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June 2013 l 43
livefeature
sound up to 11dB more than a conventional shotgun.” Schoeps identifies broadcast, sport and film sound as SuperCMIT’s primary targets – applications for whom the ability to use the mic’s two-channel AES42 digital output can also be advantageous. Channel 1 carries the DSP-processed signal of the SuperCMIT, while Channel 2 delivers the unprocessed output of the forward-facing capsule. “This feature opens up the possibility for the user to choose the preferred signal after the recording, for example during post-production,” says Riekehof. Another non-analogue
changer for digital, the system comprises the EM 9046 receiver, the SK 9000 digital bodypack transmitter (available in four different frequency ranges) and the SKM 9000 digital handheld transmitter (the latter available with four exclusive 9000 series microphone heads, as well as offering compatibility with the evolution wireless/2000 series mic heads and two Neumann heads, KK 204 and KK 205). Given the profound changes and challenges to the PMSE community’s spectrum usage, ‘spectrum efficiency’ is necessarily the present watchword for wireless audio. In this regard, Sennheiser points
“If you get a major production using digital systems you may not wish to cram all the channels into a tight bit of spectrum, because if you get interference, you may lose all 20 channels”
Tuomo Tolonen, Shure
dynamic performance reaches the audience’s ears…”
He also highlights an “easier” set-up process with digital wireless. “For instance, given close to 120dB of usable dynamic range in the radio transmission, it is no longer necessary to adjust gain in a bodypack for various capsules
or lav[alier] mics,” says Devino, adding: “There are myths about digital wireless, such as line-of- sight limits, but our customers find our mics can be used in just about any situation where they currently use competitive analogue microphones. In fact, when line of sight is less than optimal, digital mics do not
suffer from the increased noise floor that plagues most analogue mics.”
Combining “the best of both
worlds in that there is plenty of digital technology but the actual RF carrier is analogue” is Shure’s much-publicised Axient Wireless Management Network system. Since its launch,
Mobile Shure Axient rig in the Dublin National Concert Hall
pioneer, Milab, also pinpoints the increased user options for its successful DM-1001 digital mic, which was one of the first to reach the market and incorporates the company’s rectangular capsule design. “The greatest benefit is probably that the computer software allows the user to remotely control the polar patterns steplessly. When used with the stereo version of the DM-1001, the possibilities are almost endless,” says Milab marketing manager Mattias Strömberg.
LOOK, NO WIRES! After a gradual start, the demand for digital wired microphones is well-established if relatively compact. But with more systems hitting the market that deliver wireless capability, it appears that this area of the industry is now entering a second, distinct phase of development. “Fully uncompressed digital audio; completely unmodulated” is Sennheiser live sound specialist Dave Wooster’s succinct summary of the manufacturer’s Digital 9000 digital wireless microphone system, which was launched to the world at IBC 2012. Regarded by some as a “game-
to the Digital 9000 system’s use of ‘extremely steep filters’, allowing a very narrow set-up of respective radio frequencies within the available frequency range without risking intermodulation. Wooster’s view of digital
wireless’ potential is echoed by Steve Devino, live sound product manager at Line 6, whose digital wireless microphones are built using the same radios and digital technology found on its Relay guitar wireless products. “Our microphone systems feature 6, 12 or 14 usable system channels, and have ranges close to 90m. We also offer various types of modelling capabilities including popular handhelds and useful EQ presets for our bodypack systems,” says Devino, who describes the XD-V75 as the “flagship offering” in its line of digital wireless handheld, lavalier, headset and bodypack systems. As to why such systems are
achieving take-off now, Devino says that “singers and players are discovering that digital wireless mic systems do not compress the audio signal – unlike analogue mics using frequency modulation. The benefit is that a vocalist’s entire
t
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