Working with a mid-sized sound company (HAS Productions) in Las Vegas, I get to wear a lot of different hats. On any given gig in any given week, I could be a system tech, an audio babysitter making sure the band's guy does not blow anything up, or mixing anything from a B-level national to a local band.
One of the common threads no matter the size of the gig or the act is that almost everyone uses some wireless. And there is almost never anyone dedicated to mapping frequencies or just dealing with wireless issues. And it falls to me or the monitor guy to make it work.
Las Vegas sucks for wireless. The spectrum is very crowded, and unless the act rented the wireless gear from HAS, I have no idea what I am going to be presented with, often until moments before soundcheck. I had heard talk about some Line 6 products that operate outside the conventional UHF space and that there was a new series more aimed at us pros than at the musicians out there. Having been a fan of Line 6 guitar processors, I was interested to see what the new wireless microphone had to offer, and I was not disappointed.
The Gear
The mic has a rugged construction without making a lot of noise when pulling it in and out of the clip. It has push button mute and select switches for changing to the 12 available fixed frequencies with a Hi power and Lo power mode to save battery life, and a name function to name the microphone, if you like it all done on the transmitter.
The receiver features audio, battery, and RF LED indicators on the front with antenna, 9 volt power supply, and balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4 inch mic level outs on the back. It also does a channel scan. The receiver is extruded aluminum, and the transmitter has metal body and polycarbonate battery cap that looks like it is up for some abuse.
A quick side-note: We are reviewing this for the FOH pro audience and not musicians, so we used the XD70 as we would expect most pros to use it. That means we did not spend a lot of time with the environment filter or the modeling. If I want an Audix OM5 or a Beta 58, I am going to use one. If there is anyone out there who understands modeling, it is Line 6, and no doubt that bands and musicians will find these features useful.
Which brings us to one of the really great things about the XD70. It used the same connector between the transmitter body and the capsule as Shure and Heil. So if you want a wireless Beta 58, you just switch out the capsule. In fact, most of the gig we did for this review was done with a Heil RC30 capsule. Face it. Us sound guys are kind of snobs about brand names on gear. If something goes wrong, we are always the first to get the blame, and we want to use stuff we know will have our backs. And the XD70 system is so inexpensive that you can buy a transmitter/receiver package AND a replacement capsule for less than the cost of one pro-level wireless from other companies.
The Gig
Back to the whole crowded wireless space issue. The gig was in Parker, Ariz., and if you look up "middle of nowhere" in the dictionary, you will see a picture of Parker. It should have been wide open. But the UHF transmitter/receiver package used for IEMs took a fair number of hits on a channel that looked pretty clean.
Line 6 has gotten around this problem by saying "adios" to the core UHF/TV band, where most pro wireless lives. There is more detail about this in the "Digital Edge" column in this issue (page 38), but the short version is that the XD70 transmits data from after an analog-to-digital conversion in the mic/transmitter. It does not transmit actual audio, so much of the noise we are accustomed to with wireless just goes away. Using the 2.4 gHz range that a lot of things like wireless routers use may sound like a problem but those things are low-power enough and the XD70 is designed to work around it.
Kind of like diversity units that switch between the feeds from two antennas or two receivers depending on which has the strongest signal at any given moment, the XD70 is transmitting on several frequencies at the same time, and that group of frequencies becomes one of the preset "channels." My only issue here is the number of channels, which is just 12. I mix local bands that are using that many channels all the time. On the up side, all 12 channels always work no matter where you get off the tour bus.
I used the mic on a singer doing classic rock covers and it worked out well. After wiring the mic up and quickly setting some levels, I was ready for a listen, joined by the monitor engineer. No noise. Rock-solid wireless performance. The singer I used the XD70 with was doing a lot of background vocals and a few leads, so he sang on almost every tune in the band's set, and I had zero problems. Just the way I like it.
All in all, I found it to be a great-sounding unit. I would gladly use again when needing a wireless or just a good vocal mic.
Line 6 XD-V70 Wireless System
What It Is: Digital wireless hand-held vocal mic and receiver
Who It's For: Pretty much anyone needing a wireless mic who can get by on 12 channels or less.
Pros: Solid wireless performance. Dead simple to use. Sounds good.
Cons: Limited channel count.
How Much? $499.99 MAP
