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 \ ][ۈY Y ]Y[Y]\[ˈ[ X^XH [\]Y \ HX[] H YBH[Y\X [ YH܈ H] ] [YKx&]Hٝ[[[\Y B] X][ۈ \H H\\ [ \X]H H [YH X] ] [YH]\HY ]8'Y\][X]\'H H][\Yۈ \BH [YH \ X\ K] \ \[K ^H[X\][ B] H][^X H \H ^HY]] H ][\ \ܛX[K[\ܙX]X] \Hو \ \[H\] X[ [ \[ \[\][H[ X XK܈\ \[ \[\[\ HH [H X XK][[ H \Y\\[ۛQ[[ [H[ X XH܈ZY [ۛ \[\[H [BX XK\[ ]ۛXܜۈ HX[ H \\ۛX[[[ ] [ \H\H[H [ۈ܈Y][[ ] ˈH [[[ H \\ ۙY\HZ]\ۙH܂و H [] ܈Y][܈[[[ ] ˂^H] \H [ۈ \ ]ۋ\X\XXH]][B] \Y\]HYH ][\و \H [H X\XXHSR] B\Y\ ZY[YX]]KX[ XKZ[\\ [ H܈[ \܋BX[\ˈ\Y[[ۙYX\Y\ \H\[ܛX][ۈۈ H\^H H \[YHوYHY \ [\[Qۈ H ]ёTSӐSS[\\\ H \[YH\ۈ[\H H\^H\] Y\[K \[^H [ \ H \XH ۜ\[ H]\ KBX][ H و [H ] H \[[\ˈH]\] BY[YY X[[\ 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 \X B\[ [Hو HZ^\[ [\ \[K\[\\Yۙ\\ H\[x&\ ٝ \H B\[H [[[ K]X\[ H[ H \\ [YH H[]Y X[\[\[ [Hو H \[Y]\ۈ HLݙ\B] ܚ܈TЋۛX]] H \ ZY ܝ\ [ \ \BXH ^H ۙY\HH\H \[K[[X\B] H[و H^K\]X\ H[[ۘ[] H\[\ܝ[ B[و H \[H\ ][ \\\H[\\Y[H ^YYH]Y\\]X[] HT Xܙ[ Y H \[H[ \X\[ H \ \Y]] \[ H [ \ˈH \[\\][ۈ \ [][ۘ[H] \Y[][ HۙHو H\ \[\[[^ \Y[\x&]HY H[ݙYۈ YH Xܙ[x&]H X[ HXYH[[ ] H[ [Y[ ]X]]Y[ H[ H \[Y[ H[XY[[[XYH]Y[ZBH \ ]\[ H YZ[ ]HXH\ وY[[]\][[] XKۜY\[ Hۜ Z[ وY][ []\[ۈ [Z\[ۂ[ HܛYZ\XH HXK[ݚ[ Y][ [Z\B[ۈ \[\ Y[\[]]XKHX ۚXL Y]] [B\H ^H ][X^[]Y[ ]X[] H[H[\X ]و [܈H ]ZX[ Z[\ ] ]\ ؈][Z[[\H ]\[]Y[ ٙ\[ۘ[[ Hۙ\قX\ܘKH ]Y[ [[\[H\Y[[]\˙X\ܘKK