NAMM: SENNHEISER EVOLVES D1 WIRELESS
23 January 2015
Sennheiser’s new D1 wireless range is right up there in the 2.4GHz range, specifically between 2400-2483.5MHz. The system uses CSR’s aptX Live codec, to digitally transmit the 24-bit/48k sampled signal wirelessly. Of course, to evade all the other noise in the ‘free’ slice of spectrum, the D1 has some spiffy dancing shoes; frequency, time and antenna diversity. It’s constantly scanning for a backup channel in case the operating frequency picks up interference. There is a slight price to pay for all those dance moves though, with a latency of 3.9ms.
The whole thing is designed to be operated by novices; with automatic frequency adjustment, transmitter/receiver matching, and gain setting. You can even potentially squeeze up to 15 channels of wireless into the same gig. The transmitter and receiver will also talk to each other to let the transmitter know exactly how much RF output power it needs to maintain a strong signal. This adaptive transmission power dialogue keeps battery consumption low on the transmitter, which is good news.
Another nice addition is the onboard effects, including a 7-band graphic EQ, low cut filter, and de-esser. And you can swap in other Evolution microphone heads if a condenser capsule is more your flavour.
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