The good news is that the star herself really likes the sound and the feel of the world's classiest radio microphone. Rod Matheson (monitor engineer) and Chris Pyne (FOH), both long serving Minogue crew members, having evaluated the mic decided she should try it out and report she is extremely pleased with it. "We were looking for something more aesthetically pleasing, that looked more in keeping with the futuristic stage set and that looked less cumbersome for her," explains Rod. "So we were extremely interested when Sennheiser UK brought it along to the rehearsals. We tested it and really liked it and Kylie is really pleased with it. She really likes the fit of it in her hand and loves the sound of it."

In performance terms both Rod and Chris are in no doubt as to the microphones superiority. "I run it pretty flat for her into the in-ears. It's really smooth, right through the frequency range; there is an incredible linearity to the sound," continues Rod. "I like the bottom end response being really warm and the Sennheiser RF really transmits that sound quality from the capsule. Also there is very good feedback rejection as well as great sound quality. Kylie walks out along a huge catwalk during the show, right out in front of the PA and the mic copes with it."

Front of house, the improvements are just as obvious for Chris Pyne: "My first impression was that it was incredibly smooth. A lot of RF systems we've used in the past have had frequency boosts in places that are not particularly good for Kylie – she's got a vocal power band around the 1 to 3 kHz mark and a smooth capsule like this really helps with that. The overall sound quality is considerably better than what we've been used to." Chris also comments very favourably on the Sennheiser RF quality. "The RF seems to be considerably more sophisticated than other systems; it has none of that processing edge to the sound that is so often apparent with wireless microphones."

The original call to Sennheiser – at the behest of sound hire company for the tour, Capital Sound – was in respect of problems with Kylie's in-ear monitors. Sennheiser UK answered the call with its EW 300 series IEM system. Rod is as enthusiastic about these as he is about the microphone. "They are really good. The stereo imaging is just way ahead of anything else on the market. With no limiting or other processing going on in the signal path, they are very clean and again the RF is solid; I haven't had a single drop out on the whole tour. Between the new mic and the in-ears, the improvement in performance has made my life a lot easier, I'm not spending all my down time searching for holes in the RF.

"I don't see how I could ever go back to the 'old world' of the previous set up, I'm going to have to spec the Sennheiser Neumann mic and in-ear combination every time now."


For further information:

Sally Milne
SENNHEISER UK LTD
smilne@sennheiser.co.uk
tel: 01494 551 551

www.sennheiser.co.uk