Wireless PA

[Banned]

I've discussed this with a few peeps just out of curiousity, and will turn it over to the mighty minds of the forum for further enlightenment.

How close are we, do you think, to having wireless PA systems?

If you think about it, wireless is very common on stages at every level. Wireless mics, wireless instrument systems, wireless in-ear monitors. Why not a wireless snake, and a board that sent wireless signals back to the main and monitor amps on stage?

Do you know of anyone working on a commercial-level system like this? Any ideas why it would or wouldn't work?

[tonefight]

Disclaimer : all uneducated opinions here


I think we are probably far away on a large scale concert size system and i don't know that I would want that in a concert size system anyway.

On a small scale it really wouldn't be too hard for a 4 piece band to have all wireless gear in the back of the room at the mixer. Drum mikes would be the biggest expense. I suppose if you triggered the kit you could send it all through a wireless if you were careful not to overload the input to the transmitter. I don't view wireless as extremely reliable though and wouldn't want the whole show to rely on it.

On a side note I heard a while ago the FCC was trying to regulate / limit the frequencies that could be used by wireless systems and it would leave alot of current gear obsolete or illegal to use, has anyone else heard anything similar ?

[Hannibal]

From what I have seen of the major touring sound companies, NONE of them are currently using wireless to and from the console. The old fashioned copper wire is still the choice. It's dependable, and not susceptible to the interference issues of an all RF-based system. I don't see it anytime soon, either. There are companies making fiber optic snake systems out there, but that still necessitates running something to and from the house console.
Some of the major sound companies, like Clair Brothers, are using a wireless tablet PC for their engineers to be able to walk the venue and set up the equalization and time alignment delays from anywhere in the room, but that's the extent to the best of my knowledge at the present time.

[lonewolf]

Assuming the console & rack is prewired, you would need:

Powered speakers
Wireless mics
Wireless monitor system

and

depending on crossovers, 2-6 line level wireless sets.

Thats it. Wireless system (except for power and wires from receivers, of course). Probably won't sound very good, though.

I would prefer a hard-wired inflatable system.

[Ron]

I think the best way would be similar to the approach Hannibal talked about with Claire brothers.

Keep everything on or behind the stage except for the board/controller and instead of sending a boat load of signal based RF back and forth to the board, instead just send a muxed wireless control signal that tells servo controlled switches and pots what to do.

Advantages:
- No snake
- Shorter runs between all of audio signals. (everything backstage)
- Ability to use a laptop or tablet to control everything if needed.
- If the control signal is lost, the mix just stays the same, no signal loss.
- Anything midi controlled could be easily retrofitted.

Disadvantages:
- A lot of $$$$$ just so you don't have to run a snake.
- Retrofitting equipment with servos.
- Encrypting the control signal so nobody can hack into your mix.

If you were building a large scale PA from scratch, it would not be that much of a money hit.

[Hannibal]

I haven't seen the schematics for the Yamaha PM-1D digital console, but from what I have heard about it, the house console is a control surface. I have seen them used in a number of concert and theater production applications. The audio is processed in the "engine" which resides backstage. The backstage unit is easily as large as a couple of audio racks. The cabling to front of house is basically digital control. The Yamaha PM-5D uses a standard snake, but probably has other options for digital I/O as well. It's too far out of my price range to consider anyway.

[lonewolf]

If you are talking about a wireless console as opposed to a wireless PA, you could use a midi control surface thru a wireless midi system into a midi controllable mixing engine or mixer like a 01V. FX and dynamics can be run by midi as well. All of this stuff is available right now.

[Big Jimi Cee]

While not wireless the Digico series of live performance boards are setup to use either a fiber or coax medium for both inputs and outputs.The D5 Live 56 is a 64 channel worksurface and comes with one remote (stage end) DiGiRack, which contains the 56 A/D and 8 D/A converters and is connected to the console via optical fiber. That sure beat the hell out of running a 56 channel snake. Never the less you still need to get the signals to the conversion rack. This seems to be the digital board of choice currently it was used for Live Eight. I had a chance to talk to a sound engineer who was using one of these and he was convinced it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and canned beer.