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LIVE!

March - April 2015

is very short, and the durability of the
rechargeable lithium-ion batt eries is a lot
bett er than that of ordinary AA batt eries.
Also, it can someti mes be diffi cult to
purchase large quanti ti es of batt eries at
tour stops in citi es we don't know well. The
rechargeable batt eries are not only hassle-
free, but also a great ti me and cost saver.”

PSM1000 Personal Monitor System in Acti on
Sammi Cheng’s concerts include extensive
choreography, even involving elevati ng stage
elements which rise up to great heights
during the concert. This makes reliable
transmission very important and it’s criti cal
to ensure clear monitoring for performers at
all ti mes.

Frankie commented: “We haven’t been
worried about dropouts at all while we’re
using the PSM1000 Personal Monitor System
and its Diversity Bodypack Receivers. Each
bodypack carries two separate antennas,
so even if the wireless signal becomes
poor or noisy on one antenna, the second
antenna simply takes over the recepti on.
This feature signifi cantly boost signal quality
and automati cally resolves any kind of
interference issues. With PSM1000, the
performers haven’t reported any recepti on
problems, which used to be a frequent
occurrence in the past.”

PSM1000's CueMode is another feature well-
liked by the monitoring engineers. It allows
them to use a single bodypack receiver to
monitor up to 20 diff erent mixes. Frankie
refl ected on his experience at the Hong Kong
Coliseum: "During the show, the engineer
has to pay att enti on to the mixing console,

what the guest performers are listening to,

Sammi’s mix, and so on. I think CueMode

makes audio monitoring much easier because

the engineer can select which output he

wants to listen to by simply changing the

channel on his bodypack, without having

to take off his headphones. This is a real

breakthrough.”

The RF mute functi on is another useful tool

for the concert's preliminary calibrati ons

during rehearsals. It allows the monitoring

engineer to mute the singer's earphones and

set up the equipment without irritati ng the

singer.

Same as the Axient system, the PSM1000 also

runs on rechargeable batt eries. Actual use

showed that the SB900 smart rechargeable

lithium-ion batt ery can run conti nuously for

10 hours. This is far more than the 6-hour

performance of ordinary AA batt eries.

Details such as the batt ery service life and

charging cycle can also be tracked with

greater precision, providing more accurate

informati on for the user and giving additi onal

confi dence in the whole system’s reliability.

Wireless System Audio Quality

Sammi Cheng uses one headworn as well

as two wireless handheld microphones

on her tour, including a custom red,

Swarovski crystalized handheld microphone

to complement her diff erent outf its and

glamorous performances.

The handheld transmitt ers were fi tt ed with

a KSM9HS premium condenser microphone

cartridge capable of capturing the slightest

vocal nuances. It can be confi gured with

hypercardioid and subcardioid pick-up

patt ern, making it parti cularly well-suited

for live concerts. "For a concert at a locati on

like the Hong Kong Coliseum, where

the stage is in the center of the venue, I

normally wouldn’t even consider giving the

performer a condenser microphone, due

to its sensiti vity and the sheer amount of

audio feedback that would be generated,”

commented Frankie. “The directi onal

performance of condenser microphones

isn’t usually that good so they pick up a lot

of environmental noise. I was very surprised

by the KSM9HS however. The sound was a

lot clearer than any other condenser vocal

microphones I've used in the past.”

As for the sound quality of the PSM1000

Monitor System, Frankie did his own

comparison and found the following: "We

compared the sound from the PSM1000

with the source and I must admit that the

sound transmitt ed and received through the

wireless monitoring system was basically

identi cal to the source. When you match

PSM1000 with the SE846 Sound Isolati ng

Earphones, the quality is so good, it’s like

wearing a set of very large studio monitoring

headphones.

Building on the great success of the fi rst

stop of Sammi Cheng’s concert tour, the Pop

Diva is now looking forward to conti nuing

her Touch Mi World Tour with many more

exciti ng performances in China, Taiwan,

Singapore, and Malaysia in the coming

months, backed by the great support of

her sound engineer Frankie Hung and

Shure Wireless Microphone and Personal

Monitoring Systems.

http://www.shure.com

“The directi onal performance of condenser microphones

isn’t usually that good so they pick up a lot of

environmental noise. I was very surprised by the KSM9HS

however. The sound was a lot clearer than any other

condenser vocal microphones I've used in the past.”

• Frankie Hung.