Wireless Warrior

James Stoffo cuts through RF jungle at Super Bowl XL

 

With a stellar line-up of stars including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and the Rolling Stones performing at Ford Field during pregame and halftime festivities at this year's Super Bowl, James Stoffo of Professional Wireless Systems had his work cut out for him in terms of RF management. Faced with the clutter of over 1,000 frequencies in use at the showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, he successfully met the challenge with 20 channels of Shure UHF-R wireless using handheld transmitters outfitted with Shure's SM58, Beta 58, and Beta 87A capsules.

 

"All vocals were live this year," Stoffo revealed just after halftime. "In terms of how extensively we depended upon Shure for both the pregame and halftime shows, it can best be summed up by saying that UHF-R was our choice for every performer except [one]."

 

Relying upon a Beta 87A, Stevie Wonder's pregame performance helped pave the way to the Rolling Stone's halftime appearance. Cavorting upon a giant stage shaped like the band's legendary "lips" logo, the Stones ended their set with "Satisfaction", a song that is old enough to have been played at Super Bowl I as Mick Jagger rightly noted. Keeping up with Jagger's gyrations onstage was a UHF-R/SM58 system; UHF-R was also used on all of the Stones' guitars.

 

Performing without a glitch throughout the game, Stoffo's wireless blueprint represents the 10th he's developed for the Super Bowl. Based in Orlando, FL, Professional Wireless Systems was subcontracted for the event by ATK Audiotek of Burbank, CA.

 


 

SUPER DUTY-Fighting over 1,000 frequencies in use at Ford Field during Super Bowl XL, James Stoffo of Professional Wireless Systems developed an RF blueprint for the game's entertainment systems using Shure UHF-R wireless.


Release 38