LD Systems U308 BPG

I bought this in combination with the LD Systems U308 IEM and the LD Systems U500 RK 2, to have my wireless in-ear and guitar wireless both on radio frequency bands and have everything snugly built-in in one 19" rack space. It looks very pretty, and I'm very happy with the limited rack real-estate it takes up.

It is all plastic, but relatively well-constructed. It runs on two AA-batteries and the battery door isn't too flimsy. A little caution around the antenna, goes a long way, and I haven't had any problems with the built-quality of the sender. The controls aren't particularly good on the unit (as you almost can't operate the switches without unattaching the unit). No problems with the mini-XLR, and the belt clip is surprisingly sturdy for a unit in this price range. The channel selection is super easy enough (setting the frequency on the receiver, communication over IR and you're done).

With only 12 channels to choose from, it does not have a particularly broad range, and I ran into trouble because of that – having to change channels on the fly in a live situation. Both the IEM and the BPG use the same range, so that might be one of the reasons for frequency overlap. The manual is not overly insightful when it comes to the exact frequencies.

There is no menu on the unit, but the controls are handy.

The main constraint: I play with another guitar player (+1 IEM and +1 guitar wireless), a bass player (+1 IEM and +1 bass wireless) and a lead vocalist (+1 IEM), so it can become challenging to find some open range.

I bought this as a semi-pro, and it is fairly okay, as it lives up to my expectations, but it is not quite on par with my current requirements. A simple case of "buy nice or buy twice", and I should have invested a little more.

I really like the design and the easy of use, though, so it is an excellent choice as an entry-level wireless, especially one that doesn't operate on the 2.4 GHz range – which is a recipe for all kind of disasters! But it is not quite professional enough for my taste and I will soon be in the market for something slightly better spec'ed and more rugged.

Play professionally 2-4 times per week. From 50 people to 5000. After being let down by a fixed frequency Wireless system, I grabbed this. It's never let me down on big or small stages. Sounds the same as being wired, has never once dropped out on stage. It would be nice to know how much battery power is left in the pack at a glance though. But at this price what can you expect?

I've also used this with the t.bone headset microphone with AKG connector with great results.

EDIT: 1 year 4 months
Unfortunately the device has stopped working properly now. After around 1hr, the signal reaches the box fine, but the unbalanced output seems to be asleep, or sending out a tiny signal combined with a lot of bad cutting noise. It was working fine when arriving at a venue, but then after leaving the device on for about an hour, it comes to soundcheck and twice in a row I have ruined the sound engineer's flow as I've had no signal!! Finally just got it home to check, and indeed after an hour or so, the unbalanced output is dead and requires a power cycle. I will check the balanced output for the same behaviour, but already lost two gigs and had to go back to wires. I certainly do not want to have to remember to power cycle the thing every set and soundcheck!!

Ich spiele in einer Amateurband. Zur Vermeidung von Kabelsalat auf der Bühne, die doch meist extrem klein ausfällt, hab ich mir diesen Funk bestellt.

Das Positive gleich vorweg: Es funkt(ioniert) wie erhofft - ohne auch nur einen Aussetzer.

Verarbeitung: Station ist aus Metall und wirkt sehr solide. Der Sender leider aus viel Plastik und ist durch die beiden AA Batterien auch etwas schwerer als andere Sender. (ein Stern Minus)

Batteriedauer: Zum Testen habe ich gebrauchte Batterien eingelegt. Diese halten nach einer 4-stünden Probe und einem 5-Stundengig immer noch.

Klang: Meine Amateur-Ohren nehmen keine Verluste wahr, was nicht heißen soll, dass es keine gibt. Ich habe mir nicht die Zeit genommen einen ordentlichen direkten Vergleich mit einem Kabel durchzuführen.

Frequenzen: Da laut Hersteller in Österreich nicht alle der sendenen Frequenzen gebührenfrei sind, habe ich nach Nachfrage bei Thomann die Info erhalten, dass die
Kanäle 1 – 4 auf den in AUT freien Frequenzen Senden. Ein Kanal reicht ja, für den Betrieb eines Gerätes.

Nachteil: Zur Paarung von Station und Sender mittels Infrarotsonsor müssen die Geräte auf 10cm angenähert werden. Wenn man während das Spielbetriebes mit einem am Gitarrengurt befestigten Sender umstellen möchte, ist das nicht gerade praktisch. (ein Stern Abzug)

Fazit: Bis jetzt bin ich bis auf die oben beschriebenen kleinen Mängel sehr zufrieden.

Nachtrag nach einem Jahr: letztens musste ich während eines Gigs (5 Stunden) zweimal die Batterien tauschen.Zugegeben, das erste Set war bereits gebraucht aber innerhalb von 2 Stunden war das 2. Set leer (Batterien von Hofer) vielleicht sollte ich mal Markenbatterien probieren?