New York, NY (November 6, 2023)—Usually the concept of ‘Grab And Go’ applies to picking up coffee or lunch, but for international event provider Creative Technology, it’s how the company’s US arm (CTUS) approaches its wireless audio systems. Given that the US team routinely tackles over 100 events per month—many of which have thousands of attendees—any idea that can make a production simpler and more consistent is worth exploring. It’s because of that CTUS recently assembled and deployed 140 custom wireless microphone kits, each with a Sennheiser EW-DX wireless system at its core, to streamline its approach to audio at US events.
“When I was doing music and touring, I used to say that ‘nothing sobers the mind like the thought of 20,000 people asking for their money back,’” said Philip Barrett, Director of Audio at CT Group. “In the live events space, I would add that it doesn’t matter how beautiful the LED screens are, or how fantastic the lighting looks. If the CEO walks on stage and his mic doesn’t work, that’s all they’re going to talk about.”
While CT’s specialty is staging enterprise-level corporate events, the company also has a significant foothold in the audio, video and lighting services for sporting entertainment and specialty events of all shapes and sizes, working with clients like Google, VMWare, Meta, Microsoft, and others. With fully stocked warehouse offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York, CTUS employs full-service technical event teams, logistics operations and provides on-site support for all of its client events. “I like to say we are the largest sound company you have never heard of,” Barrett says. “In terms of where we operate, we run the gamut and we have to be flexible.”
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Each Creative Technology kit contains a Sennheiser EW-DX receiver, two HSP headset microphones, two ME4 lavalier microphones and two EW-DX SKM-S handheld transmitters, both coupled with MMD 835 capsules. Also included are two EW-DX SK bodypack transmitters as well as an Evolution Wireless Digital charging case. A QR code leading to the instruction manual is printed on inside of each case for the reference of stagehands.
Creative Technology chose Sennheiser’s EW-DX system for their wireless microphone ‘Flight Pack Kits’ based on its low latency (1.9 milliseconds) and an input dynamic range of 134 dB. While in Standard Mode, the EW-DX can handle up to 146 links within its switching bandwidth, and up to 293 frequencies in Link Density Mode. This results in a greater amount of possible transmission frequencies.
“Our goal was to put together kits with everything in one box that our clients might need,” says Barrett. “It was a clean solution for us to package everything in one place so it’s all there and ready to go. We can’t afford to have people looking for disparate components and having to ship them out at 10:00 p.m. on a weeknight. These are very easy to ship and also easy to transport on-location in and around the staging area.”
There were many factors that attracted Barrett to the EW-DX system, such as ease of operation and flexibility of frequency allocation. “Being able to deploy large quantities of systems in close proximity and still have available frequencies is key for us,” he explains. “We work in so many different cities, and the EW-DX works in all of them.”
