It's about time: Sennheiser Spectera offers step change in digital wireless technology By Kevin Emmott
Monday, September 23, 2024 - 10:42
Print This Story
(L-R): Sennheiser's Vice President Sales EMEA Christophe Van Den Berghe, Category Market Manager Theresa Vondran and CEO Andreas Sennheiser at the Spectera launch event
It's been almost 70 years since Fritz Sennheiser invented the world's first ever wireless microphone in 1957, and wireless audio technology has worked pretty much the same way ever since. So, when Sennheiser unveiled a spectacular new way of managing wireless signals at a glitzy launch event at De Hallen Studio's in Amsterdam during IBC2024, you would be forgiven for thinking it's about time.
And you'd be right, in more ways than one.
Sennheiser says Spectera is the world's first wideband, bidirectional, digital wireless ecosystem and it is literally all about time. Not just the 11 years Sennheiser has been developing the idea of managing wireless signals with broadband technology, or the six years it has spent lobbying the FCC, or the 18 months of dedicated development since the company first announced its Wireless Multi-Channel Audio System (WMAS) technology in March 2023.
Time is Spectera's defining feature because it is central to its technology.
Introduced on stage by CEO Andreas Sennheiser, Spectera represents a step change in digital wireless technology. Using Sennheiser's WMAS technology, Spectera does a whole bunch of stuff. It reduces wireless system complexity, it increases capability, it simplifies setup, and it does all this with way less equipment. It delivers full remote control and monitoring (including permanent spectrum sensing); it is highly resistant to RF fading; and its compact bidirectional bodypacks deal with digital IEM/IFB and mic/line signals as well as control data simultaneously, and in the same wideband RF channel.
Oh, and its base station can handle up to 64 wireless audio links (32 in/32 out) in just 1U of space.
Challenges
It's a lot, so it's no surprise that Andreas Sennheiser admits that it was a challenging development.
There's not a single challenge there but a multitude of challenges that you have to overcome in order to create a system that's really compelling, he says. Whether that's working with the authorities on regulations for the use of the RF broadband spectrum, the development of a brand-new transmission scheme, or the software integration. There are so many moving parts that we had to totally rethink.
It's the first time in 65 years that we're not just transmitting on one carrier, and therefore it's right to say that this is a new era in wireless transmission, but from the beginning we had a system in mind that didn't operate like a transmitter and receiver; we envisioned a system that would make it simpler for the customer to do their job now and be able to evolve in the future to cater for future needs.
A different approach
At the centre of everything is Sennheiser's WMAS, a development which began in 2013 and took many years working alongside the authorities to get adopted. For decades, narrow-band microphones have always stipulated a maximum RF transmission bandwidth of 200kHz, but in 2017 Sennheiser's work with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) resulted in getting WMAS included in EN 300 422-1.
A year later the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) removed bandwidth limits from its own recommendations for wireless microphones, and Sennheiser filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC to request a modification in their bandwidth specifications for wireless microphones. This led to the FCC permitting operation of WMAS in the US earlier this year.
Spectera was launched just a few months later.
It's the first time in 65 years that we're not just transmitting on one carrier, and therefore it's right to say that this is a new era in wireless transmission
Instead of using those individual 200kHz narrowband RF carrier frequencies, WMAS uses a single wideband RF channel for the bidirectional transmission of audio and control data; in fact, it uses a TV channel of 6 or 8MHz.
The system coordinates itself by organising every single audio link within this channel, whether it's a mic or an IEM, and every signal is assigned a specific time slot for transmitting its audio information. This makes it possible to have multiple IEMs and mics in the same TV channel instead of two channels separated by a guard band, which makes setup easier by massively simplifying frequency coordination, not to mention the reduction in the amount of kit required to do it, especially for larger productions.
In addition, as every audio link uses the full width of the RF channel when it is its turn to do so, it greatly reduces RF fading as well.
Four areas of development
The system is made up of four main components.
Spectera's Base Station squeezes 32 inputs and 32 outputs in a 1U footprint, and it can accommodate up to two RF wideband channels. It is frequency-agnostic, and activation of the respective local licence automatically loads the authorised frequency ranges. It is also extremely robust with two PSUs, primary and secondary Dante connections, two slots for optional redundant MADI connections, and four antenna ports. These ports not only allow for redundancy, but also for extended, synchronised antenna zone coverage or higher system capacity by using additional frequency ranges.
The system's bodypacks are just as hardworking, handling mic/line and IEM/IFB requirements at the same time; this means less equipment for the talent to carry, and less equipment for the sound crew to store, pack, test and fit. They feature a 3-pin connector for a lavalie
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
It's about time: Sennheiser Spectera offers step change in digital wireless technology By Kevin Emmott 
