Bluetooth and Live Music - Would it work?

[G1]

When playing live my band run samples, click, strobe triggers and kick trigger all from the laptop out to the desk and headphones for the drummer.

Because of using wired headphones and not having the budget for a wireless pack w/ custom inears for the drummer we are having to set up the gear as close to the drummer as possible, which im sure you can imagen is less than ideal when it comes to wanting quick setup times.

My idea to solve this is as follows;

Laptop > Bluetooth unit > Drummers bluetooth headphones

This would allow for one wire and a fair bit of hassle to be cut from the set up time...the only thing i cant find any information about is if bluetooth incurs latency between the sending unit and the receiving unit.

Im hoping that if it does its something i'll be able to offset at the DAW with relative ease as we desperately need a cost effective way of sending the click to the drummer without using wired headphones.

What do you reckon chaps ?

 

[pitoga]

It might work, actually where I studied AE someone made a wireless mixer with build in effects and stuff via Bluetooth, and it actually worked great. There was the Unit with the mic inputs on stage and the guy would sit with a laptop in the public and control it. But there was one problem that might make it unusable for some cases. It took only one person to stand in front and the whole system would disconnect. They actually made it so that if that happens the mixer worked with the latest settings so no BIG deal. But in your case you might have problems if something gets in the way.

 

[arv_foh]

I am pretty sure that most bluetooth headphones have some latency, I used a pair once trying to watch a movie and it was terrible because the audio was quite severely out of sync with the video

 

[JonWormwood]

Your drummer doesn't control the computer? We have all of that but theres a rack that sits next to the drummer.

 

[G1]

Your drummer doesn't control the computer? We have all of that but theres a rack that sits next to the drummer.

No, the idea is that we hit play and then dont have to touch the laptop again until the end of the set.

 

[G1]

I am pretty sure that most bluetooth headphones have some latency, I used a pair once trying to watch a movie and it was terrible because the audio was quite severely out of sync with the video

ah man if thats so that sucks. if there is latency do you think i could get around this by working with some some latency delay compensation software so that in theory when everything plays, it should be in time.

 

[DanLights]

No, the idea is that we hit play and then dont have to touch the laptop again until the end of the set.

so you even have the inbetween song pauses calculated or what?

 

[G1]

so you even have the inbetween song pauses calculated or what?

between songs we have interludes and samples playing

 

[arv_foh]

ah man if thats so that sucks. if there is latency do you think i could get around this by working with some some latency delay compensation software so that in theory when everything plays, it should be in time.

You could try it but I think it would be difficult to get right without knowing exactly how much latency is induced by bluetooth. Plus you have to deal with the possibility that bluetooth could drop out during a show, which would be catastrophic

I think a wireless IEM system would be your best bet. Shure PSM series starts at 300ish

 

[006]

Why not just get a a long ass cable for the headphones?

 

[Skaldir]

No, the idea is that we hit play and then dont have to touch the laptop again until the end of the set.

I would atleast make a stop after the first song, in case some of the musicians needs changes in the monitoring. Some time to sort that out atleast

 

[G1]

Why not just get a a long ass cable for the headphones?

that in my eyes is a short term solution and limits where the rack unit case can be on stage. If we where only playing small stages then this would be my first thought but im taking future performances into consideration.

 

[006]

I don't know how a 30-50ft cable could limit where the rack could be but allllllright



Sounds like that would at least be a good enough solution until you guys could afford a real/decent wireless setup for the drummer. *shrug*

 

[G1]

I don't know how a 30-50ft cable could limit where the rack could be but allllllright



Sounds like that would at least be a good enough solution until you guys could afford a real/decent wireless setup for the drummer. *shrug*

Of course, i just think that the idea of a 30ft cable going all over the shop could be a potential nightmare.

 

[DanLights]

Of course, i just think that the idea of a 30ft cable going all over the shop could be a potential nightmare.

It's just one cable, like in a show you don't already have tons of them all round the floor, if it's long enough you could tape it to the floor and keep it not obstructing in any way. I think it's a great idea until you can just buy some wireless IEMs which is obviously the "real" solution

 

[Benny H]

Where exactly do you want to set the gear up? Personally I need some convincing that it's not already in the appropriate place at the back of the stage, out of the way and where the leader of the band is nearest to it.

 

[G1]

Where exactly do you want to set the gear up? Personally I need some convincing that it's not already in the appropriate place at the back of the stage, out of the way and where the leader of the band is nearest to it.

The rack holds the following equipment:
Laptop
Power conditioner
Sound card (2626)
x2 Axe fx ultras
Ampeg SVT3
and a power amp for the axfx's

The idea is for the unit to be next to my cab as im band leader currently.
the only issue is the distance between the unit and the drummers headphones.
This distance varies and changes which can lead to limiting where the unit can be placed with how long the cable is currently.

Getting a longer cable is the cheapest and the quickest solution but that doesn't mean it isnt going to cause more nightmares when it comes to packing away cables at the end of a show. The point of everything in one rack is to have a quick load and unload time. Adding more long cables into the equation just adds minutes to the load time. This is why i enquired as to if bluetooth was something I could explore as it'd just simply be a matter of pairing the unit to the headphones and not having to worry about another cable getting lost, tangled or in the way. If it means that the bluetooth unit adds latency then obviously this isn't a route that I can go down as it's just more shit to fuck around with in order to get around the latency.

Is there anything i have forgotten or missed.. or should i really just embrace the world of cables and put up with it?

 

[DanLights]

Well unless I'm mistaken it's only one cable for the headphones so I don't see that becoming a nightmare, but I do understand the whole loading time thing, so it's your call. Honestly, after trying alternatives I think there's no cheap way out of buying a wireless in ear monitoring set, except of course, buying a cheap in-ear monitoring set, which can be quite dangerous if not carefully studied

 

[G1]

Well unless I'm mistaken it's only one cable for the headphones so I don't see that becoming a nightmare, but I do understand the whole loading time thing, so it's your call. Honestly, after trying alternatives I think there's no cheap way out of buying a wireless in ear monitoring set, except of course, buying a cheap in-ear monitoring set, which can be quite dangerous if not carefully studied

Sorry i havent explained that we run stereo XLRS from the sound card as well as cables to our lighting right and for the kick.

The long cable will have to do =[

How expensive are good (not great,amazing) In ear monitoring kits these days ?

 

[nwright]

Sorry i havent explained that we run stereo XLRS from the sound card as well as cables to our lighting right and for the kick.

The long cable will have to do =[

How expensive are good (not great,amazing) In ear monitoring kits these days ?

I still say plan on 300 for a decent single unit, 500 if you are looking for a IEM set that can send to several receivers.

Although, I have thought about trying out the el cheapo Nady units, which for around 225 would allow 2 people to have receivers (bodypacks) with 1 transmitter (rack unit).

My band is currently going through the same thing. Now that we are writing more technical and faster material, we need IEM for click tracks and whatnot. on a loud stage with bad monitoring, hoping to hear clear kicks and blastbeats at 230bpm is proving to be difficult.