AKG WMS40 Mini wireless

I'm always skeptical when I see gear with an insanely low price tag, kind of that "too good to be true feeling"; but I've seen almost nothing but good reviews on this thing, and it also costs nothing - ~100€ for a wireless is peanuts, if it's good! And, the transmitter can run up to 30hrs on a SINGLE AA battery!! :shock:

Also saw a demo where a dude goes to his basement with it and it only hisses a little. I doubt I'll be having that many walls between me and my amp live :lol:

The only thing that worries me a little is the "plastic-ness" of the whole unit, but transmitter and receiver; looks as if it would break if I jumped too hard on stage :? Even though I saw a review video where the uploader commented that he dropped it twice off a halfstack onto a concrete basement floor and it still works.

I'm the first person to say "buy cheap buy twice" but that's mostly when folks mention knock-offs and such... this thing seems legit on its own.

I know the Sennheiser FreePort got some love and is also cheap and well reviewed, but has anyone had any experience with these units? Like I said, it just seems too perfect to be true.

http://www.akg.com/WMS40+MINI-840.html?pid=1398

Here's the demo I mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-1mvrhuH-w

Screw it, I made an exception to my "try before buy" doctrine and bought one today. I'm digging it so far!

Here's an in-depth review.

FEATURES:
The body-pack is small, like REALLY small (lives up to it's name!). It's the size of a trackpad on your average laptop, or a bit narrower than your average sticky-note, and it weighs nothing. It has a handy OFF-MUTE-ON switch, an internal gain trimpot, small, inobtrusive antenna. The cable connects to the body-pack using a mini-XLR connection. Very sturdy clip as well.
The receiver is also small and VERY well built for a 110€ unit, sturdy, no wobbly buttons or cheap plastic. It has an "RF OK" signal light that indicates if the transmitter is on, an "AF CLIP" clipping indicator and a volume pot. The LEDs are a bit dim-ish, but still bright enough to see in the dark and I assume on stage as well. The AC adapter, AA battery and cable are supplied, thank god.
The cable is my first gripe. It's just plain crap. One of those cheapo, thin cables that you get supplied with entry-level SS practice amps. Needless to say it makes unpleasant hissy noises if you wiggle it hard or anything like that - though thankfully, moving around and doing stage antic crap doesn't trigger this if you run the cable through the strap so it stays put. I will replace it ASAP though. To be fair, I have checked out other wireless units in the lower price range and they all seem to include this kind of cheap **** cable.
AKG claims the receiver can, as I've already stated, last 30hrs (!!!) with one AA battery. Fukk 30 hrs I'm glad it runs on AA batteries, 9Vs aren't cheap! If you have a 1-hour gig per week, one battery can potentially last you for over half a year; but we'll see how that goes.
The last drawback is that this unit only operates on one frequency, meaning that if there are several wireless in the venue, or if it starts picking up something, you might have trouble.

SOUND:
Before I set the volume and gain, it was robbing me of some drive and fullness on OD tones. After diming the volume and setting the gain so clipping is almost non existent (unless you really slam the strings which doesn't happen that often), I can't say for sure that I can tell the difference. I attribute what I hear to placebo, but it seems as though the tone is just a tiny bit more whimpy than with a cable. However, because the cable going from guitar to transmitter is complete ****, that might be the issue - I'm the last person to say cables make a difference, but IMO there IS a difference between really crap and good cables. So I'll probably make my own cable and keep the supplied one as spare.
I've also done some recording to verify if there's indeed a difference and if there is, it's completely negligible. Like I said, I might think I hear it. Mind you I did make the clips before I dimed the volume (but after I set the gain) so if I did them again there would probably be no audible difference at all.

OPERATION:
The unit is laughably easy to use, literally plug and play. Dime the volume, use a pick/screwdriver to set the internal trimpot, turn the things on (remember to connect a frigging cable from the receiver to the amp, not like me :lol: ) and off you go.

And man can you ever GO! I turned on Cubase, hit record and walked around the apartment building. There are 4 floors+basement and there is no ground level, so my room is sort of on the "3rd" floor. I had signal ALL. THE TIME. Are you comprehending this? I went down 4 floors from my room, so there were at least 3 flights of concrete stairs and 4 ceilings between me and the receiver and I was getting signal no problem - it only choked briefly once or twice in the basement.

So, to sum up:
LIKEY:
- price/performance ratio through the roof, but nonetheless a quality built unit
- very small, compact, lightweight
- no tone colouration that I can detect; or if there is any, it is negligible in a live situation
- easy to use... nope, easier to use than "easy to use"... nah, even easier
- great range
- comes with everything supplied
- (advertised) insane battery life (will report back on the truthfulness of this claim), and ability to run on AA batteries

NOT LIKEY SO MUCH:
- that mega über shitty cheapass cable that is supplied
- it has only one frequency which might be problematic in a given situation

Recommend to: anyone looking for a dirt cheap but extremely good small wireless. Maximum, borderline overkill bang for buck.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go play guitar on the balcony 8)

:lol: Well, 2 days to decide - that didn't take long!

Great review. I like that you're aware of/up-front honest about the placebo effect and confirmation bias when it comes to what you *think* you hear, etc. I've been thinking of getting a wireless, not because I jump around like a maniac on stage, but just for the freedom of movement and the ability to walk to the FOH during set-up to check sound. The only problem I can see is that I would have to put the receiver on the floor next to the board because there's no space on the board. Minor details.

Sounds like you found a winner, so I may have to check one out for myself.

Cheers!

UPDATE: tried it at rehearsal, works great. I did have slight feedback but that was my fault since I was standing too close to the receiver (the manual recommends a minimal distance of 3-5m). Our bassist and other guitarist liked it as well and I will be getting another, AKG WMS40 Mini Dual, for them.

Seems they sell 3 different frequencies, ISM1/2/3 or US 45 A/B/C. The singular unit comes in all 3 variants, the Dual unit has the 2 higher frequencies, ISM2 and ISM3 or US 45 B and US 45 C. So using a single and a dual AKG WMS40 unit enables you to have 3 different frequencies altogether. Perfect for a rock band if you ask me!

One slight correction to my review - the receiver is NOT plastic, it's made of some kind of metal. It does have a plastic faceplate, however. The cable is sadly still crap :lol:

Great review, well done Jackie!

I also use an AKG WMS40 Pro Flexx system with great results....


I trashed the crappy cables and made me some better ones with Sommer Cable (SC "Goblin") and HiCon ends - BIG difference!


Rock on!