Roger Earpiece 2.4gHz review

[RadoStefanov]

 

                After some rumors about electronics availability phonak finally and officially confirmed that PHONAK INVISITY is discontinued. I was in the market for earpieces and have used invisity many times but was presented with a dilemma: Should I buy a discontinued product or venture in to the Rogers 2.4gHz. I have had enough experience with Zaxnet to know how 2.4gHz behaves and what the limitations are. Gene from AudioDept let me borrow a roger system  so I can test for my self.

Here are my findings:

• Range.

Off course the range out of the box is not great. Rogers glue a small antenna and the first step is to carefully remove it and free the SMA port for better antennas and amps. Just putting a larger antenna improves the range. 2.4gHz works like a wifi router. It has difficulty going through walls but reflects very good in one open space. The range is very manageable even without an Amp but there are rules to be followed. Some users have reported that they remote the antenna closer to the earpieces. This is not a good practice for 2.4gHz. Cable loss at that frequency is a lot and will make the system unusable. Even with an RG8 cable you loose 22dB every 100 feet which is a lot.

I added the L-Com 1W amp and corner antenna " my cart zaxnet setup" and the range increased 20 times. With the setup installed inside my old metal office I was able to go outside the parking lot walking around and getting in the buildings next to me. even going behind the corner antenna gave me clean signal but it did not go as far.

• So why did I decide to buy the roger 2,4gHz apart from invisity being discontinued?

1. The sound! It sounds a lot better and It is a lot louder then invisity! Rogers "like many other digital systems" sounds great 100% all the way to cutting out. With analog invisity there has been a lot of noises and buzzes. Roger does not have that.Every time i used the comtek system talents asked me for more volume. And I have always feared that I will blow a receiver while increasing the level.  It was constant pressure and fear. The rogers is loud and clear. I actually had to turn it way down because it was loud. You can not change the volume on the earpiece like invisity but I honestly has never been asked to turn it down for anybody. 
2. Another reason I got the rogers is that while the transmitter is not small it works on 5v battery and can totally be used in a bag if I have to. I want to try the repeater for that. I was told the repeater helps a lot with range in random environments.
3. The build quality/plastic seams better with the rogers.
4. I like how they tune remotely to the base station and no need for "Oven Baking" to change frequency but I don’t like is the random frequency selection. There is no control. I wish I had the control to keep the frequency above 2.470 to be absolutely clear of interference "apart from zaxnet which goes up to 2.475". With Zaxnet I only use 2.475 and have never had issues "other then the physicals limitation of 2.4gHz signal.  Also I need more information about the "adaptive frequency hopping" How does it work? If I have to get closer to the base station to change the frequency how would the "adaptive frequency hopping" work when the earpiece is away? Does it program a few freqs and hops them in real time? I will contact Roger and get that information. But they should really improve on that.

• In conclusion

If you know how to manage a 2.4gHz signal the rogers is a no brainier. Its louder by a lot! It sounds better. Being one piece it looks and seams sturdier and stronger. But most importantly it is not being discontinued like invisity and can serve me well for many years in the future.
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Rado Stefanov | Las Vegas Sound Supervisor |

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[Jeff Wexler]

Great review! This is very helpful for so many of us faced with having to use ear pieces  ----  even on a good day in the past with the best of them it is often not too pleasant an experience, but necessary for many sorts of jobs. It seems like the 2.4 ghz ones will work quite well as long as you understand the nature of 2.4 ghz and can utilize additional amp and antenna systems.

[RadoStefanov]

1 hour ago, Jeff Wexler said:

Great review! This is very helpful for so many of us faced with having to use ear pieces  ----  even on a good day in the past with the best of them it is often not too pleasant an experience, but necessary for many sorts of jobs. It seems like the 2.4 ghz ones will work quite well as long as you understand the nature of 2.4 ghz and can utilize additional amp and antenna systems.

Forgot to mention the rogers "like many other digital systems" sounds great 100% all the way to cutting out. With analog invisity there has been a lot of noises and buzzes. Roger does not have that.

[Tony Johnson]

3 hours ago, RadoStefanov said:

I want to try the repeater for that. I was told the repeater helps a lot with range in random environments.

The Repeater does help in certain situations but I found the best way was to remote the base station close to set. I am using them on large sets and the range really suffers. On a capture stage with no physical barriers it is very good with a solid signal on just the whip. I still think there is a lack of gain as I run my aux outs of my sonosax mixer at max and the base station on max too and its just loud enough. I also use the older style hearing aid type earpiece that has a volume control and they are better. 

I use a 26800mah power bank and I have not needed to charge it after several months use, so that is a great feature, the DC powering. I haven't tried mine with a 1w amp but that is a great idea. 

 

Tony

 

[RadoStefanov]

18 minutes ago, Tony Johnson said:

The Repeater does help in certain situations but I found the best way was to remote the base station close to set. I am using them on large sets and the range really suffers. On a capture stage with no physical barriers it is very good with a solid signal on just the whip. I still think there is a lack of gain as I run my aux outs of my sonosax mixer at max and the base station on max too and its just loud enough. I also use the older style hearing aid type earpiece that has a volume control and they are better. 

I use a 26800mah power bank and I have not needed to charge it after several months use, so that is a great feature, the DC powering. I haven't tried mine with a 1w amp but that is a great idea. 

 

Tony

 

Do try a good amp. It makes it almost as good as UHF talent wireless.

i noticed the less gain on xlr balanced input. I use the 3.5 unbalanced and gain is correct. Another user asked me about the less gain on the XLR. So 3 people have already noticed.

[Tony Johnson]

18 minutes ago, RadoStefanov said:

So 3 people have already noticed.

The agent here in NZ has talked to Phonak about increasing the gain so this is more ammo to get it done.

Will definitely try the amp.

One thing I noticed with the in ear piece was ear wax can decrease the fidelity and level and its difficult to see unless you take off the green plastic cap. Easy to change but it took me a while to find.

Thats definitely a job for the utility eeeeek

[Jesse Flaitz]

Excellent review, thanks for the write up.