Line 6 G90 dropouts

bgrizzmayne

Inspired
Hey guys-

I bought a Line 6 G90 to put in my rack roughly about a year ago. The thing works, but will cut out if I move anywhere far away from it.

Honestly for the first year, I really didn't find myself using it, but it was nice to have. I think it worked fine though, but I wish I would have been a little more rigorous in testing it so I could verify that it worked or not. For some big gigs, it functioned alright, I think it was 100% working properly.

As I mentioned, lately, I'll move out front to hear the band while we sound check. If I move down or off the stage, I get dropouts. Move back closer, and I'm alright. Sounds like an antennae/range problem. But my antenna settings are : C & D Yesterday, I tried pointing the antennas more forward in case I just wasn't getting a proper line. Still nothing. During the same show I ventured over the opposite side of the stage, and the G90 cut out. I was probably 10 feet away from it, and parallel to the antennas.

Anyways, what gives? I'm thinking my G90 is malfunctioning. I've tried scanning/using new channels, but the channels still have problems.

the G90 is placed near my EW300 reciever for in-ears. I've got a drawer below, so I put the two together so I could actually plug them in on the rear. Would this cause a problem? I imagine it may create RF, but why would I be good to go when close, but not good when I move away? If it was an RF interference problem between the two devices, I would think I just wouldn't get any sound at all due to the RF interference. Or I'd get intermittent sound wherever I stand.

The G90's pack is in a pouch on my guitar strap. When I go out into the crowd and face the stage, I'm turning away from the G90. Maybe that's the problem? I'm using a shure wireless cable as I've heard the Line 6 ones are crap.

Any other troubleshooting tips? I'm going to post on Line 6's forum as well.

Ben
 
i had a g30 and never had any issues with it. how far away from it are you moving? i'm assuming you are staying within it's operating range?
 
Something sounds wrong mate and not normal behaviour based on my own experience - I have had a G90 for 3 years and never an issue, even being a good 30-40 feet from the unit. Sounds like either something's causing interference or there's a fault with the unit.
 
If you gave drop-outs, you must watch the rf leds.
My unit used to drop out even when i was standing next to it. The leds were also all off during the drop-out.
It turned out to be a bad mainboard, this has been replaced under warranty.
Since then i only had a problem once.
Only that one time i only heard a kind of pink noise from the output. I could change channels but that made no difference.
Next day it all was fine again.

It is a good wireless set, only downside is the battery life.
I think L6 should take an example of the new Shure 2.4 set.


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can you do the built-in "RF" test on the receiver? does it show some channels not working as well as others?

this is a WiFi frequency, so the other wireless unit really shouldn't affect it, in my experience.
 
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Something sounds wrong mate and not normal behaviour based on my own experience - I have had a G90 for 3 years and never an issue, even being a good 30-40 feet from the unit. Sounds like either something's causing interference or there's a fault with the unit.
Agreed. I can go quite a distance from my G90 receiver and it's never dropped out.
 
Do you have the 50-ohm terminators installed on the Antenna A & B connectors, on the rear of the G90 receiver unit?
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. The ohm caps don't matter as I'm not linking any antennas together. Chris, I'll try the test on the receivers. I'm scanning channels and selecting ones with the least RF.

A guy on the line 6 forums thinks it's a problem with the ew300 transmitter and G90 receiver being so close. I agree that idk why a wifi device would have trouble with an analog RF device. But I could take my IEM trans out of the rack and see if my g90s range gets better.
 
go with powersave mode on the transmitter if you are really close. I was getting the exact same thing happening as you when I was a gigs where my rack was really close. Putting the receiver into low power (power save) mode fixed it.
 
During the same show I ventured over the opposite side of the stage, and the G90 cut out. I was probably 10 feet away from it, and parallel to the antennas.

We are asked to turn our gear sideways so the lights cannot be easily viewed from the audience. This puts me in parallel with the antennas. This is the only time I have had drop-outs. I'm normally about 25 feet in front of my rack, and again, in parallel with the antennas when it has happened. I had one drop out captured on video from our webcast feed, and sent the clip to Line6. They recommended I purchase the antenna extension cables and run those lines with a second set of antennas to my stage position, so I could be in the field of the antennas.

Since I wanted to be Alex Lifeson when I grow up, I researched what kind he uses, and found out his unit costs $500 than the Axe FX. I'd rather use a $50 cable and buy a 2nd Axe FX thank you very much. I now use a Radial transformer pack that has one pack on stage that I plug my guitar into, then the connection is XLR, back to a receiver box, that converts it back to 1/4" so I can plug into my rack. This connection is sonically transparent and identical to how my rack sounds when I plug directly into it.

Shortly after I had this exchange with Line6, another player, using an inferior wireless system, got RF through his receiver, and it came through his amp, and could be heard during a service. The media guys immediately banned all wireless packs from band volunteers, because they could not insure the quality or coordinate the use of frequencies, and they run nearly 60 wireless devices in the building on a Sunday morning. Without someone being able to select an open frequency, there was too much risk of cross talk. I disagreed with them, and assured them we wouldn't have a problem with my G90, but I didn't want to push the issue. I honestly wish I did have a $2-3K wireless system, so that I could always be assured it was rock solid, but I have other things I need to spend that money on.
 
go with powersave mode on the transmitter if you are really close. I was getting the exact same thing happening as you when I was a gigs where my rack was really close. Putting the receiver into low power (power save) mode fixed it.

I need to test this- got a wedding tomorrow in which I plan on putting the G90 through it's paces to assess whether it's functional or not.

But regarding being close to the rack- I'm usually about 10 ft from my rack, so that'd help maybe the closer dropouts. But what about the invetible dropouts when being ~25 ft from my rack? Would low power help that? I wouldn't think so. I honestly wouldn't care, but I'm forced to mix our band from stage often, so during sound check and even during opening sets of gigs, I like to head out into the audience area to hear the mix, while still playing my guitar. Since I'm getting such frequent dropouts, this is becoming an issue.

As mentioned, Tuesday, I ventured about 25 ft out from my rack ,but had completely line of sight. Not like I was walking between tables or antyhing. I did step down from the ~5 ft stage or so, but I feel like the G90 is supposed to be able to handle some of this. If I was 200 ft away then I could see it.

I'll try some of the aforementioned tests, as chris mentioned, and the low power thing. I'm still sort of thinking either my G90 reciever is bad, or the EW300 transmitter unit is actually confusing the G90, limiting it's range. If that's the case, I suppose I could run the EW300 separate and not in the same rack, though it'd be quite a bit less convenient. Thanks for the help so far all.

Ben
 
the best test you have is separating the senn and line 6. is there anyway you can just... keep the ew300 powered down while you test the g90?
 
I need to test this- got a wedding tomorrow in which I plan on putting the G90 through it's paces to assess whether it's functional or not.

But regarding being close to the rack- I'm usually about 10 ft from my rack, so that'd help maybe the closer dropouts. But what about the invetible dropouts when being ~25 ft from my rack? Would low power help that? I wouldn't think so. I honestly wouldn't care, but I'm forced to mix our band from stage often, so during sound check and even during opening sets of gigs, I like to head out into the audience area to hear the mix, while still playing my guitar. Since I'm getting such frequent dropouts, this is becoming an issue.

As mentioned, Tuesday, I ventured about 25 ft out from my rack ,but had completely line of sight. Not like I was walking between tables or antyhing. I did step down from the ~5 ft stage or so, but I feel like the G90 is supposed to be able to handle some of this. If I was 200 ft away then I could see it.

I'll try some of the aforementioned tests, as chris mentioned, and the low power thing. I'm still sort of thinking either my G90 reciever is bad, or the EW300 transmitter unit is actually confusing the G90, limiting it's range. If that's the case, I suppose I could run the EW300 separate and not in the same rack, though it'd be quite a bit less convenient. Thanks for the help so far all.

Ben

No low power will only help with that if you are really close.
I use the ew300 as well. I keep mine in a separate rack. That would be a good thing to check.

Your G90 should easily be able to handle the ranged you are talking about here.
 
the best test you have is separating the senn and line 6. is there anyway you can just... keep the ew300 powered down while you test the g90?

Exactly what i was planning on doing. Will report back tomorrow with results. I wonder how far they'll need to be away from eachother if this is the problem. I could place my EW300 stuff in our main rack w/ mixer, but sometimes on smaller stages, that isn't very much far away.

In hindsight, perhaps I should have just bought a G50 and placed it at my pedalboard. I suppose if my G90 checks out and works, I could sell it off and grab a G50. Additional setup, unless i could somehow mount it on my pedalboard
 
I get occasional cutouts on my g90 if I go past 30ft and have read that many others have had similar results. I also have a g50 that gets no use. Where are you located? If you pay for the shipping I'll loan it to you to test out and see if it would work for you.
 
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