Mic Line

‘Just as valve amps were a 50 year old technology that became stagnant and we came in and changed it, and analogue tape was a 50 year old technology that we changed with ADAT, so analogue wireless is yet another 50 year old technology that we’re looking to change.’ So declares Marcus Ryle, senior vice president of new business development and co-founder of Line 6, the manufacturer that revolutionised guitar amplification in the 1990s.

It did so by introducing amplifier modelling, giving guitarists access to virtually any sound they wanted at the turn of a dial. The effect on the market was dramatic, transforming Line 6 into one of the biggest brands in MI. Now the manufacturer has turned its R&D firepower towards pro audio, and specifically the wireless microphone market. With its 2.4GHz XD-V70 digital wireless system, it’s offering rental companies and engineers ‘12 channels of digital wireless that work all the time anywhere in the world. There’s no frequency coordination required, no spectrum analysers, no looking up on the web what TV stations are in that town, just set channel one through 12 on your receiver and transmitter, then go.’

There’s also modelling, taking the same principles that changed the guitar market so fundamentally and applying them to recreating the performance of a wired Shure SM58, or Sennheiser EA35, or Audix OM5, or more. In total, the XD-V70 offers six models of classic dynamic handhelds plus a seventh ‘hybrid’ which combines the perceived best characteristics of the original six. Crucially, every microphone that Line 6 has chosen to recreate is wired, not wireless. According to the Line 6 co-founder, when combined with digital performance, the result is a virtual microphone that sounds more authentic than the real classic capsule attached to an analogue transmitter.

‘We started seeing first hand with these wireless microphones that the radio performance was comprising the audio performance. Even if you had a great capsule, you weren’t going to get that performance,’ Mr Ryle explains. ‘But we realised that once we were able to truly turn the audio signal into the equivalent of a wire – full frequency response, no companding, no roll-off at the low- and high-end, no squelch and so on, we already had a digital signal, so why not let the user choose the kind of microphone characteristic they want?’

Not for nothing does Mr Ryle describe the XD-V70 as a ‘cable replacement’ technology, taking the traditional concept of wireless transmission and reinventing it. ‘We were able to approach this completely unburdened by ever having been in the wireless microphone field, so we’re not beholden to defending older analogue technologies or television bands,’ he enthuses. ‘We thought that if we could start with a clean piece of paper then we could solve in the best way possible all of the issues that exist with wireless.’

All of which is likely to be greeted with enthusiasm by the MI community that already loves the Line 6 brand, but pro audio’s reaction could be more reserved. Mr Ryle is under no illusion that his company is approaching a tough marketplace, with brands that are as respected and trusted as the technology they offer. Line 6 is facing quite a challenge as it takes on the likes of Shure, Sennheiser, AKG and more, persuading rental companies that the XD-V70 is a powerful addition to their touring kit. But this isn’t the first time that the company has squared up to powerful competition and won.

Years in the making

Arguably the most important part of the XD-V70 story is the history attached to its development, and the lessons it teaches regarding how the new digital wireless system is likely to be accepted into the pro audio world.

‘We view ourselves as a technology company. It’s not widely known that we’ve been in business for 25 years,’ explains Mr Ryle. ‘We started out developing products for other companies in 1985, and we’ve built a group of very talented engineers and experts who are also fantastic audio professionals. If you look at the type of products we’ve created, it’s always been about how to harness technology to bring much better performance and capabilities to musicians to enable their role, whether it’s to inspire them musically or get a better performance. We’ve designed everything from synthesisers and drum machines to ADAT to the Quadraverb for Alesis.’

It is far too easy to look at Line 6 and dismiss it as a guitar company. True, prior to the launch of the XD-V70 at Pro Light + Sound earlier this year, its experiments in wireless technology had largely concentrated on guitar-based systems, such as the Relay range. But within its offices, the company sees itself more as an evangelist of everything new, seeking out old technology whose time has passed, and replacing it with something more suited to the here and now. It long ago identified just such an opportunity within analogue wireless.

‘This is something that’s been under development for a few years. It started back when we acquired a company called X2, who really pioneered digital wireless in the US back in the 90s, with the X-Wire system,’ Mr Ryle remembers. ‘It was very well regarded by guitarists, which was the main focus at that time, but we realised that like a lot of the other categories we’ve been involved in, there was an opportunity with digital to bring all new capabilities and remove a lot of the challenges that older technology might have.’

Because of the R&D tradition within Line 6, the XD-V70 has been created with so pragmatic a philosophy that even the all-important capsule within the transmitter can be completely removed and replaced with a Shure capsule instead. ‘Even someone who doesn’t want to give the modelling a chance can take their favourite Beta 58 capsule and screw it right on to our wireless transmitter,’ the senior VP promises.

Doing so would, however, miss the point of the system’s creation, and the two-fold approach it takes to reinventing wireless. When speaking about traditional analogue systems, Mr Ryle professes himself stunned at its performance in comparison to wired microphones. He insists that the great capsules of the past and present become a shadow of themselves when used with an analogue transmitter. Every mic model included within the XD-V70 is therefore based on the performance of its wired counterpart. ‘It should say something that we’ve set the benchmark for the models on being indistinguishable from these wired microphones,’ he says.

‘We’ve had people come and listen to all the wired mics, then we go to an analogue wireless mic and people are really stunned how poor it sounds in comparison. We crinkle some cellophane and hear how the high end suddenly has a blanket thrown over it as the companders kick in. It can be really quite dramatic.’

In response, Line 6 has used its expertise in modelling and the digital domain to create an audio performance that Mr Ryle claims is the equivalent of plugging in an XLR. ‘There’s no output level control on the receiver, or having to try to trade off between how much distortion you want versus noise,’ he argues. ‘Instead you’ve got over 115dB dynamic range, flat transmission from 10Hz to 20KHz – we truly view ourselves as a cable replacement.

‘Plus, by being digital we are impervious to any possible audio interference from RF sources. Like any digital signal, including wi-fi, everything is uniquely encoded for the specific receiver, so you can’t get the wrong information. Analogue wireless is basically FM technology. It’s been the same for 50 years with just a few minor improvements.’

Model behaviour

While Line 6 has an enviable score-card for entering new markets, neither Mr Ryle nor his colleagues are underestimating the challenge that lies ahead. The senior VP is admirably quick to praise the brands with whom he is now competing, and also to concede that the XD-V70 is not the only digital system currently available. It is, however, sufficiently different that he believes it will rapidly find a home for itself. Nor is it an MI product with ideas above its station – the MI market has its own version in the shape of the cut-down XDV-30.

‘The XD-V70 is every bit a professional product,’ he confirms. ‘It’s a very rugged system with an extruded aluminium chassis. We’ve included a lot of professional features – the antenna distribution is built-in so you can daisy-chain antennas between multiple units, and it has external antennas available – omni and directional. The rack accessories come as standard with the product. It’s a metal microphone design. Pretty much top to bottom we’ve designed a professional system.’

The decision to utilise the 2.4GHz band is also significant. ‘It’s a license-free band worldwide. You don’t have to worry about there being a commercial transmitter next door. Also, there is the growing movement in the US, Europe and Asia to take away television bands for use in more modern digital communication such as cell phones and smart phones. Future wireless technology is only going to survive if it can be a good citizen and co-exist. You can really only do that digitally.’

So far the system has been greeted with curiosity, though some questions have been raised regarding the channel count. ‘There are some perceived limitations,’ Mr Ryle agrees. ‘But we also recognise that in an average sound rental company’s system, having 12 channels that work anywhere accommodates at least 80 per cent of the applications around the world. We’re an extremely valuable addition to a pro audio toolbox.’

Moreover, he suggests, this is only Line 6’s introduction to pro audio – there’s much more to come. ‘We want to hear professional feedback as this gets into the professional market. This is really just the beginning. This is our first 2.4GHz digital wireless system, not our last.’ Indeed, with its history of reinventing ageing technology and cracking new markets wide open, Line 6 may have found another 50 year old dragon to slay.

www.line6.com