mettelus
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Any folks running digital wireless for guitar?
After laughing that I always seem to turn to the right when holding a guitar it occurred to me that I should take another look at wireless. The one that caught my eye initially was Line 6's Relay G-70. Although I do not have need for multiple transmitters, I liked the concept of the embedded DI functionality and ground lift. Then I happened upon a dropout thread on their forum which had a firmware fix, but showed some are still experiencing them (like 1-2 seconds every hour or so). I do not own any Line 6 gear, so figured this would be better to ask here. If moved into a live scenario, I could see this being a deal breaker (if still present). I actually started off at this review site, and being unfamiliar with these, it seems digital is the way to go; but as for the system my needs are fairly simple... fidelity and continuity, but the DI/ground lift would be icing on the cake if could get the other two. The Shure GLX-D16 seems to be a serious contender "on paper," but it is better to ask folks who use these rather than get info only from marketing materials. Does anyone run these regularly? Are they capable of doing tracking work, or is such an idea not feasible?
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bitflipper
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Re: Any folks running digital wireless for guitar?
2016/01/01 11:15:17
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I don't use wireless myself, but my musical partner does, and it's rarely been a source of problems. External interference is always a possibility with wireless anything, analog or digital. But it's rarely been an issue at gigs, even playing in many venues with unknown power quality and RF/EMI quietude. In a studio situation, it should be far more reliable given that it's a controlled environment. In my mind, use of a wireless connection to your guitar makes ground-lifting and DI benefits mostly moot. Grounding is no longer a problem because there is no common ground between your pickups and your amplifier. You need only make sure that the receiver and amp are plugged into the same outlet and that outlet is properly grounded (even that may be unnecessary because chances are the receiver has a wall wart for a power supply). The DI's impedance matching is likely to be no longer necessary because of amplification in the receiver that gives you a low-impedance output. There is just one potential downside: as soon as you move too far away from the receiver you lose it all. If your battery starts to run down, you suddenly lose it all. Unlike analog, which gives you some warning by getting noisy as you lose signal strength, with digital it just abruptly goes silent. However, the maximum distance is pretty generous unless there's significant interference, and you quickly learn to put in a fresh battery before every gig (and keep a spare close at hand).
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mettelus
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Re: Any folks running digital wireless for guitar?
2016/01/01 22:45:00
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Hey Dave, thanks for the response. This particular unit would have multiple uses for me, which is why I picked up on it. I am not really sure how much "wireless" usage it would get, and seems to be its Achille's heel for some. From what I can glean from posts, it seems both the transmitter and receiver are not "overly powerful" and the receiver actually needs to be 12" off the floor to get best reception (sort of moot for usage in a pedal board). The wireless portion almost seems that normal operation is running on the ragged edge of "dead battery syndrome" which is where the cutouts occur - and for some at incredibly short range. At home I probably would not have issues, but if ever used live this could be an issue. The DI and ground lift portion are really more specific to how I have things set up here now. The pedal does have an Aux in (standard instrument cable in), and can be configured to use up to three outputs. For optimal sustain, it is best to get a feedback loop from the amp, so the DI alone has great merit for me there (I currently have no DI to snag the clean signal with). The different outputs would allow me to swap between pedal board and just the amp without removing any cables (another thing I cannot readily do now). From a tracking standpoint I would most likely use it wired, but the wireless would come in handy for just playing. I need to research more, since this is not overly critical at this point, but may be in the coming months (even if just the DI part).
post edited by mettelus - 2016/01/01 22:58:52
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Lord Tim
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Re: Any folks running digital wireless for guitar?
2016/01/02 08:15:19
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Our other guitarist and bassist use these things and while they do get away with the job, the battery life is absolutely terrible and the build quality is a bit questionable if you're touring with them (as we do). I can't say we've noticed any drop outs so much, but it's always hard to tell when you're running around on stage. Probably irrelevant for how you plan to use them, but it's another opinion at least.
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mettelus
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Re: Any folks running digital wireless for guitar?
2016/01/04 14:17:06
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I hear you (seems a common gripe). I am wondering if the push for "battery life" is the issue with the Line 6 Relay G70's. They claim 8+ hour battery life, and have a "sleep" function (that seems can be disabled). It is almost like they targeted the absolute minimum power to "work." It also seems there is variation from unit to unit as well, but a part of that may be the power output of the guitar's pickups (I hope anyway, since that would give me an advantage). Regardless, this is definitely not a "mail order" item in my mind. If I end up getting one I would definitely want to test drive it first.
post edited by mettelus - 2016/01/04 14:29:30
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Cactus Music
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Re: Any folks running digital wireless for guitar?
2016/01/04 15:41:08
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I'm using what must be the lowest common denominators in wireless systems live. It's an AUDIO-TECHNICA ATW-801/G Guitar Wireless System I picked up for a little over $100. Only a few gigs so far but still on same batteries and all working flawlessly. At first I had some static and dropouts when I was at a distance because I had put the receiver down on the floor by my power bar. Finding a good spot for the receiver is important. You also need to keep it away from power amps and other wireless devices, like iPads etc. I'm in charge of sound in our band so I bought it primarily to allow me to go out front and listen. This was the only time I had the dropouts as I got 20' away and my body blocking line of sight between transmitter and receiver. I do this at sound check and it's very cool to be able to wander the dance floor and into the tables and hear the difference in the PA coverage. I will go out there a few times during the show too. It took some fussing to set it up so it's gain matched the direct sound. It was real hot at first and that messes with my overdrive tone. There is a slight loss of bite and tone compared to direct for sure but the good outweighs the bad. My second guitar is direct and I use an A/B switch. My original plan was to unplug it once the show is running smoothly but it works so well I just keep it going all night.
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