UHF-R Joins Major Tours

Shure's new wireless system hits the road with stellar names in entertainment

 

Armed with time-saving setup features like automatic frequency selection and automatic transmitter sync, Shure's new UHF-R wireless is quickly taking up residence in road racks belonging to some of the industry's top audio engineers. On tour with the Black Eyed Peas, LeeAnn Rimes, and others, the technology is crisscrossing the US with stops onstage at major venues across the land and in TV studios on both coasts.

 

"They're all across the frontline," Billy Flores, the Black Eyed Peas' monitor engineer says with a nod over his shoulder downstage, where four UHF-R UR2 handheld transmitters sporting KSM9 cartridges stand in the spotlight at Phoenix's America West Arena waiting for the Peas' will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap, and Taboo. "We have one finished in champagne for Fergie, and three finished in black for the boys. They're top-of-the-line for us; very crisp and bright in the quartet's personal monitors, and packing an unreal presence out front. Setup is easier than ever, thanks to all of the automatic features. Now I can walk into a room, simply press a button, and each transmitter is synced to its receiver. Press another, and the optimum operating frequency is found. Everything locks right in on both counts--UHF-R saves you hours, especially when you have a lot of mics on deck."

 

The stage over which J.D. DuCrest presides as monitor engineer for country sensation LeeAnn Rimes may be worlds away from the fancy footwork and slick urban rhymes of the Black Eyed Peas, but his feelings about UHF-R run along very similar lines.

 

"The sound is so fat, so good and robust, people have been all over me asking about it before and after shows," says DuCrest, who has pushed faders at stage left with Rimes ever since she was 14. "I used to have to rely on my preamp's EQ section for a few tricks to get LeeAnn's sound just right, but with UHF-R, I was able to run things flat right out-of-the-box. Going to straight-up 12 o'clock on all the knobs--man, that's a first in all the 10 years I've been with this show."

 

Like Fergie with the Peas, Rimes chose a UR2 handheld transmitter topped with a KSM9 cartridge finished in champagne. "LeeAnn loves the color, she feels like its accessorized expressly for her," DuCrest adds. "I must admit the mic looks very 21st century, and it performs that way too. I've been using Shure's Wireless Workbench software, so opting to go with UHF-R was the next logical step in our evolution. I don't think we're far from the day where we'll create a wi-fi type network on stage with UHF-R at all the band positions. I'll program everything from home base, one of the techs will walk onstage and hit some buttons, and we'll be good to go. The capabilities are there, and the performance is rock-solid, there's never a drop-out, ever, even in the most heinous RF environments."

 

Providing a sizable 60 MHz bandwidth with no increase in interference thanks to Shure's proprietary Advanced Track Tuning filtering technology, UHF-R enables up to 108 compatible systems to be used simultaneously across multiple bands. Equipped with a bitmapped LCD display providing access and control to all integral system functions, the UR2 handheld transmitter features frequency and power lockout, and is available with a full line of venerable Shure capsules other than the KSM9 including the SM58, SM86, SM87, Beta 58, Beta 87A, and Beta 87C. The system can additionally be used with any Shure headworn, lavalier, or instrument mic, or a WA302 instrument cable when using the UHF-R UR1 bodypack transmitter.

 


Release 38