In the USA market, Shure has typically been the leader among the trio of Shure, Sennheiser, and Audio Technica( AT) due to America being Shure’ s home market and Shure making industry leading capsules such the legendary SM58 and the innovative KSM9. However, in the past two years, Sennheiser has leapfrogged the other two firms with the introduction of its Spectera WMAS( Wireless Multichannel Audio System) boasting spectrum efficient technology capable of packing many more channels into a given space plus offering bidirectional capabilities for use with IEMs and telemetry data through a separate management channel, all in a single rack unit.
In place of traditional wireless narrow band channel counts, with each needing independent configuration and handling of intermodulation artifacts, WMAS tucks the intermods into the transmitted signals and scales in large segments for arena events while also providing easier deployment in the field.
Shure and AT have their own WMAS products coming onto the market soon, but Sennheiser has clearly taken the lead for now and currently offers complete packages with bodypack transmitters and IEM packs with the promise of handheld stick transmitters coming soon.
WMAS, in its current Sennheiser guise, has 32 channels of input and 32 channels of output configured within a regulatory classification for devices using broadband practices to convey scores of channels at once versus the older technique of one channel per frequency. The physical reduction in components aids in compact rack dimensions and space on the truck for portable system use while the largescale singular approach reduces antenna concerns and set-up effort.
Given the high-end nature of the Spectera product, which is aimed at the professional user, Sennheiser’ s inclusion of eleven audio link modes is logical, given it allow professionals to decide for themselves how much latency is acceptable versus required system performance versus reliability benchmarks. The antennas function as transceiving units, capable of both sending IEM signals and receiving mic signals while the entire system functions within 8MHz and is able to compress down to 6MHz in certain situations. Combiners and splitters, necessary units in traditional wireless rigs, are not needed within the Spectera ecosystem, yet the occurrence of signal dropout due to RF fade is nearly eliminated.
Sennheiser has manufactured a world-beating wireless package with Spectera. It is at once both remarkably advanced and simple to deploy. For live audio professionals constrained simultaneously by shrinking RF bandwidth and increased demand for wireless products, Spectera is a gift of the highest order.
Sennheiser. com
December 2025 Subscribe for Free... 91