Pitbull Takes Over Las Vegas With Sennheiser Digital 9000 posted: 31/08/2017
"Pitbull performs at The Axis at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, in an energized show entitled Time of Our Lives. ( Getty Images)"
International superstar Pitbull, a.k.a. Mr. Worldwide, recently settled in at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino for an eight-night limited engagement performing his energized Las Vegas show Time of Our Lives. The high-octane series of performances follows successful Las Vegas tour stops in 2015 and 2016 for the artist, with one difference this time around: Pitbull and his team put their recently acquired Sennheiser Digital 9000 wireless system to work for world-class sound quality and reliability.
A chance to test-drive the Digital 9000 at last year's Summerfest in Milwaukee was enough to convince the multi-million-selling artist and his team of the system and its performance. Monitor engineer Matt Holden recalls the moment at Summerfest last year when he realized Digital 9000 was something special: I was impressed with the sound when I heard it, but what really caught my attention was that for the first time, Pitbull came off the stage after the show and right away wanted to know what microphone we had used!
A New Sound for Mr. Worldwide
The serendipitous experience at Summerfest led the team to begin traveling with a Digital 9000 system immediately thereafter on tour. They stuck with the MD 9235 capsule they had demoed at the festival, noting its clear sound and excellent rejection. It has a really tight pickup pattern on it, so there isn't a lot of ambient noise, Holden explains. The capsule is also super-friendly to the artist's unconventional microphone techniques. Pitbull goes back and forth between cupping the mic and holding it down on the neck. But with the MD 9235 the sonic difference is imperceptible which helps ensure a consistent sound throughout the show.
Front-of-house engineer Will Madera notes how easily the sound of Pitbull's voice sits in the mix while using the MD 9235 through the Digital 9000 system. The microphone system gives body and clear definition to his voice, and it cuts through really well, he says. We've got percussion, drums, keyboards, bass, and backing tracks - all of which are really energetic and loud during the show. But with the Digital 9000, there is no issue and the vocal is right there in front of everything.
"Pitbull's monitor engineer Matt Holden (L) and front-of-house engineer Will Madera (R), beside their newly acquired Sennheiser Digital 9000 system"
Simplicity in Any Environment
For Holden and Madera, the Digital 9000 was easy to set up and integrate into their existing rig. The quality of the wireless and the ability to do the frequency scans internally is amazing, Holden says. You just dial in the lowest noise floor and don't worry about it.
When we go to the larger cities like Dallas or New York, the RF person will be fighting to coordinate 96 channels of wireless. We just fire up the Digital 9000 for our wireless, do a quick scan, drop in our channels and we're done. It takes ten minutes! Set-up is fast and easy, but most importantly, the performance is predictable and stable: Since we have been using this there hasn't been one drop in that microphone at all, Madera says.
Unbreakable Connection
The rock-solid connection between the SKM 9000 transmitter and EM 9046 receiver has given Holden and Madera the ultimate confidence that great audio will continue running through their system no matter where Pitbull's high-octane performances may take him. Before we acquired the Digital 9000, Pitbull's proximity to the stage during performances was always an issue, Holden explains. He would go under the stage, up and down the lifts, up the catwalk, and sometimes all the way to front of house. We would sweat a little bit when he did that on our last system. Now with the D 9000, we can walk the mic all the way to the production office. Such bulletproof reliability has come in extremely useful for the Las Vegas Time of Our Lives mini-residency. Holden and Madera recall challenges of the past, using gear from other manufacturers: This is our fifth time here in Las Vegas, and as everybody knows, it's kind of an RF nightmare, Holden explains. On our other systems, I would have full signal bars and clean frequencies, but we would lose him if he went to certain spots and this meant we were constantly on edge. With this system, I never have to think about it and can instead focus all my energy on his mix and performance.
"View from stage right of Pitbull's Time of Our Lives performances in Las Vegas, beside Matt Holden's monitoring station."
Performance Unburdened
Like Holden, Pitbull thrives on the pristine sound quality and operation of the Digital 9000: If the mix is perfect for Pitbull, he will take the performance to another level, Holden says. He stops thinking about the technical side and gets into the crowd. The difference in performance is very noticeable. Switching over to the Digital 9000 also proved to be the catalyst for him to start using in-ear monitors, which previously he was never 100% happy with sonically. This gives him even more freedom on stage.
Currently, Pitbull has eight channels of the Digital 9000, which are used on vocal microphones, bass guitar, and a djembe. For the bass guitar, the SK 9000 bodypack transmitter provides controls that allowed Madera to work with the bass player to dial in the perfect tone. I love the way the transmitter allows you to load the pickups differently, he says. It delivers a noticeable change in the tone of the bass, so before the run we sat down with the bass player and asked him which setting he liked best.
Sound That Travels
Now that the Time of Our Lives mini
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Pitbull Takes Over Las Vegas With Sennheiser Digital 9000 posted: 31/08/2017 
