Jay Ashworth
Well-Known Member
Set up a new install of this for one of my theatres yesterday. (It's not completely installed; their sound contractor is reworking some the 2-wire install in the big theatre, to which it will attach, but it's configured and working.)
Some thoughts.
The things I'm not happy about could be fixed in firmware, mostly, if they were inclined to try.
Except the price. They can't fix the price in firmware.
The base is about 5 grand, each pack about $1300, and the transceiver about $1400.
Anyone else using FS-II? What do you think?
Some thoughts.
- I like it. I can see -- even though they don't have any of the much larger HME digital matrix systems to which it knows how to attach -- how flexible it can be programmed to be. Yet it comes out of the box set up as a 2 channel partyline with call buttons; all you have to do is pair the packs to the base, and you're going.
- The documentation is weak. I had a problem, right out of the box (good audio/call wired->wireless, no audio wireless<-wired), and I ended up having to call and fight their phone tree to get to the Right Guy (whose name and number I will provide to anyone who needs it.
- The root cause of my problem just above is that all the front panel volume controls have a push-to-mute feature (which is useful, but not in basic installs, probably, and should be lockable to 'off' in the firmware, which it is not) -- and that mute defaults to *on*. On the *main volume knob*. Yeah; that'd do it. :-} Found it, clicked it, working fine after. But it's not documented in the manual, which is just uniformly weak. And the support guy didn't realize it, either.
- When programming the packs -- which you can do from their CCM web interface on the base station -- you get to set up as many "roles" as you like, each with a specific collection of channel assignments, keymaps and the like. So you'd expect to set up one for standard packs, one for your alternate black-box, and a god-mic capable one, maybe, right? No: they're not "roles" -- each can only be assigned to one pack at powerup; they're "setups", and you need one for each pack you have. And I'm not sure you can lock them to a physical pack address, yet.
- Audio is good (1.9GHz, presumably DECT, version, in a building with a T-Mobile cell on the room); latency is *impressive*; 5-10ms max.
- Range is pretty impressive. We put our transceiver on our FOH bridge, about 60ft above grade, and could hit it from all the way in the outside corner of our first-floor blackbox, at least 100ft and 3 walls away. You can have 2 radios, and you can pair multiple bases as well on one system.
- Packs have 4 buttons; you can actually put 4 separate channels on that if you're willing to give up call buttons. By extension to this, any channel button can control only talk, or also listen, so that you can limit what you hear in complex systems.
The things I'm not happy about could be fixed in firmware, mostly, if they were inclined to try.
Except the price. They can't fix the price in firmware.
The base is about 5 grand, each pack about $1300, and the transceiver about $1400.
Anyone else using FS-II? What do you think?
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