Audio Technica Vs. Sennheiser - Making my move outta' 600Mhz

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NightOwlDJs

Well-Known DJ
Nov 29, 2011
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What's up folks!!! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Beautiful weather in Louisville K-Y yesterday.

I NEED to get this under wraps and driving myself crazy on which direction I want to go and thought It would be great to get some friendly advice from you guys.

Here is my dilemma: I have been a huge fan of Audio-Technica for most/if not all of my career. More specifically wireless systems and initially wanted to do a simple switch over
from 'D'-band to 'I'-band in the 2000 series mics. For my setup I currently own 6-receivers, 3-lavalier/body packs & 2-handheld mics. I have 1-receiver mounted in my main rig, 2-receivers mounted in my ceremony rig with 1/2-wave antennas, 2-receivers mounted in a 2u rack with 1/2-wave antennas and 1-floating/non rackmounted receiver. It's been a very functional system for me with
8 of the 10 channels available in my market and never had a major issue with signal drops, clarity etc. Part of my love of the 2000 series is the simplicity of use. Not so much for me, but
client use AND after speaking with AT some years ago the understanding was transmitter/receivers on 2000 & 3000 were the same (outside of access to additional bands on the 3000.)

I called AT a few weeks ago with questions and to discuss what may be the better route for me. One thing that I found out is that, unfortunately, I will only have ~5 of the 10 channels of the 2000 'I' series available to me. I may have the addition of 2 of those channels as the rep suggested that I test those to see if I am getting any interference with a local TV ch.
We discussed pros/cons of the 2000 'I' band and he thought I may be better off going to the 3000 series. We discussed digital, but with some of the work/locations that I do I'd prefer
not to go that route.

I was really hoping to get into systems for ~$300 each (discounted/specials/sales etc) which the 2000 system would do. I would be able to utilize the assortment of AT lav's that I already own as well. The 3000 systems retail for $600 but would hope to find sale and get that down to $500 ea. The updated 3000's look nice but have already read some reviews about placement of switches, functionality and the need for an adapter to use my current AT lav's. Plus, the rep from AT said that as of this point there are no 1/2 antenna's for those systems in the states. He was nice enough to say that his competitor (shure) has one which is cross-compatible.

With the above on AT and thought I'd take a look at some other brands. I have worked with and like Sennheiser enough that I would be open to make a complete brand switch.
Their XSW2 systems seem to fit the bill of pricepoint and flexibility. At least on my initial research.

Can anyone give me some candid advice? Should I buck it up and stick with Audio-Technica or take a closer look at Sennheiser.

My ultimate goal is to mimic the system that I currently. 6-Receivers, 3-Bodypacks, 2to3-handhelds all on the same band for flexibility.

Thanks everyone!!!

Ed
 
Worse, I believe AT is changing the mic connectors (at least on the 3000 series) on their bodypacks from the 4-pin hirose (cW style) to a smaller 4-pin screw-on connector (cH style). There is a small adapter cable available, but it makes the previous lapels/headsets more cumbersome.

For AT, I would look at the System 10 Pro .. You can get a dual unit for $570-$600, so $285-$300 per channel. And they still use the older style connector.
 
They are and it's a bit disappointing. I kinda' hinted to that to the AT rep and he fully understood.

I have looked at the System 10's units, but a bit wary of the Digital units and the crowded 2.4 spectrum. The remote mounted antenna(s) on those units are a nice touch!!!

I keep telling myself that losing 600Mhz is for the greater good, but I'm only trying to justify so it doesn't tick me off so much :) I love my current system.......wahhhh LoL....

Anyone on here using AT's System 10s? What are your thoughts. Likes/dislikes of the systems?
 
The System 10 Pro is a nice set up. The problem with 2.4 GHz is that you can have some line-of-site issues. The System 10 pro lets you mount the receivers away from the rack using cheap Cat5 cable. That was very smart of them. I am thinking about getting a dual set now even though I rarely take my system out any more. Of course, I can get the employee discount. :)

BTW, the System 10 and System 10 Pro are very different. I would only look at the Pro.
 
Hey Sawdust!! Thank you for the reply!! Good onya' on the discount ;) . . . a bit jealous over her LoL.
Thank you for the heads up on the System 10 vs System 10 Pro units. Do you feel that the System 10 Pro systems are robust enough to 'lock on' to a channel
and filter out the bombardment of routers, cell phones etc? UHF has been such a mainstay that I do not want to push it away if it is the better choice for my needs.

Thanks!!!
 
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Wireless systems that work in the 657-663 MHz band will still be legal to operate after the rest of the 600 MHz band is prohibited. This was the old UHF channel 45, and is reserved as a guard band gap between upper and lower 600 MHz bands. There are about 50 audio channels that can be freely used by unlicensed wireless microphones in this 657-663 Mhz guard band.

 
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With that in mind it looks like AT--D-band 2000 series will have the following channels available:
2 659.3,
3 660.000
4 662.125
 
Wireless systems that work in the 657-663 MHz band will still be legal to operate after the rest of the 600 MHz band is prohibited. This was the old UHF channel 45, and is reserved as a guard band gap between upper and lower 600 MHz bands. There are about 50 audio channels that can be freely used by unlicensed wireless microphones...
Just a point of note. Technically, to be legal to operate in the duplex gap, your mic cannot be tunable to work outside of the gap. Some manufacturers are offering to update the firmware of existing mics to support this rule. Whether or not anyone makes the effort to do this is a different matter.
 
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Wireless systems that work in the 657-663 MHz band will still be legal to operate after the rest of the 600 MHz band is prohibited. This was the old UHF channel 45, and is reserved as a guard band gap between upper and lower 600 MHz bands. There are about 50 audio channels that can be freely used by unlicensed wireless microphones in this 657-663 Mhz guard band.

There are 2 legal bands .. 657-663 and 614-616 MHz. As Sawdust stated, your gear is supposed to ONLY work in those bands ..

I am going to throw caution to the wind for now and use my 600 MHz gear, though I will move 1 unit to the lower band and 2 to the upper one. I feel so dirty ...