Product Reviews

Line 6 Relay G50 instrument wireless review. (GearTechs.com)

by Kirk Eberhard

The Relay G50 Wireless Guitar System is a recent offering from digital instrument pioneers Line 6. Operating on the FCC/DTV compliant 2.4 GHz band and utilizing a 24-bit ADA conversion system, the G50 boasts 10-20KHz bandwidth and 120 db dynamic range. Since I don't own expensive scopes and test gear, I'll leave the validation of these specs to someone with a more scientific bent and instead give a hands-on, rubber-meets-road type of review. I tested the Relay G50 in a variety of venues and locales, and it delivered flawless performance with outstanding fidelity and remarkable battery life. At a street price of just under $400.00, it's an unqualified winner.

First Impressions...

When I first received the Relay G50 I plugged the transmitter into my Jazz bass, and gave it a shakedown run through a favorite hi-fi practice amp. The system passed the unadulterated sound of my beloved bass with no audible noise or phasing. In spite of the proximity of my Wi-Fi connected laptop, nothing I did generated anything like interference or static, so I headed out my back door for a stroll around the yard. Putting over 100' between me and the receiver did not cause any unwanted sounds or diminish the clarity and dynamics of the audio signal. Of course, there were only the usual household EMF fields and Wi-Fi networks that might present potential interference, but this superb performance would later be confirmed on many stages, from 500-seat nightclubs to 2,500-seat theaters and huge outdoor festival stages. Furthermore, the Relay G50 has seen duty in several different cities and states without a single rizz, pop, or dropout, so my concerns about the effects of high data traffic over the widely-used 2.4 GHz band were put to rest.

Features and Details...

The Relay G50 transmitter and receiver are both quite solid and substantial, and inspire immediate confidence...

Read more: Line 6 Relay G50 Instrument Wireless - Review

by Brian Smith, for Pro Sound News

From the makers of the industry-changing POD guitar amp modeler comes a digital wireless mic packed full of innovation including, yes, modeled presets of your favorite handheld vocal microphones.

With the XD system, Line 6 offers us a new "groundbreaking" digital wireless microphone system. Combining the XD-V70 wireless receiver and the THH12 handheld transmitter with six modeled mic presets and a cardioid capsule, Line 6 claims to prevent RF interference from becoming audio interference and old-school channel scanning by replacing it with its exclusive PDP (Propriatary Data Placement) technology.

Features

The THH12 handheld transmitter features six digital models that are based on six top selling live-sound mics, including the Shure SM58, Shure Beta 58A, Sennheiser e835, Audio-Technica AE4100, Audix OM5 and Electro-Voice N D767a mic models. Also included in the XD-V70 is a seventh model, the L6-DC7. The L6-DC7 is based on the combination of the frequency response of top condenser mics and the wide dynamic range of dynamic mics. As an added feature, the removable L6-DC7 capsule allows users to further customize the mic's polar pattern, frequency response and more.

The THH12 uses two AA batteries for power and displays the amount of operation time left at current power level in hours and minutes. A lock feature located behind the battery compartment is used to prevent performers from making unwanted adjustments.

The THH12 is sturdily constructed with a black base, titanium mic screen and an orange backlit LCD display. Menu selections are very user-friendly on the THH12, including a 12-channel select menu to align with the XD-V70 receiver, power select menu for a high or low battery life, the mic-modeling menu to select which model mic to use and the name select menu to customize your microphone.

The THH12 is designed to operate just like a wired mic and therefore needs no pads or level controls that are used on other popular wireless microphone systems.

The XD-V70 wireless receiver is also a very rugged unit, using the same color scheme as the THH12 on the front panel in black and encased in an extruded aluminum casing. The front panel from left to right meters the audio signal input, battery life and RF signal quality. In the middle of the front panel is an orange, backlit display surrounded by edit knob, setup and exit buttons and on/off switch to the right. On the rear of the receiver are both balanced and unbalanced outputs, antenna A&B inputs, antenna A&B outputs for daisy chaining multiple XD-V70 units and a standard 9VDC power input.

Unlike other wireless systems that transmit their signal over a single frequency, the XD-V70 transmits digital data over four frequencies.

In Use

Over the past 14 years, I have used various wireless mic systems such as Shure and Sennheiser, and they all have their share of pros and cons. When first hearing of the digital with microphone modeling XD-V70 system, I was skeptical that my voice would actually sound like it was coming out of a real Shure Beta 58a or a Sennheiser e835, but Line 6 has done a good job of proving me wrong.

The first thing that impressed me about the XD-V70 was...

Read more: Line 6 XD-V70 Digital Wireless Microphone System

by Mike Sessler, Coast Hills Community Church

The ElectroVoice RE20 has been from it's introduction a favorite of broadcasters and announcers. Somewhere along the line, someone stuck it in front of a bass cabinet and discovered it rocks as a bass mic. Then someone else put it in a kick drum and found it works wonders there, too. In fact, the RE20 is great on a lot of things. And while it's not super-expensive (at least by premium microphone standards), at $400-ish, it's not a budget mic either.

EV realized there was a market for a more cost-conscious version of the RE20. In January, 2011 at NAMM in Anaheim, they introduced the RE320. Priced at $299.

When I saw it at NAMM, I knew I had to try it. I've used the RE20 in the past, and always liked it. But I have a hard time justifying the price tag when I have so many other things that need attention.

The week before Easter, a box arrived; it was my demo RE320. We were re-setting the stage anyway, so I pulled the PR-48 out of the kick and stuck the RE320 in. I think it was the second or third kick during line check that I knew this mic was not going back.

I've tried a lot of different mics in the kick, and have only really ever been happy with one; the Heil PR-40. I'd love a PR-40, but at $325, it's a tougher sell. The PR-48 was okay, but I never felt we could get it positioned to give us both the punch and the clarity I wanted from the kick. We could get one or the other, but not both.

When I arrived at Coast, we had the "classic" combination of a Beta 91 inside and a Beta 52 in the hole. I know a lot of guys who like the dual mic technique in the kick, and I respect that. My preference however, is to use one. There are a lot of reasons for that which I won't detail here. But know that it's preference thing and I don't think dual mic'ing is wrong. I'd just rather not.

Read more: Electro-Voice RE320 Reviewed

Quietly about a year ago, Heil Sound did something remarkable.  Not so much in a technical way, but in a practical way. 

The microphone business is tough.  Certain models have dominated the music scene for years, and it's darn hard for people to change their habits.  At the time, the Heil PR22 microphone was selling for $165, and was quickly increased to $182. 

When the world's most popular microphones sell for $99.95 (and there are 3-4 good ones right at that price point), I had to admit that I was disappointed.  $99.95 is a magic price point.  Pastors and tech directors don't need approval to spend $99.95, $99.95 seems like the "right" price for a mic, and the list goes on.  $99.95 just works in the same way that gasoline at $3.999 is somehow cheaper than gas at $4.00. 

So what did Heil Sound do?  The people there decided to package the PR22 without the fancy carrying case and without the extra black and extra gold windscreens and called it the PR22UT.

UT stands for utility.  It has a nickel colored windscreen and comes in a simple vinyl bag with a mic clip.  The price?

Read more: Heil PR22UT - pro audio's best kept secret