82 • June 2012 • Lighting&Sound America

TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH

“Made in the USA by a bunch of fanat-ics.” That’s what is printed on the out-side of the shipping containers forLectrosonics equipment. In the livesound arena, Rio Rancho, NewMexico-based Lectrosonics doesn’tquite have the name recognition ofsome other wireless brands, althoughsome astute people in film and videoproduction have been relying on thecompany’s products since the 1980s.For the moment, it’s probably the best-

kept secret in live sound production.The beauty in Lectrosonics’ gear is

that there’s nothing fancy. It’s all veryutilitarian, and that’s a good thing,because it’s built to be used. The stufflooks cool because it’s well-made—milled and machined metal parts;detailed instructions and information;modular, adaptable components; Icould go on…

This is a review of Lectrosonics’HH handheld wireless transmitter,

but, as a necessity, we’ll also belooking at other aspects and compo-nents of the system, including the VRVenue receiver.

The HH handheld transmitter isjam-packed with features, notablyLectrosonics’ Digital Hybrid WirelessTechnology, which combines digitalaudio with an analog FM radio link. Apatented algorithm encodes 24-bitdigital audio into an analog format atthe transmitter. The signal is transmit-

Lectrosonics HH HandheldWireless Transmitter and VR Venue ReceiverBy: Mark Johnson

Copyright Lighting&Sound America June 2012 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • June 2012 • 83

ted over an analog FM wireless linkand then is decoded at the receiver.The result is an exceptionally flat-fre-quency response that is free fromcompandor artifacts. The lack of anydynamic processing is one of the rea-sons the equipment is so popular infilm and video production. In fact,acoustic measurement geeks useLectrosonics transmitters andreceivers to get signal from remotelyplaced mics at large-scale events. Andwhile it comes equipped with the HHCcardioid condenser capsule, the peo-ple at Lectrosonics are astute enoughto realize that there are so many per-sonal favorites, insofar as a vocal micis concerned, that it readily acceptscapsules from many popular manufac-turers whose mics are alreadyequipped with the standard 1.25"opening and 28 thread pitch, or viareadily available adaptors. You canalso choose from two available RFtransmission power settings, depend-ing on your particular situation. The50mW affords longer battery life;100mW provides greater range and ismore resistant to dropouts.

Attention to detailSpeaking of battery life, the HH usestwo AAs and provides approximately5.5 hours of service with alkaline bat-teries and eight to 10 hours of operat-ing time with lithium batteries. Eventhe mechanics of removing the batter-ies is well-engineered—there is a blueanodized aluminum lever that gentlypushes the batteries out for easyremoval and replacement. Nice.

There is one button on the surface ofthe transmitter that can function eitheras a mute, or engage a talkback func-tion, or be disabled completely. Thetalkback feature enables the transmitterto send signal back to the Venue receiv-er, which is switched to an alternate out-put. This is good, for example, when thelead singer wants to have a private con-versation with the monitor engineerwhile the drummer is taking his solo. Allother functions are controlled via a

membrane switch control panel withinthe body of the transmitter, directlyopposite the battery compartment.

And if that wasn’t enough, theHH is backwards-compatible toLectrosonics 200 Series, 100Series, and IFB receivers. The HHcan also be used with selectreceivers from other manufacturers.

Almost like ChristmasSince the Venue system is modular,there are many components (boxes) toopen and explore. Even the packagingis cool, with many items packed in aunique system that secures the com-ponents in the box via stretching aclear plastic wrap over the items.Lectrosonics was kind enough to pro-vide other parts of the system for meto evaluate as well, including a SMQVbody-pack transmitter and an HM 172earset microphone.

The 19" one-space-high rack-mountVenue receiver chassis (which differen-tiates this product from the broadcastand film wireless receivers) is designedto accommodate up to six receivermodules (Yep, that’s right, six channelsof wireless in one rack space.) Myreview system was outfitted with tworeceiver modules. I’m guessing that,ordinarily, the chassis and the modulescome packaged separately.

Also included with my review sys-tem was Lectrosonics’ SNA600adjustable dipole antenna, another

example of Yankee—or, in this case,Southwestern—ingenuity. With anadjustable center frequency rangefrom 550 to 800MHz the antenna isdesigned for when 360° coverage(instead of directional) would bedesired. The frequencies are etched onthe body of the antenna, and thedipole elements are adjusted to the

desired frequency and then folded outfor use. The dipoles can be foldedback for storage or transport.

The dipole antenna could bemounted on a stage set piece, on awall or suspended from the ceiling, oreven mounted on a centrally locatedmic stand. And yes, there’s an adaptorfor that. A machined anodized mount-ing block is attached to the antennabody, and has different threads onopposing sides of the block—standardmic stand thread on one side and3/8"-16 on the other. An includedmounting strap facilitates fastening theantenna in the proper orientation froma wall or ceiling surface.

Back to the transmitter: There aresix membrane switches on the con-trol panel in the microphone body;the functionality includes power onand off, menu/select, back (whichtakes you back to the previousscreen), scroll up and scroll down, aswell as one button labeled “mute”with a red circle around it and a redline through it. This is the button that

84 • June 2012 • Lighting&Sound America

TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH

enables the mute or talkback func-tions for the previously mentionedswitch located on the outside of thetransmitter. There is also an LCDscreen on the outside of the trans-mitter, which provides a comprehen-sive display of the status of the micor the specific menu items.

Powering the transmitter either upor down is a deliberate process, whichis a good thing. You have to hold thepower switch for a three count, indicat-ed on the LCD screen. If you brieflypush the power switch, the transmitteris placed in “standby,” where it’s onbut not transmitting. To transmit, youpress the power switch and, via amenu display, you can choose fromeither “RF on?” or “pwr off.” To poweroff, you have to scroll to “pwr off,” thenhold for the three count again. This isgood, because it helps to prevent theperformer or presenter from accidental-ly turning off the mic, and, since thepower switch is located on the controlpanel, any “well-meant” turning off ofthe mic will be avoided as well.

But wait; there’s more…There are two bi-color LEDs located atthe bottom of the control panel, and itlooks like the labels for them wereprinted upside down. In fact, they areoriented that way to facilitate settingthe gain as you speak or sing into themic. The “gain” setting is selected inthe menu, using the up or down but-tons to set the gain appropriately.There is also an IR sync port designat-ed for development of future features.

The HH transmitter is about thesame size as the other popular hand-held wireless systems, and can fit intojust about any of the big wireless micclips that the others do as well. Thecase is metal, with the transmitterantenna cover being pretty much theonly external plastic component. Thereis a raised Lectrosonics logo at theend (bottom) of the antenna, which isthe only identifying mark on the mic.

Much of the available audio equip-ment today can be networked, oradvanced features can be accessedfor setup and control, and monitoringcan be accomplished via a laptop or

tablet. And that’s great. However, I’mstill a big fan of gear working out ofthe box. I don’t want to have to spendmy time loading software (or updatingto the latest version), just to get thegear to pass audio. While the reviewsystem fired right up, it’s probablybecause some of the items were pre-set for me. That said, getting the sys-tem up and running once the modulesare installed in the chassis takes aboutjust a few minutes. Being the curiousguy that I am, I removed a module andran the system through the detectionprocess, which was very easy to do.Likewise for menu navigation—a dual-function knob provides access to themenu. Push for the menu, rotate toscroll to the desired menu item, andpush again to select. Being a modularsystem, it does require a bit moresetup than a prepackaged systemfrom other manufacturers, and that’sunderstandable.

The Lectrosonics Venue systemcomes with an installation disk thatincludes LecNet2 software for setupand monitoring with a Windows com-puter. And, while the software is notrequired to get started, it is useful, par-ticularly in situations where multiplesystems are being used. It also givessome added functionality, such as ascanning spectrum analyzer, whichdisplays the RF picked up by thereceiver, and a walk test recorder,which provides a chart recording of RFstrength versus time. A clever aspectof this feature is the ability to recordthe audio from the transmitter; whileyou’re doing the walk test, you canprovide a play-by-play, so you’ll haveverbal cues as to your location in theevent of dropouts or hits.

One upside of having up to sixchannels of wireless in a one-rackspace is that it only takes up one rackspace; one of the downsides is thereis limited real estate on the chassissurfaces for all the necessary connec-tions. As a result, power, RS232, andone of the antenna connections aresituated pretty close to each other. Ifthe system is mounted in a rack (pre-sumably so), if there’s gear that’sdeeper above or below, or the VR is

mounted near the top or bottom ofthe rack, accessing those connec-tions could be a challenge. Also,while not a wall wart, the power sup-ply is remoted, so, once again, whenmounting in a rack you have to comeup with a way to deal with the powersupply brick.

Sleek, utilitarian, and very cool. It’snot cheap—then again, I don’t knowof any quality professional equipmentthat is—and it is certainly on par, froma pricing standpoint, with the othertop-of-the-line wireless gear that’s outthere. The HH Transmitter list price is$1,500 for the transmitter and $540for the capsule. The list price forVenue receiver chassis is $1,920,while the VRS standard receiver mod-ule will run about $475. The MSRP forthe system as tested, which includesan additional body-pack transmitterand microphone, an additional receiv-er module, and the two-dipole anten-nas, is $7,464.

So, after all of that, how does itsound? As I have said previously,with the majority of high-end proaudio equipment out there, thesedays you just expect it to soundgood. And the Lectrosonics HHtransmitter and VR Venue receivercombination does not disappoint.Which is why Lectrosonics is a sta-ple in the film and video industry,and musicians are sold when pre-sented with a wireless system withperformance that is about as closeas you can come to a wired system.

Made in the USA by a bunch offanatics. It shows. With a solid repu-tation in the film and video industryto build on, it’s obvious the design-ers of this system have beeninvolved with live productions onmany levels. These guys reallythought this one through, and cameup with a product that can withstandabuse on the road, or provide aneasily expandable system that occu-pies a minimum amount of rackspace in a permanent installation. Ifyou’re in the market for a wirelesssystem upgrade, or a new systemoverall, you would do well to includeLectrosonics on your short list.