Tom Petty
Getty Images
For Super Bowl XLII, which took place on February 3 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Sennheiser provided G2 wireless personal monitor systems for the events’ pre-game and halftime performances.
Freelance RF specialist James Stoffo says that the Sennheiser G2 IEMs performed well despite having to transmit and receive between the side of the field and the stage through a wireless frequency spectrum that included more than 1,000 devices in the RF microphone band. “It was a pretty long throw,” he says. “The band [Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers] was basically out in the middle of the field on the stage and we were around the 15-yard line, on the sideline. It speaks volumes for the integrity of the Sennheiser personal monitors; if they had taken a hit, I would have heard about it. Everybody was happy and there was not one complaint.”
This was Stoffo’s twelfth year coordinating wireless audio equipment at the Super Bowl. “I got to watch the halftime show for the first time,” he adds. “I walked around with Tom Petty’s ear mix and made sure it was fine. Pre-game, I did a little more work, but this was probably the smoothest year I’ve ever done.”
In addition, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers sang through Neumann KMS 150 microphones. Brian Hendry, the longtime monitor engineer for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, comments, “I use the KMS 150 primarily because I can use the highpass filter and the pad on it, which I do on everyone. They’re very, very good sounding mics.
“The Neumann mic has a frequency response and audio signature that make it particularly suited to in-ear use,” Hendry continues, “and works especially well in Petty’s monitor mix. Personal monitors are very studio-like. I find the top-end of that mic so open and breathy, and that’s primarily why I use them. Neumann microphones are really good, high-end, breathy recording mics. You can hear every nuance in the top-end. It really helps me a great deal.”
For more information, visit www.sennheiserusa.com.
