PHOENIX – Nearly 10 years ago, Xavier College Preparatory High School invested in a new, 1,000-seat auditorium for musical productions, assemblies, concerts and fundraisers. Since the beginning, the all-female Catholic high school has relied on Sennheiser for the auditorium's wireless audio infrastructure.
The school originally installed 24 channels of Sennheiser's ew 100 series wireless transmitters and receivers. In response to this year's 700 MHz restrictions mandated by the FCC, Xavier took advantage of Sennheiser's rebate offers and upgraded its entire wireless audio infrastructure to Sennheiser's evolution wireless G3 series.
In all, Xavier has installed 32 channels of Sennheiser's evolution wireless G3 systems, 12 of which were provided by Chris Henley of Phoenix-based Audio Video Resources.
The installation was completed just in time for the school to present its rendition of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, which included a 16-piece professional orchestra. Xavier students operated the entire production, including front of house, stage direction, acting and everything in between.
In addition to a dozen channels of Sennheiser ew 300 G3 microphone units, Audio Video Resources also recommended that Xavier acquire 12 SKM 300-835 G3 handheld transmitters as well as three active splitter kits (G3 DIR KIT 8). The splitter kits enabled Xavier to combine and split its antenna system, which allowed the racks to be stored in a dedicated machine room above the theatre rather than the main production area.
Since installing the new G3 wireless system, Preston Doyle, the school's auditorium manager, has noted benefits including Sennheiser's Wireless Systems Manager software, which comes bundled with the ew 300 G3 system.
"At front of house, we have the Wireless Systems Manager set up on a 24-inch touchscreen display set up right over the console," Doyle said. "This allows us to continually monitor the performance and parameters of our entire wireless system. It's almost like you are looking at a virtual rack, but better," he added. "We can title the actors, musicians and production crew in a way that makes sense. This helps us focus and makes the production more efficient."
As for the sound quality and RF reception, the Sennheiser G3 system has outperformed expectations, Doyle noted. "We have had great reception before, but now it is absolutely 100 percent. For the debut run of Fiddler on the Roof, we had very clean sound quality with no audible distortion and absolutely no radio issues."
Doyle also gave the system points for the flexibility built into the menu options. "I can customize the settings and adjust the sensitivity of each mic to match the specific voice of the performer. This is a great help."
The upgrade also gave students the chance to work with the latest in wireless audio technology and brought predictability in what can sometimes be a volatile production environment.
"Sennheiser gives us peace of mind," Doyle noted. "I feel like after this first production, we could carry out other productions and not have to worry about anything. I know can turn it on and the system will work right."
For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com.
