ANX4 Scalable Wireless Receiver: More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't

Shure’s ANX4 is the ultimate high-tier, high channel count wireless audio receiver. First introduced at the InfoComm show in Orlando, Florida in June 2025 and shipping a few months later in September, ANX4 is a unique and incredibly versatile wireless receiver. Really, it’s a whole new approach to digital wireless and that approach not only simplifies your workflow, but also helps lighten the load for the planet. By reducing the amount of gear that needs to be shipped, powered, and cooled, ANX4 makes efficiency feel good in more ways than initially meets the eye.

Let’s look at how it’s different and why ANX4 should be a serious consideration for audio professionals in need of reliable wireless at the highest level.

Scalable Channel Expansion with Perpetual Licenses

Flexible is probably the best word to describe ANX4, especially considering receiver channel count. To start, ANX4 is not a traditional single-, dual-, or four-channel wireless audio receiver. In fact, it doesn’t ship with any receiver channels installed. Instead, ANX4 allows users to purchase the exact number of receiver channels they need for a given project by way of digital licenses (up to 16 Axient Digital or 24 ULX-D per unit). 

These digital licenses are perpetual licenses – they’re yours forever – and are available wherever ANX4 hardware is sold (and shure.com/anx4) in single- and four-channel increments.

Taking flexibility one step further, ANX4 perpetual licenses are not permanently assigned to any one ANX4 hardware unit. Once purchased, users manage their ANX4 perpetual licenses via a free ShureCloud account, giving them the option to activate ANX4 licenses in one ANX4, later remove them and activate them in a different ANX4, etc. Let’s say, for example, that a user owns two ANX4 units and 20 perpetual licenses. They can deploy 10 licenses to each of the two units this week (giving them two 10-channel ANX4 receivers) and pull six licenses from one and deploy to the other next week (giving them one 4-channel ANX4 receiver and one 16-channel ANX4 receiver). User-managed ShureCloud accounts are easy to create and powerful tools for managing your “virtual inventory” of perpetual ANX4 channel licenses on one ANX4 or across a portfolio of ANX4 units.

Right-sizing channel counts via transferable licenses can also prevent over-provisioning! Fewer units purchased, stored, and shipped when you don't need them. 

ANX4 with Axient Digital Family & ULX-D Family

Axient® Digital or ULX-D® – the Choice is Yours

While ANX4 might not be “one receiver to rule them all,” it wondrously supports two of Shure’s most prolific and widely-used wireless audio platforms: Axient Digital and ULX-D. Simply set your ANX4 to either Axient Digital or ULX-D transmit mode from the front panel of the ANX4 hardware unit and voila (!), for all intents and purposes, your ANX4 operates as an Axient Digital or ULX-D wireless audio receiver! Seriously. It’s basically that simple. 

Hundreds of thousands of Axient Digital and ULX-D transmitters are in use around the globe every day in touring, broadcast, filmmaking, houses of worship, professional theaters, lecture halls, and any number of other performance and installed situations, and they will all work perfectly with an ANX4 receiver. 

Axient Digital Transmission Mode

ULX-D Transmission Mode

Axient Digital or ULX-D, the choice is yours. What’s more, you can change between the two wireless platforms when you want or need to because ANX4 channel licenses are agnostic relative to the wireless platform you’re using (i.e. you don’t have to worry about purchasing licenses for both platforms!). For example, if you own one ANX4 with 10 perpetual licenses activated, it can operate as a 10-channel Axient Digital receiver this week and a 10-channel ULX-D receiver next week with just a few front-panel button pushes.

Being able to switch platforms without adding extra receivers keeps system footprints smaller across diverse applications–from touring to fixed installations–helping reduce complexity and environmental impact along the way.

More Channels. Less Everything Else.

ANX4 delivers a lot more of what you want and a whole lot less of what you don’t. One ANX4 offers up to 16 channels of Axient Digital or 24 channels of ULX-D. This means that in one rack space, ANX4 can receive the same number of wireless audio channels that four AD4Q 4-channel Axient Digital receivers (4U rack spaces) or six ULXD4Q ULX-D receivers (6U rack spaces) receives! 

Truth is, ANX4 may not be the perfect solution for all your high-tier wireless audio situations. There are several reasons why traditional 2- or 4-channel Axient Digital or 1-, 2-, and 4-channel ULX-D receivers are still the smarter buy. Perhaps you only need a few channels of wireless audio or prefer analog outputs (ANX4 offers digital DANTE outputs only), for example. However, at higher channel counts, ANX4 takes up far less rack space, is much lighter, and creates less heat while delivering significant savings to your budget. ANX4 also streamlines your antenna distribution setup, as there’s no need for the additional antenna distribution hardware (saving additional space, weight, and budget).

ANX4’s single rack design vs. multiple receiver units means less rack spaces, less weight, less heat, less antenna distribution equipment, and less cost, at high channel counts.

ANX4 Savings with Axient Digital. Click image to enlarge.

ANX4 Savings with ULX-D. Click image to enlarge.

Going Green Just Got Much Easier

Large live productions have traditionally required racks of receivers, separate antenna distribution, and a tangle of interconnects. ANX4 changes that equation by consolidating high channel counts in a single, scalable unit. Fewer boxes in the rack means fewer boxes on the truck—and fewer watts at front-of-house. Transport and logistics weigh heavily on an event’s footprint. By consolidating channels in one 1RU receiver (ANX4’s approx. 3.9 kg / 8.6 lb chassis), productions can trim overall rack count and associated accessories. That reduction in weight and space accumulates across pre‑rig, touring, and rental operations—translating into fewer pallets, smaller trucks, and lower energy use across the supply chain.

Plus, every device you don’t install is a device you don’t need to power or cool. ANX4’s architecture streamlines antenna configurations for large channel‑count environments, minimizing the need for external distribution devices and the cabling that feeds them. ANX4 lowers on-site power needs and heat in the rack—making leaner setups better for engineers and the environment. But this isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about impact. Greener touring starts with lighter loads. Industry roadmaps call for cutting freight emissions. And Shure’s commitment to longevity, rechargeables, and reduced packaging extends to ANX4: fewer devices to buy, ship, and power over years of service.

To learn more about ANX4 features and specifications, please visit shure.com/anx4.
Explore Shure's broader sustainability initiatives at shure.com/sustainability.