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[Andrew Makinson]

Hey everyone.  I've not used WSM before.  I downloaded it and had a quick look offline, but would like some help before making a big purchase.

I am looking to put together a rig with 14 channels of Sennheiser ew 500 G3 and 8 channels of Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G3.  For my application all of the wireless will sit in a rack onstage.  I don't plan to us any antenna distribution.  For connecting to WSM,  I understand that I just need a switch.  I was looking at the NETGEAR JFS524 24-port switch.  The computer running WSM will be at FOH.  Monitors will be run from FOH, so all wireless needs to come back to that same computer.

Is there anything I'm missing with this setup?  If I wanted to add some channels so that I exceeded that switch, would there be any problem running a switch into a switch?

Thanks for your help!

Andrew

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

Hey everyone.  I've not used WSM before.  I downloaded it and had a quick look offline, but would like some help before making a big purchase.

I am looking to put together a rig with 14 channels of Sennheiser ew 500 G3 and 8 channels of Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G3.  For my application all of the wireless will sit in a rack onstage.  I don't plan to us any antenna distribution.  For connecting to WSM,  I understand that I just need a switch.  I was looking at the NETGEAR JFS524 24-port switch.  The computer running WSM will be at FOH.  Monitors will be run from FOH, so all wireless needs to come back to that same computer.

Is there anything I'm missing with this setup?  If I wanted to add some channels so that I exceeded that switch, would there be any problem running a switch into a switch?

Thanks for your help!

Andrew

Why don't you plan to use antenna splitters?

What are you looking for WSM to do?  I'm confused by your statement about wireless needing to come back to the same computer.  WSM does not handle the audio stream - that still happens over conventional cabling.

BTW, it's not trivial to get 22 channels of wireless working together, much less potentially more than that, and running out of Ethernet ports will be the least of your problems.

You would be wise to get some advice on doing this right, which will likely require antenna splitters, frequency coordination, etc.

[Andrew Makinson]

Why don't you plan to use antenna splitters?

What are you looking for WSM to do?  I'm confused by your statement about wireless needing to come back to the same computer.  WSM does not handle the audio stream - that still happens over conventional cabling.

BTW, it's not trivial to get 22 channels of wireless working together, much less potentially more than that, and running out of Ethernet ports will be the least of your problems.

You would be wise to get some advice on doing this right, which will likely require antenna splitters, frequency coordination, etc.

I don't plan to use splitters or combiners believing that the benifits won't outweigh the cost in my application.  I don't mind having a bunch of antennas on the front of the rack.  I realize that I would have gain increase, directionality, and spacing advantages with splitters and paddles.  I'm not writing off the possibility.

I want WSM primarily for monitoring RF, Audio, and Battery levels.  Secondarily I want it for scanning and setup.  The statement about all wireless coming to the same computer just meant the I need all of them on one network to WSM.  Sennheiser's literature on these G3 units says that you can connect "several" in a network.  I am asking if I should be concerned about a maximum number.  I assume that maximum is a very large number.

The question about running a switch through a switch was just about the networking possibility of doing so.  I don't really see it applying to my situation.

[Michael Elphinstone]

Andrew,

Just buying a switch won't do you any good unless you're planning on having fixed IP addresses for all your wireless gear, plus your computer. That computer will also need to be connected to the same switch, unless you've got a larger network you're planning on connecting to. To give you an example, you might want to build a separate control network for your amps, uhf mics and iems. It could be run by a little wifi router. I would suggest securing the wifi network fairly tightly and not connecting your control network to the Internet. If you've already got an IP network at your venue, you might want to consider running the control network on a separate VLAN within the current network. The Sennheiser gear can run on a 169-subnet network but it isn't pretty to use. I've done it with 4 units before and it hasn't been fun. Have a chat to an IT person in your area who could better advise you on your options.

Also, think long and hard about getting advice about antenna setup and frequency co-ordination. Buying that much gear without a real chat to a consultant is (IMHO) a recipe for issues later on.

[Karl Maciag]

Andrew, with that amount of channels of RF, you would be foolish to not get antenna distribution.  It's not just a convenience of having less antenae and power distribution, but helps reduce intermodulation issues that are inevitable running that many channels of RF.

What's the logic of buying a few channels of 300 series? cost? I would stick with 500 series across the board, so you have more frequency options.  Not only do you have to worry about your mics, but you have to worry about your RF environment, and the stuff you don't know about yet in your space.  Don't buy right up to the max of compatible frequencies, you'll get burned.

As for the network switch, it depends on the type of switch you have. Start with 24 port, and move up to a 48 if you need later down the road.

The WSM software is simple to use, and very powerful which will help immensely with the number of mics you want to use.

[Henry Cohen]

What's the logic of buying a few channels of 300 series? cost? I would stick with 500 series across the board, so you have more frequency options.

?? The entire Evolution G3 series tunes in 25kHz steps within a 42MHz switching bandwidth (1680 total number of frequencies). Further, the RF stages in each of the model lines (100, 300, 500 series) are exactly the same. So what "more frequency options" are there in the 500?

[Thomas Lamb]

What's the logic of buying a few channels of 300 series? cost? I would stick with 500 series across the board, so you have more frequency options.

Iem's only come in 300, 2000, & 3000 series so you can't get a 500iem. I will say that we do systems of 16 ew100g3 and 8 or more ew300 iem g3 often. If it was my budget I would buy ew100 instead of ew500 and use the savings to get the distros!!

[Andrew Makinson]

Great advice, All.  I've added it into the budget for antenna distribution. 

I am planning on the 500 series so that I can get the standard package with the 945 capsules.  Henry makes a very good point about the total number of frequencies being the same. 

I don't want the go down to the ew100 because I wan to be able to monitor the units from FOH.  I don't think the 100s have networking built in.

[Karl Maciag]

wow, my bad, I completely read the original post wrong, and didn't notice the "IEM" part.  sorry for the misleading reply.

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