Culcha Candela rely on digital wireless microphones from Sennheiser

Culcha Candela rely on digital wireless microphones from Sennheiser posted: 04/07/2023

Culcha Candela on her Too True to be Beautiful-tour

20 years of Culcha Candela! The band celebrated this anniversary in March 2023 with an extensive tour of Germany. During the shows, Sennheiser EW-DX wireless systems not only help to provide powerful sound, they ensure the witty song lyrics are clearly understood and give the multi-cultural Berlin band exceptional freedom of movement on stage for their high-energy, full-throttle performances.

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On its Too True to be Beautiful tour, Culcha Candela's four-piece core band share the stage with two backing vocalists, a percussionist and several dancers. Almost all the vocals are picked up by Sennheiser EW-DX SKM handheld transmitters fitted with MMD 945 dynamic microphone heads (super-cardioid), the only exception being percussionist Michael Escuriola, who uses a Sennheiser HSP 4 neckband mic and an EW-DX SK bodypack transmitter. In addition to the six EW-DX SKM, there is also a handheld transmitter for guests as well as a spare.

Almost all the vocals are miked with Sennheiser EW-DX SKM handheld transmitters and MMD 945 dynamic microphone heads - shown here: Johnny Strange

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Culcha Candela's equipment includes five space-saving 9.5 EW-DX EM two-channel UHF receivers in the R1-9 frequency range (520 - 608 MHz). Their analogue outputs are connected with an audio splitter to ensure the FOH and monitoring consoles are able to access the microphone signals independently of one another. Two Sennheiser EW-D ASA splitters - cascaded to produce an eight-channel splitter - are connected to ADP-UHF passive directional antennas (470 - 1050 MHz), so that eight channels can be received via the two antennas.

The special features of the new Sennheiser EW-DX series include Intelligent Switching Diversity , which enables antennas to be switched between audio frames - a process that guarantees stable transmission without audible artefacts. Latency, which is always a factor in digital systems, is a mere 1.9 milliseconds, making it imperceptible in practical application. In EW-DX systems, the innovative Sennheiser Performance Audio Codec (SePac) ensures excellent audio transparency from the capsule input to the system output. A switching bandwidth of up to 88 MHz enables the transmission of up to 146 channels in standard mode and up to 293 channels in Link Density mode.

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EW-DX has a latency of just 1.9 ms; Sennheiser's own codec guarantees excellent audio transparency from the capsule input to the system output

Tour world premiere for EW-DX We are the first tour production to go on the road with the brand-new Sennheiser EW-DX systems, reports monitor mixer Yannick Spohr at a tour stop in Cologne, who has been working with Culcha Candela in various roles for some time. I'm absolutely thrilled by our new Sennheiser systems. For example, when dealing with frequency management, one thing that really impressed me is that your hand doesn't seize up during the sync process. With the EW-DX system, synchronisation is really relaxed and is carried out using Bluetooth, which works without any problems at all even at some distance across the stage.

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Spohr is also highly positive about the innovative battery technology of the new EW-DX systems: At the moment, there aren't any matching LM 6070 modules for the L 6000 19 charging station, which is why we are using L 70 USB charging units for the time being, Spohr explains. It's fantastic that the batteries have a life of 11 to 12 hours and I can absolutely rely on the display for the remaining battery life shown in hours and minutes - no comparison with a bar display that is much less accurate. During the show, I always keep an eye on the Wireless Systems Manager. The Sennheiser software continuously shows all relevant parameters, and I don't have to keep bending down to look into the rack.

Yannick Spohr (monitoring): We are the first tour production to go on the road with the brand-new Sennheiser EW-DX systems.

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Sennheiser EW-DX: Absolutely solid For many years now, Culcha Candela have been using in-ear systems from Sennheiser's 2000 series, and even though they have been in operation in countless concerts, they still do their job perfectly. The systems used are EK 2000 IEM, which communicate in the AW+ band (470 - 558 MHz) with four SR 2000 IEM units. For the tour, an additional channel was hired for the percussionist. An A 5000-CP passive antenna with circular polarisation connected to an AC 3000 Active Transmitter Combiner completely covers the large performance area of the stage. Sennheiser shotgun microphones at the front edge of the stage pick up the audience's reactions to the exciting stage show.

Spohr is also highly impressed by the stability of the reception, which for him is one of the many convincing features of the new EW-DX systems: Even in critical RF environments, there are no problems at all with interference or audible dropouts. But we have to make sure that the carrier frequencies are set at a reasonable distance from one another. For the interconnected system, the WSM software, just like in Sennheiser high-end Digital 6000 and Digital 9000 systems, calculates an equidistant grid that works reliably without intermodulation. I'm very familiar with the WSM software, but I haven't yet tried the Sennheiser Smart Assist App or Control Cockpit.

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Spohr confirms that the vocalists and rappers on stage are absolutely delighted with the new digital EW-DX products, especially because they can now wrap their hands around the antennas of the handheld transmitters during their dance moves with no risk of the connection being interrupted. According t

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