stones
35 posts
Mar 16, 2011
7:23 AM
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Has any body on this wonderful site tried to use a wireless mic set up with any success. I was watching the bass player and the lead guitar player in our band the other night and was thinking about their wireless set ups. they both used the LINE 6-RXS12 system it has a hi impedence (1/4") connection on it and I thought it would be no biggie to make up a couple of cables and do the wireless thing for my harp mics. would I loose any of my tone or the distortion the the mic would produce. would the signal become too bright. the guitar player can walk about 50' from the unit and it has no effect on his sound? Ive seen some wireless systems for harp but never really gave it much thought until the other night. I know Hohner makes a unit... but is it really special purpose for harp or would a unit designed for a guitar work just as well.
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belfast_harper
233 posts
Mar 16, 2011
7:35 AM
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Greg Heumann seems to be the guy to talk to about this.
http://www.blowsmeaway.com/wireless.html
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HarpNinja
1215 posts
Mar 16, 2011
7:50 AM
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You might be ok with the Line 6, but if the stuff Greg has from Samson will work regarding inputs, etc, I'd go that route.
I have the old Samson snap on that is not illegal. I am saving up for one from Greg and miss going wireless greatly.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
Updated 3/14/11
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Shredder
240 posts
Mar 16, 2011
9:41 AM
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I bought a setup from Greg. He checked the trim settings before he shipped it to me. When I got it it was just plug and play! Great tone no loss of signal. I had a line 6 body pack before Gregs Sampson wireless. Gregs unit is superrior.No body pack & cable to deal with, the Xmitter plugs into the mic. The added bonus is the Sampson unit runs on one AAA battery. The line 6 used a 9 volt, very costly!.
Get on blowsmeaway.com and check out the wireless setup's Greg has to offer then Email Greg with questions.
I can tell you this, the unbalanced 1/4connection of the pedal board style reciver or the one on the rack type unit"it has both" dosn't have near as strong a signal as the XLR connection, thats what I use and really like.
I'll never go back to wired. Gregs safe to deal with so don't worry about getting ripped off.
Michael Rector
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Oxharp
409 posts
Mar 16, 2011
10:41 AM
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@Shredder.
So what did you get from Greg then?
Any chance of a pic and what are you playing it into amp wise.
Do you think its worth the freedom you get on stage?
cheers
Russ
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Oxharp
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Shredder
241 posts
Mar 16, 2011
4:09 PM
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@ Oxharp--I got the airline 77 with the AX 1 transmitter. I also had Greg build me an ultimate 57 with an older element 57 that I had. I know it's not that cheep but $260 for the wireless set up was well worth it IMHO!
I can get out on the dance floor and scoot around with the single/young good lookin Babe's that gang up at times and play right to them! Then I can still move around the stage and mix it up with the other band members. Jason Ricci plays the same rig I have.
I'll never go back to wired!
Iv'e been playing thru an HG-2/ 5 watt amp for my dirty harp tunes. It has a direct out that I run to the Bose L-1-Model 2 with Tone Match engine, that's the bands PA system. I use another channel on the Tone Match for clean harp playing and switch via a Morley A/B pedal.I have done away with my effects pedals via the Tone Match engines effects selection.I only use Delay with a little EQ on the clean and dirty channels. I have also started using a Morley volume/plus pedal for playing leads then rolling back to rhythm. I could use the volume control on the mic but the pedal goes back to the same place every time. I use the mic volume to fine tune if I feel I'm a little to loud.
Mike
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garry
41 posts
Mar 16, 2011
4:25 PM
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wireless is awesome. you'll never look back.
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Rick Shanks
21 posts
Mar 16, 2011
6:06 PM
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Wireless is great !
I have two. A Samson airline with snap-on transmitter - the small unit like the one JR had on his pedalboard a while back. Works well enough for a 'hotter' sound, good with the EVre10 mic. And an AKG SR40 with the SO40 snap-on. For my style I find the AKG unit far superior for a clean articulate sound and use it exclusively with my Beyer Dynamic M160 ribbon mic. (I like a clean sound first, then bring in tonal variation with pedals}.Of my two, the quality of the AKG pre-amp is vastly superior to the small Samson 77 unit I have. I would expect that the larger/newer Samson units that Greg Heumann has available are the way to go at this point ...
Go wireless ! :)
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KiwiRick
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stones
36 posts
Mar 17, 2011
12:50 PM
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thanks guys right after I get off this thread I'm going to blows me away to see whats the low down. I play mostly through a CM or CR mic and don't want to lose the cool sound that they have.
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Shredder
242 posts
Mar 17, 2011
8:42 PM
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@ Stones, I didn't mention earlier , I have a custom wood mic from Greg also with a C/M element. It sounds great thru the system so don't worry about Tone loss. I like being able to swap mic's during the show. The Xmitter is a fast and easy to move from one mic to the other.
Mike
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stones
37 posts
Mar 18, 2011
7:40 AM
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Cool I was looking at the airline 77 with the ax1 reciever, Ive got an older sm 58 right now it's original with the XLR connector. I mostly use it for vocals though some times I play through it for fun. mostly I use either my CM or CR to play thru. some times I'll play through a nice crystal mic that I really like the sound of.I've added the switchcraft 2501 connectors to all of my mic's. does the switchcraft addapter along with the reciever add any length or handling problems to the mic ? My day dreaming side of me would like to do the ultimate package and get one of his KILLER 57's or 58's.... but just don't have the scratch right now.
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hvyj
1319 posts
Mar 18, 2011
12:31 PM
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I don't play wireless but I have played through wireless mics every now and then. My impression is that the transmitter acts like a preamp with a little compression which has a subtle but very pleasant effect on tone.
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Greg Heumann
1072 posts
Mar 18, 2011
7:14 PM
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@hvjy - I agree with you. These systems do add some compression. That is one of the the reasons Jason Ricci likes it. What I have learned is that there are a lot of variables in the setup. If you choose the wrong system and set it up poorly, it will sound awful. If you choose a good system and set it up properly, it sounds pretty damn good. For example, most of the Samson receivers come with both unbalanced 1/4" and balanced XLR outputs. The latter has a line/mic switch - effectively a 20dB pad. It comes with a 1/4" cable so the obvious choice is to use that cable to plug into your amp. However I have found you cannot duplicate the drive level of a strong mic with this setup. I recommend to all my customers that they use the low-Z balanced output, couple to an impedance matching transformer. With the switch in the line position you can get really strong drive levels this way.
As far as I know I'm the only guy on the planet right now who actually understands amplified harp and sells a wireless system. I hope that means something to y'all!
Cheers
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/Greg
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stones
38 posts
Mar 21, 2011
7:35 AM
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IT does VERY much. Thank you Greg, I have been looking on your website for the past few days, and also have looked on line just for general info. There are quit a few makes out there but they seem to be for the guitar crowd. the systems your distributing along with your accessories are made for the amplified harp. I'm very impressed with what your offering and the price is really not to bad at all, and as soon as the tax man get his hands out of my pockets I'm going to go for it. thanks.
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Greg Heumann
1075 posts
Mar 21, 2011
8:48 AM
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@stones - just to be completely clear, there is no such thing as a wireless system made for harp. These systems are ALL made for general purpose - vocals, wind instruments, guitar. However some are more adaptable to harp use. For example, I hate systems where your mic is cabled to a belt-pack transmitter - this means you are still tethered to your mic and can't put it down easily to walk away, play a different instrument, sing a vocal-only tune, etc.
I have simply chosen the line I think works well for harp players at an affordable price point, and tested everything so that I can recommend how best to set it up for harp.
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/Greg
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bluzlvr
422 posts
Mar 21, 2011
1:24 PM
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I had the opportunity to play through a wireless system at a jam a couple of months ago.
I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner about it, but basically it had a JT30 plugged into a sort of cylinder. The amp was a Bassman. No clip-on transmitter to carry. I assume the transmitter was in the cylinder.
It sounded GREAT!
I could get spoiled real easy without having cables to trip over...
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myspace
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garry
42 posts
Mar 21, 2011
4:24 PM
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@greg: holy smokes!!! i've had the airline 77 for a long time now, and it never occurred to me to do this. like you said, since i'm going to a 1/4" in, i just used the 1/4" out. but i just tried it and wow, it's like night and day. now when the band cranks i'll get to use your volume control at less than than the 100% position, and have more flexibility with my amp's volume and master controls.
plus, it simplifies the cables i need to carry. i used to carry an xlr with impedance matcher anyway, to use as backup if for some reason i couldn't use the wireless. now the one cable serves both needs.
thanks for the tip.
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barbequebob
1605 posts
Mar 22, 2011
7:54 AM
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I'm gonna be looking at new wireless at some point because the one I have is a 16 year old Nady Wireless 3D, which runs on the VHF band, which is really crowded and with the way things are now, bad interferance can cause some weird things on it. It was the last wireless made that you could actually go as far as 1500 ft. from it (in the line of sight) and I've actually proven that it does go that far.
I usually stayed away from the Samson units because of drop out problems they used to have a lot, but if I were to get one, it would have to be with true diversity and able to switch bands/channels so that if someone else was using one, we'd be able to be on different bands because if there's more than one unit using the same band, it can be a nightmare.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Greg Heumann
1077 posts
Mar 22, 2011
8:54 AM
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BBQB - the units I sell are indeed true diversity. On the CR77 receiver there's even a little light showing you which antenna is being used at the moment - you can watch it switch as you move around. The "Synth" system is multi-channel. You press a button on the receiver, it scans for a new freq, and then programs the transmitter via a short-range IR link.
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/Greg
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scojo
211 posts
Mar 22, 2011
9:09 AM
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Ditto what Garry said. Going XLR to 1/4" makes all the difference in the world. Thanks Greg.
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