Intercoms are the backbone of the live production world. I love to review intercoms because once you get to the point that you need them, you enter a whole different level of live production. Basically, it means you are playing with the big boys. The latest addition to the intercom family is a new offering by Hollyland called the Solidcom M1.
The Solidcom ships in a ballistic polymer travel case; those of you who are putting together a fly pack that will live in a trailer six days a week are going to love it. This case can handle being tossed in with the road cases, no problem. Once open, the case is laid out like an organizational freak's dream come true. Honestly, the person who designed this thing deserves a medal. It's dressed right and covered down with military precision. This continues right into the build quality of the units themselves; everything in this case has a mil-spec feel and is built to take a beating.
MORE POWER
The power options for this system are ridiculous because there are so many. The base station can run off mains power, POE, or NPF batteries. It's literally the best of all options, and that same mindset continues into the beltpacks, which have a charging station that allows the beltpack to be placed in the station. Alternatively, batteries themselves can be removed and placed into specific slots so they can be charged externally. Lastly, each beltpack can be charged individually over USB-C. Again, the best of all options.
SETUP
Turn it on. That's it. The base station is built like a tank. The antennas might be the largest in the portable live production world. They feel like carbon fiber and could be stunt doubles for Black Widow's fighting sticks. They connect to the base station via a huge metal twist-lock connector.
BELTPACKS
The beltpacks are built as solidly as the name implies. They are laid out in a way that makes sense, with the talk button on top and the menu buttons on the front. Each button has a unique shape, as well, so it's easy to navigate by feel. In addition, the belt clip is solid metal, so there are no worries about it breaking. It also has screw holes for a more permanent mounting solution, along with a lanyard loop in the top. The battery door is similarly well designed and has an excellent locking mechanism, while the power button is gratifyingly tactile. There is a battery indicator on the top of the pack next to the talk button, and the front of the unit features a large, easy-to-read LED screen.
HEADSETS
The headsets are well built, too, and they feel on par with other major intercom manufacturers' headsets. However, they also have a few minor touches that take them to the next level. First, they have a red light near the microphone that illuminates to let you know you are talking. The light is subtle enough to not be a distraction, but also can’t really be missed. The mic also mutes when it is raised past about eye level. Additionally, the headsets are side-agnostic, so they can to be used on either the right or left ear. In the First Impression article on this unit, initial concern was expressed about the connector, which turned out to be incorrect. The pins on the connector are deeply recessed, and it's clearly marked which direction it goes, making a far superior connection than initially believed. The locking mechanism itself seems well designed and is not likely to be accidentally disconnected.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
The Solidcom is not all wine and roses, though. There are some areas that can be improved upon. The antennas on the beltpacks are short, but they don't necessarily feel like they can take a lot of wear and tear. It feels like if you bend them too much, they could potentially break at the weakest point, which is accentuated by their design. I obviously didn't put this to the test, but I would be concerned about them bending often. The good news about the antennas is that they are user-replaceable and easy to remove and install.
While the setup is as simple as it gets, out of the box, the intercom seems to have a gate on the microphone that is a little on the aggressive side. Sometimes the very first things said get a little cut off. I found that having the microphone close to your mouth and projecting seemed to reduce this considerably.
The beltpack connector on the headset was a pleasant surprise, but the body packs also have a 3.5mm jack right next to the headset connector labeled "headset." But in my tests with TRRS headsets, it did not function correctly. The microphone did not work at all, but you could hear perfectly, so this might be an option as a "listen-only" set. Which could be great if taken a step further with some active noise-canceling headphones.
Lastly, the mounting points on the base station gave me mixed feelings. The 3/8-inch screw is not the beefy connection I would prefer. That said, a female baby pin connector would not gracefully fit on the unit. If it's mounted on a light stand vertically or horizontally, the shearing force on the screws is pretty limited.
All in all, this is a fantastic system. It's built to take a licking, it's easy to deploy, and a lot of thought has been put into every design aspect. The system I got to try came in two cases, one for headsets alone and one for everything else. The user guide, as a side note, is 11 pages long and mostly pictures.
List Price: from $4,299 for the four-belt-pack system.
