[Editor’s note – recently we put out a call for submissions from bands all over the country, inviting them to enter to win some awesome new wireless stompboxes from our friends at Audio-Technica. The winners were Unlikely Heroes (not a description, that’s the band’s name), a super-cool hip-hop/punk band from San Francisco. They put the units through their paces, documenting their experiences going wireless on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Vine – ultimately ending up here in print. Want YOUR band to grace these pages and win cool gear? Gotta follow us on social media; we’ll let you know when the next Tour Test opportunity comes around!]
Free at last…free at last! Audio-Technica’s System 10 Stompbox has not only eliminated onstage cord clutter for us, but has also offered a new wave of engagement with fans at our live performances.
The amazing people at Performer Magazine sent us our Audio-Technica System 10 Stompboxes, and we shredded through the UPS packaging like a bunch of six-year-olds on Christmas morning! Upon opening the contents, we were honored with high-quality digital receiver pedals and lightweight transmitters that we were easily set up within minutes. Our band consists of two guitars and one bass, all of whom utilized the System 10 units with clean, tenable wireless signals even through walls and pillars.
Even at an extreme distance away from the receiver, the audio quality remained brilliant with crisp 2.4 GHz high-fidelity. This is very important to us and our instruments, knowing that we have reliable equipment without fear of dropping out of songs, throwing off critical moments in a performance. We could kick out of live amps and tune guitars between songs seamlessly, as well. And the belt pack transmitter fits discreetly on belt loops, or on the small of my back while I strut in my stilettos and walked right into the crowd.
As an emerging band, we know what it’s like to play a variety of shows from small-staged, intimate settings, to larger venues with space to roam. The System 10 units proved effective in all of our live scenarios. Obviously for larger venues, it allowed more freedom to take over the stage and engage with the crowd, and even each other. For more modest settings, we were able to free up room on stage by playing right in the audience and jumping around entethered.
This equipment has supercharged our shows to new highs in a true “the sky’s the limit” fashion. Being gifted this high-performance gear from Performer Magazine and Audio-Technica is a great honor and truly cherished investment in our band. Unlikely Heroes is humbled and sends great thanks and love to all those who made it happen.
Let’s keep rockin’ and show the world the Hero in all of us.
Thank you!
Unlikely Heroes (Enon Gaines, Andre Hill, Jeff Wilson, bassist Ruth Marin, and guitarists Atlix Martinez & Gennesis Gastilo)
Follow on Twitter @UHeroesBand and @EnonThaPhenom and LEARN MORE about System 10 wireless at http://www.audio-technica.com
