LD Systems MEI 1000 G2

Chvíli jsem váhal nad koupí tohoto produktu, proto¸e jsem nem?l dobrou zku¨enost s podobným za?ízením v této cenové relaci. To co u podobných produktú pokulhává nejvíc je ru¨ení, silnej ¨um a podobne.

TOTO v¨ak pri tomto produktu ABSENTUJE! Vsechno je ?isté a bez ru¨ení.

Taky oce?uji FOCUS Mód, který umo¸nuje oproti STEREO módu sly¨et vstupní signály z obou kanál? zmixované do obou sluchátek a tento mix je nastavitelný.

Celkové jsem tímto produktem velmi mile prekvapen a mohu jen doporu?it.

I was told by many people, that any wireless in ear divices below 600.- are unusable and not even worth to be tried out.
This is why I decided to run a comparison between the LD Systems MEI 1000 G2 (299.-) and a Sennheiser ew IEM G4 (1'033.-).
Sound Quality:
The Sennheiser has better audio quality and less noise. The LD Systems quality is however enough for my requirements, and the noise is only audible when there is no sound being transmitted and I started to filter it out automatically after a short while.
Wireless IEMs seem to have an inherent issue with very low and very high frequency sounds. In this regards and specifically for bass guitar sound, the LD Systems is lacking. While the sennheiser handles low end better, it is still far from perfect and in essence not three times better than the LD Systems.

Build Quality:
Both senders are encased in a metal housing and have no advantage over one another. The sennheiser body pack has a metal housing as well and semms a lot sturdier than the LD Systems. Both devices have been in use in Live situations and I have dropped the LD Systems a few times already without noticing any subsequent issues. While the sennheiser will probably last longer than the LD Systems I don't think it will outlast it by more than 3 time.

Configurability:
The sennheiser offers more configurability options and a more intuitive menu. But within half an hour of fiddeling more I had the LD Systems setup just as good as the sennheiser.

Quality of Life Features:
The Sennheiser has a sync function to automatically set the body pack to the same frequency as the sender. If you need to change frequencies often, this might be quite nice. In my experience, once you have a good frequency distribution between all your wireless devices, there is seldom a need to change the frequencies.
The LD Systems body pack produces a loud pop when you turn it on. I therefore tend to turn it on before pluggin my head phones in. This is not an issue on the Sennheiser body pack.


Conclusion:
Yes the Sennheiser is better than the LD Systems, but not so much so, that it warrants a 700.- price increase. In my opinion this money is better spent in proper in ear monitoring head phones or devices like the Behringers PM16 Personal Mixers to improve your in ear monitoring sound sound. The LD Systems works for me to perfectly hear all 6 instruments in my (Folk Metal) Band. This is however mostly thanks to my good in ear head phones (Vision Ears Custom Fits) and the channel wise stereo panning I can create on my PM16.

One point in favor of the sennheiser or the slightly less expensive shure devices is their options to manage the frequencies of multiple devices from computer software, that calculated the perfect frequency distribution as well as automaticall avoids frequencies that are already in use (if you have a frequency scanner antenna).
But there are also free tools that will do this for you. The only difference is, that you need to enter the frequencies for each device manually.

Rating:
Assume that the Sennheiser gets a rating of 5 stars across. In terms of sound, the LD Systems is almos as good in the most important category: sound.
In regards to quality, the Sennheiser needs to outlast 3 sequentially bought LD Systems before justifying its price.
Both the lack in handling and features can be overcome by not requiering a plug and play solution and spending maybe an hour more for the initial setup

I use it for LIVE and practice. I'm a vocalist. I used Shure 215's with this, and then later upgraded to JHAudio JHX3X custom IEMs.
Sound quality is OK. Mostly depending on sound isolation of the IEM's used.

Pros (for me):
*Does the job very well. Tested up to 4x units parallel, Most in my band use this model.
*good price to performance ratio.
*Stereo.
*Basic, easy to set up.
*Had no Range or dropout problems. Even reaching far away backstages.
*Never had problems with new or fully charged batteries. Lasts at-least 4h, depending on use. (volume)

Cons:
*When the batteries are low, it makes load unpleasant noise. (But I guess its good that it does not just die). Noise stops when you turn volume down on receiver pack. At that point, has enough juice to finish the song. But the "Warning" noise is terrible.
*Eats basic batteries. Does not come with rechargeables. I bought rechargeable batteries, so each session has fully charged set.
*Plastic receiver. Mine looks like it been dragged behind a car, but it still works.
*I am worried about antenna on receiver, it looks not very sturdy, so I've been looking after it.
* had to hack the mounts and create custom brackets to have two units fit in 1U rack slot. With Brackets provided, can only have one unit per 1U.
* The added earphones do make a sound and can be plugged in. That's about it. Poor sound isolation. But better then nothing in case of emergency.

Overall, after few year of using it, It still works, And I don't feel like upgrading, since I'm not a professional.