MIAMI, FL — Sennheiser provided Prince's chrome-plated wireless vocal microphone for the Super Bowl XLI halftime show, which took place under very wet conditions in an outdoor arena with no roofing or material to cover the stage. "My big worry was that Prince's mic was going to get soaked and quit working," admits James Stoffo, who was in charge of wireless systems for the event. "But it never did die. It was soaking wet when we got it back, but it never quit on me."
Although there was a spare standing by, the vocal microphone, which pairs a chrome-plated handheld Sennheiser SKM 5200 wireless transmitter with a Neumann KK 105-S capsule, never stopped working, even after getting knocked around and thrown to the stage by Prince. "It worked the whole time, even though he was slamming it around and throwing it around in the rain," confirms Stoffo.
Kicking off with Queen's "We Will Rock You" and leading into, "Let's Go Crazy," the opening track from the Purple Rain album, the no-frills halftime performance highlighted Prince's guitar playing. Florida A&M University's Marching 100 stormed the field to the strains of the intro to "1999" before joining Prince for "Baby I'm A Star," followed by a series of covers – Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary," Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" and the Foo Fighters' "The Best of You" – before the apropos finale, "Purple Rain."
Performance sound equipment supplier AudioTek Corp. of California brought in Sennheiser 3000 series RF receivers for the event, notes Stoffo, which he installed in the rehearsal space for Prince and his band. A Sennheiser EM 1046 receiver rack, shipped from Professional Wireless Systems, ensured rock-solid reception of Prince's vocal mic.
"The NFL coordinated more than 1,000 RF mics inside the venue," reports Stoffo. "I could see RF all over the place — the coach coms, the referee mics and all the ENG guys running around. Right before halftime the transmitters are usually outside the stadium, so I don't even know if they're working. But the 1046 rack was nice and quiet, not even one light lit, and as soon as Prince started to walk down the tunnel I could see the lights starting to turn on."
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