Cellular Phones and Wireless Audio

[lindymack]

Has anyone here had a situation in which a cell phone caused interference (noise or a complete blackout) with a wireless microphone?

I was at a concert last night where several obvious audio problems were blamed on audience members who failed to turn off their cell phones. I was not aware that they operated in similar frequencies or could cause such problems. Was this more likely a problem their sound man rather than with cell phones, or is there a documented problem between cell phones and wireless audio equipment?


Thanks.


Lindy

[James Steele]

Has anyone here had a situation in which a cell phone caused interference (noise or a complete blackout) with a wireless microphone?

I was at a concert last night where several obvious audio problems were blamed on audience members who failed to turn off their cell phones. I was not aware that they operated in similar frequencies or could cause such problems. Was this more likely a problem their sound man rather than with cell phones, or is there a documented problem between cell phones and wireless audio equipment?

Sounds like bull to me... but then what do I know? Cell phones are so ubiquitous and have been for so long that it would be ludicrous to have wireless mics operating anywhere near the same frequencies. The can be picked up via inductance... for example if someone who is actually wearing a wireless lavelier also has a cellphone on their person and they receive a call, you might hear that static sort of sound... but it wouldn't knock out transmission.

[EMRR]

We used 600mHz band equipment heavily, and that spectrum has been sold. There was supposed to be something like a 3 year transition period, but T-mobile have moved aggressively to roll out cell transmission in that band, which means there's now a lot of unexpected 'illegal' 600mHz wireless mic equipment in use, which will see interference. That equipment is extremely expensive to replace, and I'm sure many will hang on till the bitter end. We were starting to see several venues we work with almost no clear channels in that range, so have phased that equipment out.

[HCMarkus]

Even in-studio, with no wireless audio equipment in use, some cell phones will cause audible clicking at times. Something to look out for.

[mikehalloran]

Even in-studio, with no wireless audio equipment in use, some cell phones will cause audible clicking at times. Something to look out for.

“My amp must be defective”

“Your iPhone is sitting on top. Turn it off.”

[EMRR]

Ya know what's fun? Having a US wireless mic on a European CEO speaking in the US, with his Euro cell phone going off constantly in his pocket.

It's his voice he's interrupting.....

[Mike M. Murray]

There might be an issue in the amplifier.

[Oleg Vostyakov]

Even in-studio, with no wireless audio equipment in use, some cell phones will cause audible clicking at times. Something to look out for.

Absolutely true! Agree!

[Arnkatla]

Bluetooth will never improve the quality of your sound source, and in the worst case scenario, it can severely decrease the quality. There's no point in sending your high-resolution FLAC files over a Bluetooth system that can only use basic SBC coding.