Touring with a Compact Axient Digital ADX5D Two-channel Wireless Receiver

Since 2017, the freelance FOH engineer has been touring the world with Sevdaliza - on tours, festivals and club gigs. In contrast to large-scale acts, Gehrmann’s team needs to travel small and light while still meeting the RF requirements for each tour stop.  The Shure Axient® Digital ADX5D portable dual-channel receiver has proven to meet the tour’s gear needs since it can travel safely and comfortably in carry-on luggage – while still providing the RF and audio quality and reliability of a full rack Axient Digital receiver.

"We were on a club and festival tour in North and South America and had to fly back and forth a lot," Jonas Gehrmann gives insight into the last few months. "When you're on the road, like we are, with a lot of racks and instruments, things do get lost." For Sevdaliza, the microphone - a Shure AD2 handheld transmitter with KSM11 capsule - is the crucial equipment. To avoid taking any risks here, the team sought a solution to carry both the microphone and the wireless equipment in their hand luggage. After a successful demo test at the Lowlands Festival in August, it was clear to Gehrmann that the ADX5D with its advantages was perfect for the tour with Sevdaliza. Since then, he’s carried the ADX5D from show to show in its compact Peli Case, including stops in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, and Chicago.

Originally developed for professional sound engineers in film and broadcast, the Axient® Digital ADX5D dual-channel portable receiver is increasingly finding a place among FOH and monitor engineers in live sound. The ultra-portable wireless receiver is compatible with all AD and ADX series transmitters and offers compelling RF performance, spectrum efficiency and completely transparent sound quality in a mobile slot-in design. "For our way of traveling outside Europe, via plane or train, the ADX5D is the first choice - especially when it comes to single vocals. The setup is very simple: put it down, scan, and done. The handling is almost identical to the big Axient Digital racks and fits seamlessly into the Shure universe."

Jonas Gehrmann also has words of praise for the Shure KSM11 condenser capsule, which Sevdaliza is been using since this year: "Despite great experiences with the KSM9 capsule, that we favored so far, we always had a bit too much of the drummer on her vocal channel due to our very loud drummer. With the KSM11, Sevdaliza has a lot more freedom on stage and can stand near the PA or right next to the drums without any problems. It's almost like she's in her own vocal booth, so we can even do without the plexiglass wall in front of the drums that we used before."

As an ADX5D pioneer in the live and touring field, Jonas Gehrmann has already caused quite a stir among colleagues with the camera receiver: "Most of them first want to know what it is, but are then directly hooked, including our monitor guy, who also uses the ADX5D when there are various cases with 19'' racks around him. The bands that travelled with us on the same plane were also very interested in it. That shows: the need among smaller bands traveling internationally is huge."

In the future, Jonas Gehrmann is also considering the use of the AD610 Diversity ShowLink® access point, in combination with an ADX2 handheld transmitter, to be able to use the ADX5D's advanced remote control and monitoring functions via software and app applications as well. "That would be the full mobile package and the next logical step." Let's see how many other live sound engineers follow Jonas Gehrmann's example and increasingly rely on the advantages of the Shure Axient Digital ADX5D camera receiver in the touring sector in the future ...