Intercoms are one of my favorite products to review, which is why I jump at the opportunity to try out the latest offerings from all manufacturers. And while there are many manufacturers in the space, there are a few that stick out, and one of those is Pliant. First off, some of you might not be familiar with the Pliant brand, but I promise that you are familiar with their products. The best summation I could come up with was right off the Pliant Technologies’ website, “The professional intercom division of CoachComm was created to continue the company’s tradition of industry-leading intercom technology.
“My favorite feature on the headsets is the attached cable management; dime-size magnets are attached via bands of rubber, which work great for managing cables for storage and workwell when using the headsets.”
Pliant is best known for the revolutionary Tempest wireless intercom system, which is relied upon in leading broadcast facilities, live-sound, theater, sports, theme parks, and major events in over 40 countries. Pliant’s new wireless intercom system, CrewCom, is sure to change the landscape of today’s wireless communications technologies.” Tempest was a production mainstay for years; it was my go-to when I had a choice of intercoms, so I was intrigued with the release of the CB2. Built on the pedigree of CoachComm, the CB2 is designed to be more of a budget-friendly, less feature-rich offering. Don’t let the lack of features fool you; this intercom system has more than enough to get the job done.
Base station
The base station looks similar to most base stations in this class; it’s rack-mountable at 1RU. The front face is dominated by a sizeable two-color LCD which gives status on each Radio Pack. Connection strength, battery life, and channel can be quickly determined by glancing at the LCD screen. It also features a four-pin XLR port of the front, allowing a headset to be plugged directly into the base station, which is great if it’s located at FOH. The back of the unit has XLR and RJ45 ports to tie it into 2- or 4 wire intercom systems. It also has an XLR for stage announce and ¼ in. aux in/out for program input and intercom audio output. The aux in would be a great way to get a guide track from the band Ableton to the ProPresenter op to know where the band is in the song. In contrast, the aux out can be added to a recording of the Video Director’s multiview for review and training purposes.
Radio packs
The radio packs (RP) are small with rubberized edges and corners, so they are sturdy enough to take some abuse. The RP features no display, has no frills at all. The RPs are distilled down to only what is needed; volume control dial, A/B channel, talk, call, menu, and stage announce buttons make up most of the RP. The rest is the battery cover and belt clip, recessed power button, and charging pins. The belt clip is plastic and has a pivot but looks to be user-replaceable by removing two screws. The battery cover is held on magnetically and takes a few tries to get the hang of, but feels superior to most snap-in battery covers. A micro USB port is located under a rubber port cover for pairing and configuration when plugged into the base station. The RPs can charge directly in the charging station, or the batteries can be removed and charged separately in the charging station, which holds six RPs and six batteries, so you can always have a fresh one ready.
Headsets
The RPs connect to the headset via standard four-pin XLR. Pliant offers a variety of headsets, including single over-ear (SB110), double over the ear (SB210), and single-on-ear ultra-light (SB11L). The over-ear headsets have excellent passive noise reduction; they create a great seal over the ear and are comfortable. As headsets go, they are on the larger side, but they feel sturdy. All the headsets feature a microphone that mutes when raised. On the single ear headset, the microphone rotates all the way around, so they are side agnostic.
Where it shines in the house of worship
One of the unique qualities of the house of worship market is working volunteers; typically, this means “less trained.” Not knocking volunteers, but it’s unfair to compare someone who does something for a living with someone who does something once a month. Products that are super robust and easy to use perform well in the house of worship market, so the CB2 will feel right at home. The RPs are IP6X rated; 6 is the highest rating for dust ingress, meaning dust cannot and will not get in. While the X means not tested against water, and I wouldn’t trust the RPs to be submerged in water, I feel they are robust enough to stand up to a light sprinkle. One of the other great features of the RPs is what you can disable/enable on them. It is possible to make the unit a “listen-only and only on one channel unit” up to “all talk all the time.” In my testing, I found the range on the CB2 to be impressive. In our 1,500 seat auditorium, I couldn’t find any issues. Indoors within line of sight, I couldn’t get enough distance to cause a dropout. The only time I got a dropout was when one beltpack was in the backstage green room and I was across the building in the kids’ area, 300+ feet with multiple load-bearing walls and the majority of the building in between. At that point, it was still functioning; it had just started dropping out, performing better in very challenging conditions than many wireless units I have used in optimal conditions.
My favorite feature on the headsets is the attached cable management; dime-size magnets are attached via bands of rubber, which work great for managing cables for storage and work well when using the headsets. The magnets can clip the cable to your shirt collar, keeping it out of your way, it’s a silly little detail, but I like it. In my tests, the headsets sounded great, the microphones were articulate, and even when multiple people were talking at once, you could still understand everyone. They are plenty loud, and the passive noise reduction of the over-ear headsets is impressive. All-in-all, the CB2 is a well-built, easy-to-use, solid wireless intercom system.
