PRODUCT TESTS Lectrosonics M2 Duet Digital Wireless Monitor System By Rob Nevalainen L ectrosonics recently sent me its latest in-ear monitor system offering, the M2 Duet, to put through its paces. I am always looking for innovative products that help sound technicians better manage their audio palette, and was excited to see what this latest generation could provide. A little about my background: I have been mixing in-ear moni- tors since 1991 (wow – that’s a really long time!) and have had the opportunity to use just about every in-ear monitor product out there. It has been quite a journey through the evolution of these products, and the M2 Duet is now on the cutting edge of this progression. The Details The M2 Duet system is a next-generation digital wireless in-ear monitor system or IFB. It consists of a half-rack transmitter and a small bodypack receiver. One of the big considerations of digital monitoring systems is that of latency; if the value is too high, the net result feels unnatural. The M2 has a very low native latency of 1.4 ms, well within the range where I feel the listener will not notice the difference. With the usable frequency spectrum continually shrinking while events and tours demand more available channels, frequency diver- sity has become very important. The M2 Duet has a tunable range of 470-608 MHz, which covers everything currently available in the UHF band for North America. This means that for a rental company, instead of having to buy multiple groups of frequencies, you only need to invest in one transmitter/receiver group to be frequency diverse across the entire available range. In Use One of the first things I noticed taking the system out of the pack- aging is how robust the build quality is. Lectrosonics has a reputa- tion for building products that last, and this is no different. The M2R is a bodypack made from aluminum that feels solid in your hand. It has a very nice colour display with four buttons below allowing you to control a large number of functions. One of the nic- est features is that the display allows you to see a lot of information at one time, including RF strength, battery life, mono/stereo setting, frequency, bodypack name, and \HXHY\][ۈYY]Y[Y]\[ˈ[X^XH[\]Y\HX[]HYBH[Y\X[YH܈H]][YKx&]Hٝ[[[\YB]X][ۈ\HH\\[\X]HH[YHX]][YH]\HY]8'Y\][X]\'HH][\Yۈ\BH[YH\X\K]\\[K^H[X\][B]H][^XH\H^HY]]H][\\ܛX[K[\ܙX]X]\Hو\\[H\]X[[\[\[\][H[XXK܈\\[\[\[\HH[HXXK][[H\Y\\[ۛQ[[[H[XXH܈ZY[ۛ\[\[H[BXXK\[]ۛXܜۈHX[H\\ۛX[[[][\H\H[H[ۈ܈Y][[]ˈH[[[H\\ۙY\HZ]\ۙH܂وH[]܈Y][܈[[[]˂^H]\H[ۈ\]ۋ\X\XXH]][B]\Y\]HYH][\و\H[HX\XXHSR]B\Y\ZY[YX]]KX[XKZ[\\[H܈[\܋BX[\ˈ\Y[[ۙYX\Y\\H\[ܛX][ۈۈH\^HH\[YHوYHY\[\[QۈH]ёTSӐSS[\\\H\[YH\ۈ[\HH\^H\]Y\[K\[^H[\H\XHۜ\[H]\KBX][Hو[H]H\[[\ˈH]\]BY[YYX[[\H]HL\HX]\H[YX\[H][[YY[H[\XH[]\Z[\H\]Z[XH\]Y[K]8&\HܙX]]ZX]]\[ۈ][XZH\H[H\H]قH^HوZY\[[Z\[ۜˈ\H\[H^\][H\\]\MY\[ٚ[\H[YK\XB\[[HوHZ^\[[\\[K\[\\Yۙ\\H\[x&\ٝ\HB\[H[[[K]X\[H[H\\[YHH[]YX[\[\[[HوH\[Y]\ۈHLݙ\B]ܚ܈TЋۛX]]H\ZYܝ\[\\BXH^HۙY\HH\H\[K[[X\B]H[وH^K\]X\H[[ۘ[]H\[\ܝ[B[وH\[H\][\\\H[\\Y[H^YYH]Y\\]X[]HTXܙ[YH\[H[\X\[H\\Y]]\[H[\ˈH\[\\][ۈ\[][ۘ[H]\Y[][HۙHوH\\[\[[^\Y[\x&]HYH[ݙYۈYHXܙ[x&]HX[HXYH[[]H[[Y[]X]]Y[H[H\[Y[H[XY[[[XYH]Y[ZBH\]\[HYZ[]HXH\وY[[]\][[]XKۜY\[HۜZ[وY][[]\[ۈ[Z\[ۂ[HܛYZ\XHHXK[ݚ[Y][[Z\B[ۈ\[\Y[\[]]XKHXۚXLY]][B\H^H][X^[]Y[]X[]H[H[\X]و[܈H]ZX[Z[\]]\؈][Z[[\H]\[]Y[ٙ\[ۘ[[Hۙ\قX\ܘKH]Y[[[\[H\Y[[]\˙X\ܘKK