Sennheiser’s Evolution Wireless range has put efficient cable-free operation within reach for all. With its Instrument Set, the whole band can get involved.
Sennheiser is a dominant player in the headphone and microphone worlds, but they lie at opposite ends of the signal chain. What about in between? With its Evolution Wireless range, the company is aiming to corner a different part of the market.
The latest case in point: the Evolution Wireless Instrument Set. We’ve taken a close look at the Handheld Set, which, as you might have guessed, comes with a handheld microphone. But what if the rest of the band wants to get in on the wireless action too? That’s where the Instrument Set comes into play.
The base
Part of the beauty of the Evolution Wireless system is that you can use the base receiver for many applications. You can invest big on the first one, then add components to expand your options. If you’re a guitarist, lead singer, and also do motivational speaking with a headset mic (hey, it could happen!) you only need one base receiver to operate from.
More practically, if you’re a working sound engineer and are building up your kit for a tour or corporate event, a rack full of EW-D base sets will handle just about anything you can throw at them. The biggest reason for this is the equidistant tuning system that’s employed. No intermodulation, no dropouts, no stress.
Need some assistance?
On the transmitter of the EW-D Instrument Set — which connects via the included mini-jack to jack cable to your guitar or bass, and clips to your belt or guitar strap — you’ll find no screen of any kind. That’s because Sennheiser is ushering you toward the Smart Assist app.
All you have to do is pair your phone via Bluetooth to the EW-D receiver and take control of the whole system with the app. If you’re the only one on stage using the EW-D Instrument Set, it’s easy enough to dial in your settings on the receiver.
But if there are multiple setups on stage, you can control several receivers with one instance of the app. This is a boon — especially for busy front-of-house engineers accommodating several musicians who have their own EW-D rigs, each with potentially different gain structures. Plus, you can auto-scan for frequencies from the app: no manual tuning required.
Tone
Being aimed at guitarists, tone is all-important. The good news is that the EW-D Instrument Set sounds completely transparent — which, for this comparatively utilitarian device, is a good thing! Rest assured, if you have curated a specific tone for your amp, the EW-D Instrument Set will not get in the way.
That’s not to say that you don’t have control over the gain structure though. There are controls for audio input and output, so you can perfectly match the level of your traditionally cabled setup, so there are no discrepancies in level going into your amp. And as for range? Some have gone to extreme lengths to see how far you can get away from the receiver.
If you’re in the live music scene, you should expect to see more of EW-D Instrument Sets on stage. Competitively priced and designed to effortlessly slot into a wider wireless ecosystem, everyone in the band will be ditching their cables before you know it.
Head over to Sennheiser for more details.
