Best config for 6 XD-V75 units without XD-AD8

[Digitalman42]

I'm going to build my system in two stages. Purchase six XD-V75 systems and later add an XD-AD8 and a pair of P180s.

 

Given the limit of four chained receivers, which configuration would be best?  

 

A. Create two sets of three chained receivers

 

B. Create a set of four chained receivers and a set of two chained receivers

 

I assume RF2 mode is appropriate since there are no other legacy Line 6 devices being used.

 

 

 

[silverhead]

fyi.... I know the published limit is 4 chained receivers. However I am chaining 5 XD-V75 receivers with a single pair of P180s and having no problems at all. Can you push it to 6? Don't know - but definitely worth a try.

 

I have the receivers rack mounted and inside the rack I am using separately purchased 6" Line 6 LMR cables to chain the receivers rather than the supplied 18" (-ish) cables. This minimizes signal loss within the rack. I'm also using a pair of 25' (rather than 50' or 100') Line 6 LMR cables from P180s to the receiver rack. Depending on the stage/venue you can usually place the receiver rack within 25' of the P180s and use longer XLR cables to the stage patch/snake if necessary to minimize signal loss through the LMR cables.

 

I have the P180 output boost set to minimum but I'm guessing that you could also boost this if necessary to feed the 6th receiver with a sufficiently strong signal.

 

Yes - I am using RF2.

 

I would experiment with this setup before purchasing an XD-AD8 or an additional pair of P180s.

 

But to answer your question, I can see three alternatives:

1) an XD-AD8 with a single pair of P180s;

2) single pair of P180s and a 4/2 split in the receivers, with the 2 receivers fed by a single pair of the 1/2 wave antennas carefully placed for good reception; or

3) two pairs of P180s in a 3/3 split.

 

Option 2 is likely the most cost effective but depends on effective placement of 1/2 wave antennas - a potential reliability risk. Options 1 and 3 are both very reliable with 3 probably being more cost effective unless you can get a good used XD-AD8.

[Sheriton]

I see no particular advantage of either A or B over the other. It depends a bit on whether you might need to deploy a single rack separately and whether you want to use the 1/2 rack unit blanking panel to front mount the BNC connections.

 

I always use RF1 mode - it's far more robust than RF2 and although it doesn't play nicely with wifi, I'd much rather suffer slow wifi than mic dropouts.

 

Be wary of just randomly turning up the antennae gain - too strong an RF signal is just as bad as too weak but the symptoms are less obvious.

 

It may not be an issue for you, but I find the built in power distro in the AD8 really useful as it makes the rack wiring much neater and removes the need for a separate mains power distro in there.

[Digitalman42]

It's basically a budget issue for me.  I want to start with six receivers and then in a few months, I'll add the AD8 and then a couple of months later, add the P180s.   So either A or B configs and running RF1 sounds like the better choice.  Since I'm running a wifi router in the studio with only the 5GHz radio (2.4 GHz is disabled), I should be fine.  I'm using the wifi router to connect a laptop and two Fire TV televisions together on their own network.  There is 2.4GHz elsewhere in the building, but I don't mind impacting it - and it's outside the studio, which is a built like a Faraday cage. 

 

Thanks all for the advice!

 

[Digitalman42]

Got my six XD-75Ls, racked em, and went with option B above just because.  In RF1 mode.

 

After turning off the 2GHz radio in my router, leaving the 5GHz to connect with my computer and two Fire TVs, I tested things out.

 

A strange thing was happening, I would lose signal, drop out!  All LEDs down to nothing. No red. Very odd.  

 

Eventually, I remember I had left my phone in the back of the rack. DUH!!!  I used the light to see things while I connected the cables. 

 

After removing the noisy phone, I had solid green bars and no dropouts.  Very happy with my purchase.  Now the big test is when I put the transmitters on people and have them moving around the set. That'll be a fun day. 

 

Thanks for everyone's advice!