The world's first wideband bidirectional wireless system has redefined in-ear monitoring for one of pop's biggest live productions.
When Sam Smith took to the stage for residencies at the Warsaw in Brooklyn and the newly relaunched Castro Theatre in San Francisco, audiences had no idea they were witnessing a quiet revolution in wireless monitoring technology. Behind the desk, long-time monitor engineer Saul Skoutarides made a bold call: swapping out the legacy analog gear for Sennheiser’s Spectera, the world’s first wideband bidirectional digital wireless system.
The motivation wasn’t just about chasing specs. Skoutarides had grown frustrated with the fundamental limitations of traditional FM-based in-ear systems. “FM stereo was invented in the ’60s, and up until now, we’ve been using a version of it that isn’t that far away from the original,” he said. “It’s ‘faux stereo’ compared to what Spectera is doing. There’s no compander and comparatively no noise floor. Out of everything I’ve ever used, Spectera is the closest thing to plugging a pair of headphones straight into a nice headphone amp.”
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The low-end performance was a particular revelation. Legacy systems have long struggled with sub-bass frequencies — the kind of synth bass and sub-patches that can send a compander sideways. With Spectera, that problem disappears. “The low end is real,” Skoutarides explained. “When I A/B tested it against the 2000 series, the legacy gear suddenly sounded like the low end was out of phase.”
Beyond audio quality, the reduction in background noise had a tangible effect on the room’s energy during long rehearsal days. Musical Director David Odlum noticed immediately. “These make zero noise,” Skoutarides recounted. “We realised we weren’t hitting that wall of fatigue. That constant RF noise floor eats away at your brain subconsciously. Removing that completely changed the energy in the room.”
Performing in dense urban environments like Brooklyn adds another layer of complexity, and Spectera’s wideband approach handled it without complaint. Rather than requiring a clean frequency for every individual channel, the system operates effectively even with interference present — a genuine asset in a city where the RF environment at showtime is anyone’s guess.
The bidirectional control has also simplified the logistics of remote dressing rooms and last-minute frequency changes, with bodypacks re-syncing automatically as the band walks into range of the base station.
For Skoutarides, the verdict is clear. “I’ve spent my career climbing toward better quality sound, and this is the next level. We’ve found the silence, and we’ve found the space. I’m never going back.”
Learn more about Sennheiser Spectera here.
