Sennheiser’s Spectera wideband wireless ecosystem was recently deployed across British singer-songwriter Sam Ryder’s Road to Wembley tour, taking the platform from small clubs to the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena. The system is designed to provide in-ear monitoring and microphone transmission through a single, compact platform capable of scaling from intimate venues to large arenas.
Monitor engineer Jamie Hickey used one Spectera Base Station, four DAD antennas on two 8 MHz TV channels, and 18 SEK bodypacks across the tour, which ended in October. The setup was complemented by Sennheiser SKM 6000 handheld transmitters and microphones including MD 421 Kompakts, e 904s, e 935s, and MKH 416s.
The compact system aimed to simplify deployment in smaller venues with limited space. Hickey explained that stage layouts often required creative placement of equipment under archways or behind walls, yet the Spectera units were able to maintain reliable coverage in these challenging environments.
By the time the tour reached Wembley Arena, the system was running 13 stereo IEM mixes, six beltpacks used as transmitters, and feeds for nine musicians, plus production and guest mixes. The system is designed to scale for high channel counts while maintaining low latency.
Jamie Hickey, co-founder of integrator Production & Touring, said: “The first thing you notice when using Spectera is the complete lack of background hiss. As soon as you start passing audio through the system, you can’t help but be impressed by the frequency response and stereo image. It’s true stereo in IEMs for the first time, and it sounds really, really good.”
Spectera’s bidirectional capability allows each bodypack to handle both microphone transmission and in-ear monitoring simultaneously.
Hickey added: “This is a game changer. We have one ecosystem that is mics and in-ears. One unit. The latency is so usable, and the flexibility to deploy DSP and RF spectrum is just wild.”
The tour also tested Spectera’s integration with Dante and MADI networks, including a stage performance where a guest guitarist’s signal passed through the system, Dante, and a Kemper Profiling Amp before returning to the mix. Hickey said this setup “was not a problem. Not an issue at all. The Dante implementation is fantastic”.
Hickey concluded: “We had absolutely no problem putting the system through its paces across single or dual RF channels. It works with Dante, it works with MADI, and based on what we’ve seen and discussed, it can only get better. It really is, in the most sincere sense of the word, a total revolution.”
