Modern-Day Guitar Wireless

Our bass player got one that he paid $29.95 for. He played it for about 10 minutes, then put his Line6 G30 back in and we never saw the $29.95 one again.
He stated "You get what you pay for."

 

I got one of the fancier ones, Tourtek XDG ($100) as a gift last Christmas. I didn't particularly want it when I got it, but I've grown to like them. It's nice to be able to move around without having to worry about a cord and the sound is pretty good.

My main drawback is that it doesn't last too long. I've never timed it, but I guess it lasts about 2-3 hours tops. It's annoying to plug in and see the blinking light within the first 5-10 minutes. I mainly use it when I'm feeling lazy when I'm practicing at home.

 

Don't confuse the sub $100 knock offs you picture with the XVIVE U2, BOSS WL, L6 G10, etc... etc.. If you don't know which model they were using, it may have been higher quality models, not the knock off's.

IMO... I felt disconnected when I tried an XVIVE, which is what many of the knock off's are copying ... it's hard to explain. It worked I guess, but I didn't like it!
I currently have a Line 6 G50. It feels/sounds very natural.

Another consideration is battery. Those little units have built in batteries, if they don't make a night you must hook up a cable to finish. The next level wireless has belt packs that run on standard batteries (usually a pair of AA's) which you quickly learn are far more convenient in a gigging environment.

Some of these dongle wireless units also struggle with active setups due to their charging systems. Beware!

 

I've only used the the NUX B2. Same as Xvive I think.

The biggest problem I had/have with it is that any static from the pickguard interrupts the signal and you get momentary cuts.
Not even noticeable to an audience I guess but I can't use it.

Changing back to a lead felt better and something was missing in the dynamics and/or freq response. Didn't spend much time analysing it.

I'm sure the more expensive cumbersome units work better. But this dinosaur is sticking with a lead.

 

I’ve used the Lekato 5.8 GHz system shown, as well as the “essentially similar” Ammoon 5.8 GHz system, for over 18 months in home, worship, and small-to-medium venues. No operational failures or issues. No dropouts. No interference with cell phones or other digital wireless devices such as “landline” telephone headsets or smart home devices.

Also, no interference with my active basses. Had some difficulty with those with the less expensive 2.4 GHz wireless systems. Preamps were a stock Ibanez preamp in my 500FL fretless, and the Audere 4-band Jazz Plate preamp I installed in my Squier VM Jaguar P/J.

 

I have a Line 6 G10 and it's worked out really well for me. I can't tell the difference between using it and plugging in with a cable.

If you want to go with the type of dongle you're showing in the OP, then you should probably go with the Xvive U2 instead of one of the knockoffs.

 

Yes! Our bass player and I have been using Line6's G30's for many years now. Gigs, practice, all the time.
The belt clips have broken off of both of them. We got Cordura cell phone belt clip cases and modified them to fit. Works fine.
Rechargeable batteries last about 5 hours of playing time. We've never needed to change them out at a gig.
They were $200 when we bought them. I went into guitar center and said "I'll give you $350 for two of them". They took it. Money well spent.

 

I think it depends on you and how sensitive your ear is. A friend got the boss and i tried it. It degraded the tone noticeably to where there's no way i would use it. Some like them and say they think they sounds like a cord, so like i said it's all about YOU which means you really can't find the answer asking people what they think. You just have to try one and see for yourself.

 

I’ve also used the Lekato ones for a while. No gigs since I got them, but they seem to work fine. About 3 hours on a full charge. 5.8 ghz is a good idea to get out of the typical WiFi range.

 

I have an Xvive. Works perfectly. I cannot detect any difference in sound compared to cable. A single charge lasts through a 4-hr gig. I think I managed to catch it on sale at some point.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...udio-u2-digital-wireless-guitar-system-silver

 

I've got a £35 set off Amazon. Works fine and more reliable than my expensive Nady system in the 90s that made me swear "never again".

 

I've thought about it. I tried a couple of old-school analogue ones back in the 80s or 90s - they were Shure and Line6, I believe, and they were expensive, bulky and had noticeably narrow dynamic range - like an aggressive compressor with a hard attack. I rely on my playing dynamics so I couldn't deal with them. The newer digital ones are cheaper, light weight and with 24 to 32 bit resolution commonplace, no dynamic range limitation. The decent one (Shure, again, I think) I tried worked reasonable well with no drop outs and I think I could live with and get used to it quickly, but I don't find a cable to be limiting, so I never bothered to get one for myself. I suspect some of the cheap ones sound good, but some may not - inferior DAC/ADCs, slow processing resulting in noticeable digital latency, etc. But I've never tried one. I suspect the digital latency is what @codamedia experienced when feeling "disconnected". Some people are a lot more sensitive to small latencies in the signal than others - especially if they are used to staying within a few feet from their amp. I think that I read somewhere that 5ms latency equates to the time it takes sound to travel about 10 feet, so it can feel like you are further away from your amp than usual.

Edit - just looked it up 10ms of delay is equal to 10 feet of distance away from the sound source (speaker). I would expect most digital devices to be under 5ms - closer to 2 or 3 even for the cheaper ones, so you would have to be quite sensitive to notice the difference.

http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/time.htm

 

I have the Boss WL-20. Battery life is great, charge time is terrible. 90% of the time it works perfectly, but occasionally I'll get dropouts from interference, and I'll have to resync them to get it to change frequency, which requires unplugging your guitar by the way.

As far as the effect on tone, I cannot tell any difference between it and a 10ft cord plugged into my pedal board.

One lesson I learned quick is, don't get to far away from the band with it! Sound waves are slower than radio waves.

 

I have the Sony ZRX-C30. Love it. Also use it to mic my horn.

 

While certainly possible, I'm not that sensitive to latency... within reason . Unless Xvive is not being honest about it's latency, 6ms wouldn't normally bother me.

I actually believe it has more to do with the converters. I get the same "disconnect" feeling with cheap(er) multi effects.