Sennheiser wireless passes Super Bowl acid test

Sennheiser wireless systems have successfully showcased their product in front of an estimated audience of 132 million people.
Sennheiser were used by many agencies to provide the sound for Super Bowl XXXVI – which turned out to be the fifth most viewed television programme in history.
James Stoffo of Professional Wireless used 10 Sennheiser SKM 5000 microphone/transmitters and two Sennheiser EM 1046 eight-channel receiver racks for the pre-game and half-time entertainment. A veteran of seven Super Bowls, Stoffo has successfully negotiated the event's thick RF bramble before and swears by his Sennheiser rig to get the job done.
Before the big day, U2s staff – who were to perform the entertainment – approached Stoffo to insist that they use their own wireless system. However, while Stoffo's Sennheiser wireless system had passed rigorous pre-show tests earlier, U2's wireless system failed. Stoffo reported the results to the co-ordinating audio company, ATK AudioTek Corp., who insisted the Sennheiser rig be used.
An NFL official logged each frequency, ensuring that broadcasters did not invade each other's signal. Nevertheless, the potential for intermodulation problems or stray signals placed unusually high demands on wireless performance.
"The Sennheiser receivers have two signal strength bar graphs, and you may as well paint two red lines there because they're always pegged," Stoffo said.
Stoffo also attended the Latin American Music Awards later that day with the same Sennheiser equipment, which went off without a wireless hitch.
Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is the acknowledged world leader in microphone technology, RF-wireless and infrared sound transmission, headphone transducer technology, and most recently, in the development of active noise-cancellation.
(GMcG)