Sheriton

I'm told (although I've not tried them yet) that Sontec are the UK distributor of spares - they deal with Yamaha who now own Line6. I'm after a new beltpack mic connector so really should get in touch. If you try them, please post back with a note on your experience with them.

I suspect njglover means an XLR input so you can stick it on the end of a mic.

D: Keep as much physical separation between the router and your L6 receiver as possible. If they're within a foot or two of each other, almost nothing else will help.

I'd suggest just trying it to see. I usually use L6 paddles on the end of 15' cables but also have an install (albeit Sennheiser G3) with stock antennae on the end of long cables which works fine. My antennae theory is rather rusty so I can't comment on the necessity or otherwise of a ground plane though.

As with all things RF, you need to do a bit of frequency coordination. With traditional UHF radio mics, that was relatively easy as you just had to ensure that no one else was using the frequency you were on. Most systems had plenty of frequencies available to change to in the event of issues (licence permitting!). Using multiple systems was a bit trickier as you have to use compatible sets of frequencies to avoid intermod issues but it was all pretty logical. Radio mics had their own protected (well, ish) band that was exclusively theirs. Now enter the wonderful world of 2.4GHz. Many different devices work in that band (radio mics, wireless DMX, WiFi etc). Some are very clever at working around other devices in use, some will stomp all over other devices. Some can be configured to different "channels", some aren't controllable. There's no guarantee at all that using more than one different type of device in the same 2.4GHz band will work. Networking is pretty resilient as it can resend lost packets so the data gets through albeit more slowly. Audio and DMX can't do that as they work in real time so will display more objectionable symptoms if they suffer interference. What to do? Move the networking to 5GHz - it's a much quieter band so works better and will be less affected by interference from other systems and also affect other 2.4G systems less. Wireless DMX - fleabay is flooded with very cheap systems - I've not used any personally but I suspect they won't work nearly as well as "proper" systems, both in their ability to continue working in the presence of interference and in their ability to not cause undue issues for other equipment. Wireless DMX is not regularly used in the pro world unless absolutely necessary as wires are far more reliable and far cheaper. Is it totally impracticable to run wires? Physical separation is your friend. Wireless systems aren't best used to cover large distances - they should be used where a wire really isn't practicable e.g. a moving performer. Keep transmitters and receivers as close to each other as possible and keep different systems as far away from each other as possible. Doubling the distance causes a four fold decrease in signal strength so even a little bit of a shuffle to move things around may well pay dividends. Make sure you understand the difference between RF modes on the Line6 systems. RF1 is generally much more bullet proof but they don't come set up in that mode - you have to change it yourself. If you're in an environment with a lot of 2.4GHz traffic that you can't control, a radio mic also in that band isn't likely to be a good fit; a system in a different band may well be a better option. Try the separation thing first though - it's amazing the difference moving something just a few feet can make.

Does the regular user have rings on their fingers? You're not the only one to have experienced this - a search of this forum should bring up further details.

If you have an access point right next to the receiver, it's pretty much guaranteed not to work. It's not a fault; that's just not how they work. It's a bit like buying a diesel car and wanting to put petrol in it - ain't going to happen. Very few radio mic systems are truly plug & play. They all have to be used with some understanding of the RF environment and of their limitations. Analogue radio mics aren't so different - if you want to use lots of them together, you have to coordinate their frequencies properly. I've encountered people who tried to use them by just setting them all 0.5MHz apart. Maybe logical in their mind but that's not how they work. There are people who expect to be able to use several transmitters with one receiver - again maybe logical to them but that's not how they work. The V75 is a great system and absolutely rock solid IF it's used properly. RF1 mode and appropriately located receiver / antennae and you'll be away. I regularly use mine in a venue with stupidly powerful wifi plus the usual audience full of phones with no issues at all. If you have to use a radio mic system in very close proximity to a lot of other 2.4GHz traffic, maybe the L6 offerings aren't the right ones for you. Used in RF1 mode, they'll probably trample over your wireless DMX so you may well be better off with something on a different frequency band if you can't put some physical distance between them. Not because they're faulty; simply because there's only so much traffic you can fit in to one band before something starts to suffer.

This might be a tricky one to solve without being there to see / hear what's happening. First thing to do is disable any EQ filtering and dynamic filtering on the mic system itself. Your QU will do a much better job on that kind of processing and I've never liked the way the built-in processing sounds on those mics anyway. (Mic modelling shouldn't be a problem though). Anything that changes the dynamics of the signal has the potential to compound feedback issues. If that doesn't help, it's time to identify what other differences exist between the V55 and the wired mics that you're using.

It's conceivable that it could be faulty although as it's an intermittent issue, you can bet that it'll behave perfectly on the test bench. I'd be looking closely at environmental factors here. If you have a phone in your pocket (particularly of an i variety) and you're stood right next to the receiver, that'll almost inevitably cause issues. Anything that generates RF (by design or otherwise) that's very close to the receiver can be a problem, even if it's not on the same frequency. Laptops and their PSUs can chuck out all kinds of horrible RF. Keep your receiver's antennae as far away as possible from anything else electronic. If that's impossible, consider getting some cables to enable you to remotely mount the antennae away from any potential sources of interference. I regularly run 10 V70/V75 systems together without any issues. The one time I did have a problem was when someone plugged in their mephone to charge right behind the rack next to the antennae. I now always use remote paddles which can be mounted well away from everything.

If it's a proximity issue, the channels used won't matter - it'll always be the receivers in that specific position. Have you tried swapping the top & bottom receivers with the middle two? It would be interesting to see whether the problem always stayed with the receivers in the top & bottom position. I would actually expect more issues with the middle two packs as they're surrounded by others but your experience doesn't seem to bear that out.

It's not unusual to see one or two red lights lit - RF from nearby wifi networks, mobile phones, computers etc can all cause that. The important thing is how it behaves when the transmitters are switched on - do you experience any problems then? I was about to ask about how the antennae are wired up (mine are all V75s) but then twigged that the V35 don't have useful external antennae. Multiple receivers next to each other all with their own antennae can cause issues as each receiving antennae also transmits very low level RF which can cause issues with some systems. It's one of the reasons why a distribution system (like the one built in to the V75) is a really good idea. If you physically separate the receivers, does it change anything? The RF1 / RF2 mode is set solely by the transmitter; the receiver detects which mode it's picking up so can't be manually set to one or the other. All your transmitters do of course need to be set to the same mode - you can't mix & match.

Which input on your mixer are you using? The L6 mics are set up to produce the same output level as a normal wired mic and so need to be connected to a mic input on a mixer. I guess you might be plugged in to a line (jack) input? Use a standard XLR cable to connect from the L6 receiver to a mic input and you should be fine.

It'll be interesting to see how common this is. It's possible that one of your regular users is just one of those people who produce corrosive sweat - it's not unheard of for some people to simply be chemically incompatible with certain products. Or perhaps someone with sharp jewellery that keeps scratching away at it. Or maybe just a dodgy batch of mics. You might want to raise a support ticket with Line6 if you want a response from them though.

If you can get the rack on the red X, I'd probably try one antenna on either side, about 20' away along the side of the rink, a little above head height, aimed straight across and angled slightly down. I was considering suggesting each one further along the rink edge but that would ultimately reduce the diversity as you'd end up essentially with one covering each half which could result in dropouts again. Watching the meters as a particular player moves from one end to the other may be instructive - should give you some indication of whether both antennae are giving usable coverage across the whole arena. Yes - either an XLR snake or a digital one.

I'd suggest doing everything possible to reduce the lengths of your antennae cables. You can run audio cables for miles (literally) without issue but antennae cables really should be kept as short as you can. If you can safely mount your receiver rack in the roof near to the overhead antennae and run a long audio multi down, that would be a better way to go. I notice you say you're using RG58 - I suspect you'd be much better off with LMR195 as its losses are significantly lower. I'm sure that's cropped up elsewhere on this forum before - a search might throw up more details. Yes it does cost more but a cheap solution that doesn't work isn't worth anything.

Option 1: Not really, no. The antennae should ideally be 45 degrees either side of vertical - pointing inwards won't give you decent diversity reception. Option 2: Daisy chain - yes. Line of sight is important so if the front of the rack is facing towards where the transmitters are, you might be alright. Option 3: Now we're talking. Getting the antennae up clear away from the rack is good. Get some distance between them too - again for diversity reception. Option 4: Good option. Other transmitters in close proximity to your receivers is a bad idea - even if they're on different frequencies they can still swamp the RF input stage which will wipe out your reception. If you've remoted your antennae (option 3 / 4), you might get away with it but I'd still want to keep that DMX TX well away.

Mostly ease of use. Not all desks have lots of line inputs - the Line6 mics are designed to output essentially the same level as a wired mic so you can just plug them in in exactly the same way. Sending down a multi, it's dead simple to just plug them in without faffing about with jack adapters at both ends etc. When you're dealing with lots of different sources, life is made much easier all round by them all outputting the same type of signal.

Since Yamaha took over Line 6, it does rather seem like support has dropped off. They may just be reorganising and consolidating at the moment but that doesn't really help their customers.

I assume you've looked at the photos / videos that show you exactly where the tx needs to be placed in relation to the receiver? It's a very specific placement - you can't just plonk it somewhere near.

Over the weekend, I inadvertently discovered a way to create a high pitched whine with my headsets. They were all laid out very close together before being fitted and one of them was clearly picking up some RF from its neighbour as it was producing a very distinctive whine. As soon as either of them was moved more than a few inches away, it disappeared. Never a problem in real world use. I assume this isn't the same issue experienced by others, unless actors are double-mic'ed or in extremely close proximity to one another?

In the spirit of troubleshooting, does the problem only exhibit when using particular lavs or is it with every lav (including the L6 one bundled with the systems)? I've only ever used mine with headsets and haven't seen this problem; I'm just wondering how one could recreate it.

Having transmitters and receivers (with their associated antennae) together in the same rack like that isn't generally a good idea. Even though they're on different frequency ranges, the transmitters can cause a phenomenon called desense in the receivers - in simple terms, the inputs of the receivers get swamped and so their ability to pick up lower strength signals is significantly decreased. Try splitting the transmitters and receivers in to separate racks and keep some physical distance between them - I bet you'll see improved performance.

My V75s have been faultless but I've never used the V55s so I can't draw any useful comparisons. I was under the impression (maybe wrongly) that the RF side of the 75s and 55s was the same? I've always suspected that these kinds of issues are user related rather than purely down to the equipment itself. They do need a little more care in their use because of their higher operating frequency compared to normal UHF and because of the congestion in the 2.4G band.

RF1 mode is always preferable unless you have complete control over all transmissions in your vicinity and need to be able to leave free space for a controlled wifi channel. Anything that transmits (even on a different frequency) has the potential to cause problems. Keep phones well away from the receivers.

I'd say that's normal yes. You have to make a LOT of noise to get more LEDs to light up. The system has huge headroom and is extremely difficult to clip.