Sennheiser debuted the Digital 6000 system, the company’s first two-channel digital receiver, this April at the 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.
The system helped to deliver sound for performances from Lady Antebellum and the Backstreet Boys.
Front-of-house engineer for the Backstreet Boys, James McCullagh, used three EM 6000 receivers plus an L 6000 rack-mountable charging unit for the show, as well as SKM 9000 transmitters and a MD 9235 capsule.
“For live shows it’s easiest to have all the boys using the same capsule,“ McCullagh says. “We had tested six different capsule and transmitter pairs a while back and both the monitor engineer and I agreed that the Sennheiser 5235 was the best at that time, and since the 9235 is really a step up from that it was the obvious choice. It’s extremely transparent and really handles any voice well.”
RF wireless specialist Corey Dodd from Soundtronics helped set up the RF environment at the arena to ensure that clean signal transmission was delivered throughout the show.
“The new EM 6000s are great for our company because of the frequency diversity,” he says. “They are so broad that you can put each pair anywhere you want and they will work perfectly. I also love how Sennheiser’s Wireless Systems Manager software allows me to remotely monitor exactly what the receiver is seeing from hundreds of feet away. The signal strength was great, it sounded great, and there were no problems with dropouts or anything.”
Byron Gaither of artist relations at Sennheiser commented on the new system’s groundbreaking quality and usefulness for awards shows and large performances similar to the Academy of Country Music Awards.
“The future of wireless is digital, and Sennheiser is pleased to have had the opportunity to debut our latest digital wireless system, the Digital 6000, at the Academy of Country Music Awards with some of the nation’s top artists,” says Gaither. “The Digital 6000 system is but the latest in a long line of industry-leading professional wireless systems from Sennheiser and, with its unprecedented clarity and reliability, will be a natural choice for live national events like the ACMAs that are viewed by millions around the country for a long time to come.”
