Sound Devices has announced the Astral Mini Plus, an upgraded version of its popular compact wireless transmitter bodypack with longer battery life, a wider tuning range and IP67 water resistance.
Compact wireless transmitters live and die by their reliability, and Sound Devices has built a strong reputation on getting that right. The Wisconsin-based brand has now announced the Astral Mini Plus, the next iteration of its popular Astral Mini bodypack, and it addresses just about every gripe a location sound engineer or live theatre professional could have.
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The headline update is the battery life, which has had a huge upgrade. Powered by the XL-B14500 rechargeable cell, the Mini Plus delivers up to 8 hours of runtime, which should comfortably cover long show days, extended rehearsals or back-to-back scenes. USB-C top-up charging adds an extra layer of flexibility when a full recharge isn’t on the cards.
RF flexibility has gotten a significant boost, too. The Mini Plus takes full advantage of Sound Devices’ SpectraBand extended tuning range, covering 169 to 1525 MHz – a span wide enough to find clean, legal frequency bandwidth virtually anywhere in the world. For productions that cross borders or tours that span continents, that kind of range removes a genuine headache from the prep process.
The Mini Plus’ audio quality stays firmly in line with the rest of the Astral family, courtesy of Sound Devices’ GainForward™ technology. The system captures the full dynamic range of a performance, from a whisper to a scream, without clipping, and lets the mixer manage gain staging without touching the transmitter. An ePaper display and updated usability features round out the package, keeping setup times short and on-the-fly adjustments straightforward.
The IP67 water resistance rating is a welcome addition, making the Mini Plus resistant to sweat, humidity and whatever the weather decides to throw at it.
Sound Devices CEO Matt Anderson says, “Astral Mini Plus is an exciting step forward for compact live wireless transmitter technology – offering better performance, more RF and gain staging flexibility, and longer battery life. We’re incredibly proud to build upon the legacy of the original while also offering some much-requested upgrades that make it even more effective for live theatre productions in addition to extended production sound and live use.”
More information is available at sounddevices.com.
