London’s Royal College of Physicians is the first professional body to adopt Sennheiser’s new SpeechLine Digital Wireless system, having purchased 34 channels to replace its existing radio mic system and to increase the number of available channels.
The RCP Meetings and Events department operates the conference and events arm of the Royal College of Physicians. The venue itself is an award-winning conference and events centre in an unique Grade 1 listed modernist building, designed by Sir Denys Lasdun.
Accommodating audiences of between ten and 400 people, it is well suited to a wide variety of events, both medical and non-medical, as well as hosting functions ranging from large international conferences to private dinners and garden parties in its medicinal garden, which contains more than 2,000 medicinal plants from around the world.
For its audio system, ten channels (six lapels and four handheld mics) have been provided by A/V system integrator Zavi Ltd in the Wolfson Theatre, and eight channels (six lapels and two handhelds) have been installed in the Seligman Theatre. The remaining 16 channels have been put into flightcases for use around the building where required.
SpeechLine Digital Wireless draws on Sennheiser’s research and extensive consultation with users, technicians and integrators to meet the demand for a wireless microphone purely dedicated to speech. It launch earlier in 2016 saw a range of capabilities showcased, enabling simultaneous, multi-room use of multiple SpeechLine systems, alongside Dante support for IP network operation and management via Sennheiser Control Cockpit software.
The RCP team chose the SpeechLine Digital Wireless system for its audio quality and because it used DECT technology rather than traditional RF, which has become increasingly difficult to manage as competition for frequencies has intensified in Central London at a time when the Government has been selling off more of the spectrum.
The pairing function and some of the additional analytics are also seen as being helpful to how the microphones are managed in a very dynamic meeting environment, where a lot of the systems will be used in different configurations in various spaces during a single working day. Previously, having to calculate which frequency groups would work best, with the least inter-modulation, was time consuming and difficult to schedule.
‘When we were looking to replace our existing radio microphone systems, our criteria were: excellent audio quality and intelligibility of the spoken word; as consistent performance as possible regardless of location within our meeting spaces; as little interference as possible; and a simplicity of set-up and use that allowed for intensive use across a complex schedule of events,’ says RCP Technical and A/V Manager, Ben Pain.
‘The SpeechLine Digital Wireless system has delivered exceptional results in all four of our criteria. The whole A/V team are really enjoying using them and the comments from our clients have been completely positive.’
More: www.sennheiser.com
