Sometimes, it really is necessary to re-invent the wheel. At ISE 2015, Sennheiser has unveiled SpeechLine Digital Wireless, the world’s first wireless digital microphone to be designed exclusively for speech applications. During the development process, Sennheiser consulted users, technicians and integrators, carried out its own research and applied its many years of audio expertise to design a completely new system that combines the key requirements of wireless speech microphones: SpeechLine Digital Wireless.
“Our aim was to develop the first microphone to be optimally designed for the spoken word and public speaking,” explained Kai Tossing, Portfolio Manager at Sennheiser Business Communication. “Therefore, we wanted to know exactly which features are the most important, not only for users but also for technicians and decision-makers, and we needed to find out what their special requirements are when it comes speech applications.”
The specialists at Sennheiser held detailed discussions with the focus groups and carried out intensive research. Their findings: the most important requirements placed on microphones for speech applications are easy installation and operation, a high level of reliability and future-proof technology. “In order to meet the needs of our customers, our engineers developed a completely new wireless microphone from scratch,” said Kai Tossing. Installation, operation and adjustment are easier than those of any other microphone. Once the microphone has been configured, users do not require any audio know-how – it is already built-in. This enables speakers to focus entirely on their speech during meetings, lectures or presentations instead of having to think about the microphone they are using.
Experience simplicity
The microphone also makes the technician’s job easier during the set-up process. SpeechLine Digital Wireless has an Automatic Frequency Management feature that automatically searches for free frequencies on-site, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming frequency planning in advance.
Integrated Audio Level Management automatically adapts the system to the application scenario and the speaker. As a result, the system ensures optimum speech intelligibility at all times. What is more, network integration enables the system status to be remote controlled and monitored at a glance at any time using the special app “Wireless System Remote” (WSR), AMX or Crestron – for example to show the current reception quality or the battery’s state of charge.
100 percent reliable
In order to ensure stable and high-quality wireless transmission at all times during a speech or presentation, Sennheiser’s developers attached great importance to the aspect of reliability. If wireless transmission is disturbed, Automatic Interference Management automatically and seamlessly switches the system to an alternative free frequency. The lithium-ion battery technology used in SpeechLine Digital Wireless provides a battery life of more than 15 hours. In addition to various flexible charging possibilities, the battery can also be conveniently recharged via USB if required, making it much easier to arrange several consecutive lectures. Optimum speech intelligibility is guaranteed at all times by various selectable sound profiles and sound processing algorithms, such as presets for bass-intensive male voices or high female voices.
Equipped for the future
Thanks to the system’s advanced 256-bit AES encryption, users can benefit from wireless communication at any time with maximum security. The system operates in the license-free, future-proof 1.9 GHz frequency band, and no registration is required.
SpeechLine Digital Wireless is available as a handheld or Lavalier microphone or as a headset. All three sets include a mobile transmitter unit – a handheld or a bodypack system, a battery as well as a receiver station that can easily be integrated.
The SpeechLine Digital Wireless sets and the app “Wireless System Remote” (WSR) will be available from June 2015 and also introduced at InfoComm 2015.
About Sennheiser
The Sennheiser Group based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, was founded in 1945 and has gone on to become a leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Sales in 2013 totaled 590.4 million euros. Sennheiser employs more than 2,500 staff worldwide and operates plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The company has a worldwide network of subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hongkong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, and the USA. It also has long-established trading partners in other countries. Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin, a maker of studio microphones and monitor speakers, and Sennheiser Communications A/S, a joint venture making headsets for PCs, offices and call centers, are also part of the Sennheiser Group.
More up-to-date information about Sennheiser is available on the internet at www.sennheiser.com.