Shure Axient Wireless Management Network used for the 47th Montreux Jazz Festival

Flagship wireless microphone system inspires confidence  and provides stellar audio performance 

This year’s Montreux Jazz Festival took place from July 5 – 20 and  hosted a galaxy of famous artists from all around globe, including Green  Day, ZZ Top, The Hives, Prince and Sting, to name just a few. As in the  past years, Shure was an official Technical Partner of the festival and  responsible for all microphones, in-ear monitoring and wireless systems  for the 16 different stages and locations. For the main stage in the  Auditorium Stravinski, the Axient Wireless Management Network was the  system of choice delivering flawless, interference-free performance.

Over 1.500 single Shure products were in use at the 47thJazz Festival  including 18 channels Axient, 50 channels UHF-R, 22 channels PSM 1000,  four channels PSM 900, and eight channels ULX-D.  

James Drake, sound engineer responsible for the microphones and  wireless systems on the Stravinski stage, was impressed by the extensive  feature set and sound quality delivered by the Axient system.

“By far the top of the list of my favourite features is the spectrum  scanning and management. During one show we experienced interference  from a rogue transmitter but the performance was not affected in any  way. Changing frequencies on the receiver and simultaneously on the  transmitter is super quick. The fact that the scanner holds a list of  spare frequencies to switch to is very comforting.” says Drake.

“What I would say is that the goal is for wireless to be transparent.  The closer wireless mics get to the sound of wired mics, the closer we  get to achieving this goal.” explains Drake."We work with many different  touring engineers, we are in constant radio communication with the  recording truck, and nobody questions the sound quality of the Axient  system. Using the KSM9 for vocals is often requested and pairing this  capsule with the Axient wireless offers the best possible combination."

The touring-grade rechargeable Li-Ion batteries and chargers deployed  by Axient deliver real-time intelligence about power levels and  charging histories. “The batteries are fantastic. First time that I am  happy to go rechargeable and not ask for bulk boxes of ProCell.” adds  Drake.

One of this year’s festival highlights was the performances of Prince  on the nights of July 13 – 15 where he played two of the concerts with a  big band. For these shows the production crew used all 18 channels of  Axient and they performed without a hitch.

“By having the best tools available to do the job our level of  confidence is higher, and so the general vibe on stage is just better.”  mentions Drake. “The experience working with Axient was 100% positive;  this is how wireless should work. I wish I could use the Axient system  for every wireless gig.”