Sennheiser ew300IEMG2 Wireless Monitor System
An issue in many churches, particularly those in smaller venues, is stage volume. Monitor wedges generally result in high SPL readings on stage, and correspondingly high SPL levels in the sanctuary that must be overcome by the front of house (FOH) system. This results in a muddy mix, or a louder volume than would be desired.
There are several strategies for reducing the volume, and also to give the performers more control over the mix and volume that they hear. Although wireless personal monitors are not the right answer for everyone, they are very appropriate in many cases. The Sennheiser ew300IEMG2 wireless monitor system (MSRP $1,800) provides a good choice for a wireless in-ear system with good features and performance.
Features
The ew300IEMG2 wireless monitor system was very easy to set up and use out of the box in its default configuration. Two XLR input jacks on the back panel of the transmitter support stereo operation. Plug in a stereo feed, turn the transmitter and receiver on, and it is up and running. Of course, it is important that a product be easy to use in configurations other than the default, and the ew300IEMG2 doesn’t disappoint. It provides an array of features that are easy to setup and use. Let’s look at some of the options.
The transmitter supports a single XLR input for mono operation, as well as a feature called “focus” operation. In focus mode, a mono signal is fed to one of the XLR inputs, while a different signal is fed to the other. This other signal in most cases would be the instrument or voice of the person that is using the receiver. The user can then select, via the balance control, how much of their own signal vs. the overall mix they wish to hear. The transmitter has an audio input strength meter for each input signal, and the LCD display will turn red and blink in case the signal strength exceeds the peak input limit.
For mono or focus mode, manual configuration of the receiver and transmitter via the menus is necessary. This menu system is accessible via an LCD and a set of dedicated buttons on the transmitter and receiver. Navigating the menus was easy enough to accomplish, and the product manual provided good information on the features and their settings. The menus are largely standardized between the transmitter and receiver, although there is an Escape button on the receiver for backing out of a menu that isn’t available on the transmitter. The menus include settings for the channel being used, the squelch settings, selecting the mode (stereo, mono, or focus), and selecting what is displayed on the LCD screen of the receiver and transmitter. One useful feature is that each receiver can be “named” with whatever name the engineer prefers (for example, the name of the person using the device), and this name can be shown on the LCD screen. This is quite useful for those of us that will use multiples of these systems – much better than my normal artist tape and marker method.
To access the receiver controls, it is necessary to open a door on the front, behind which the batteries are contained. This is a very clever design – quite often, battery doors are clumsy to open, but this one was easy, without being susceptible to accidental opening. Having the menu controls behind the door made it a bit confusing to find at first, but this was offset by the fact that the risk of making accidental changes to a menu item is eliminated.
The receiver uses two standard “AA” batteries, and you can expect six to ten hours of use on a set of new batteries. It can also use rechargeable batteries, which can be recharged via a Sennheiser L2015G2 charger while still in the receiver via charging contacts on the receiver. The receiver has a battery strength indicator on the LCD panel, and the power button blinks when the batteries are low. There is also a green light indicator to indicate signal reception, as well as an RF signal meter.
The transmitter and receiver have nine channel banks of preset frequencies that can be selected, as well as a user-programmable bank. This bank provides for 12 user-selectable frequencies, from a set of 1,440 possible frequency selections. The receiver also has a handy AutoScan capability on each bank. Using this feature, the receiver scans all 12 frequencies, and displays the number of choices that are free of interference. It can then lock out the frequencies that have a problem. There is no way to automatically synchronize these settings back to the transmitter, so the selected receiver frequency must be manually selected on the transmitter menu.
The transmitter provides a headphone jack that allows listening to the transmitted signal. The transmitter is also rack mountable, and a separate connecting plate is provided that allows for filling the other half of the rack space, as well as for providing a mount for moving the external antenna, normally connected to the rear of the transmitter, to the front of the rack. An accessory mount with a socket and extension cable is not included in the package, but is available from Sennheiser.
The transmitter, when set to stereo operation, adds a pilot tone to the audio signal. The receiver can check for the presence of this tone, and if absent, will mute the audio signal. This prevents interfering signals from causing noise in the receiver, especially when the transmitter has been turned off.
In Use
The ew300IEMG2 was tested in a couple of configurations. Configuration one used an aux out from an A&H GL3000 console to drive a mono input to the transmitter. Configuration two used the same aux output as above, but also provided a second input to the transmitter from a direct out on the board to test the Sennheiser “Focus” mode.
In both modes, the system worked very well. The supplied Sennheiser IE4 ear canal headphones provided a clear, crisp sound. The output had plenty of volume available for a loud stage, although the supplied earphones did not have a lot of isolation from external noises. The earphones are supplied with small, medium and large silicone ear cushions with additional replacement ear cushions available from Sennheiser.
The system was used in our church by our drummer, Terry Carlisle, who was quite pleased with the comfort and the aural quality of the earphones. Carlisle normally uses a set of headphones, which isolate him from other sounds on the stage, and felt much more comfortable with the earphones included with the Sennheiser system. The aural quality was described by Terry as “crisp, with good low end reproduction,” and the lack of isolation was a positive attribute for him, allowing him to feel more a part of the performance on stage.
Overall
The Sennheiser ew300IEMG2 Wireless Monitoring System provides a cost-effective, well-designed and aurally pleasing solution to the stage monitoring repertoire of the audio engineer. I can definitely see adding some of these to my churches arsenal of stage-volume-lowering weapons, and they should be considered by others that are dealing the same issue.
Jeff Ford is the volunteer Technical Production Team leader at Triangle Community Church in Apex, North Carolina. Jeff can be reached at utford@bellsouth.net.
