mic, you pick it up and keep going. With a wireless, there's a
50/50 chance it will still work.

Yeah I know - I fix AKG and Shure.

geoff