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CPM FirstLook
GALAXY AUDIO
AS-1800 Any Spot Wireless
Personal Monitor
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One of the biggest complaints I hear from
church pastors has to do with overwhelming
volume bleeding from the stage. Drums,
electric guitars and floor monitors are the
culprits. They can leave the poor sound guy as
frustrated as the pastor.
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CPM MARCH 2015
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churchproduction.com
One solution involves personal monitor
mixers, which can help the stationary guys,
like the keyboard player. But being tethered
to a mixer when you’re a worship leader or
vocalist is just no fun and that’s how mixers
get broken...I know.
Adding wireless in-ear monitors (IEMs) to
the system allows users (musicians, singers,
presenters etc) to roam the room. However,
if your church is anything like mine --- when
it was built someone forgot to plant the tree
that blooms with 100 dollar bills each Spring.
Dropping $30,000 on a rack of big name
wireless in-ears just isn’t going to happen. So
are you out of luck? Absolutely not.
THE UNIT HAS 640 SELECTABLE FREQUENCIES
IN 32 SELECTABLE CHANNELS, REDUCING THE POTENTIAL FOR
OVERCROWDING AND INTERFERENCE.
REVIEWER / SHAUN MILLER
Galaxy Audio recently introduced the AS-1800
Any Spot Wireless Personal Monitor (List
Price: $1,077.98). Operating in the UHF
range, the system I received worked between
554 MHz and 570 MHz, which is a bonus due
to all the impending doom associated with the
FCC and the 600 MHz band. The unit has 640
selectable frequencies in 32 selectable channels - reducing the potential for overcrowding
and interference.
The transmitter is a single-space rackable
unit. Rack ears are included in the box. Nice
touch. With a rear-mounted single antenna,
the transmitter can operate in two power
settings depending on your needs. The default
setting is 30 milliwatts. But if you need more
power, a simple flip of the toggle switch and
the transmitter broadcasts at 100 milliwatts.
On the back, audio connections are pretty
straight-forward with the combo jacks allowing
for either ¼-inch inputs or XLR depending on
what device you’re feeding it from. There is
also a pair of ¼-inch thru jacks that one might
find useful if you need that signal elsewhere.
The front panel has an LCD display and front
headphone jack – something I wound up using
more often than I thought I would. Being able to
FIRST LOOK
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PRODUCT
PHONE
URL
MSRP
GALAXY AUDIO AS-1800 Any Spot Wireless Personal Monitor
(316) 263-2852
www.galaxyaudio.com
$1,077.98
plug in headphones at the transmitter is nice when helping a vocalist or band member dial
in their mix or just troubleshooting signal flow.
The AS-1800 body pack receiver is metal and feels quite durable. No doubt it will be
dropped numerous times during its operating life, so the metal box should extend the
life of the internal electronics and keep connectors from getting dislodged or crushed.
The AS-1800 receiver is a dual-antenna receiver designed to provide for a longer transmission distance. Galaxy’s lower priced AS-900 (List: $259.00) and AS-1000 (List Price:
$559.99) are single-antenna versions. The manual claims 300 feet for the AS-1800.
While I couldn’t verify that claim, I was able to walk our entire 80 x 40-foot stage with no
dropouts of interference.
The front display on the AS-1800 receiver shows the frequency and battery level. I used
the two included AA batteries and as I write this I am on hour number five with them. Still
going strong. Their website claims seven hours of battery life. Overall, the receiver’s
operation is very straightforward operation - a volume knob and a pan knob. However,
the pan knob is setup in an unorthodox way (in my opinion) – at first it caused me to
think the unit I was demo’ing was labeled incorrectly. If the user wants to pan left, you
turn the knob the opposite way which turns down the right. That is different from what I
am used to but it’s not a deal breaker.
The AS-1800 system also has an interesting Mix Mono option which allows for two mono
signals to be fed into the transmitter, and using the pan knob the user can mix the two
together in their ears. For example, say the band mix was sent to the left input and the
vocalist’s mic was sent to the right side then the user blended them with the pan knob.
The other option is for using two receivers paired with one transmitter. The first can receive the left and the second can have its own independent mix by panning it to the right.
On paper, I think this is a great idea, but the AS-1800 doesn’t pull it off seamlessly. I
noticed enough bleed to throw me off. For certain band members or similar style singers
it wouldn’t be an issue, especially once the volume level of live worship is happening.
Bottom line, if you’re on a tight budget and want to get into wireless IEMs - the Galaxy
Audio AS-1800 Any Spot Wireless Personal Monitor offers an affordable way to get
started. It’s certainly not high-end, but doesn’t come with high-end price tag either. For
the money, you’re getting a credible set of features and a durable piece of equipment.
SHAUN MILLER is the director of technical arts for Northview Church in Carmel, Ind. As a former
road manager/sound engineer, he has been in the world of live production for over 12 years.
Connect with him on his blog: www.shaunrmiller.com and follow on Twitter @shaunrmiller. CPM
1. Register to win a GALAXY AUDIO AS-1800
ANY SPOT WIRELESS PERSONAL MONITOR.
No purchase necessary. Must be
18 years old to enter. Void where prohibited.
Open to U.S. residents only. Register online at:
www.churchproduction.com/getgreatgear
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