Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsAbsolutely insane value!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2021
EDITED 4/18/2022: Dropped the rating to three stars.
After using this for about eight months I decided to get something more reliable. We started experiencing drop outs after the first few months and contacted support. They were great and sent us another pack to try out. That seemed to work for a bit but then we started getting drop outs again. The drop outs also started getting longer and more disruptive. Since my band has recently started implementing some click and track this has becoming pretty unreliable and we made the decision to upgrade everything to Sennheiser.
I still believe this is a great value and I'm also sure that their support team would have kept working with me to try and figure out what's going on. At this time I need something that will consistently deliver show after show and I don't think this is that option.
This item is perfect for a lot of churches out there who are able to keep everything in the same spot and never put any road wear on the items. My unit lived in a road case going from show to show for our in-ear rig which I believe is the cause of our issues.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I've been following Phenyx audio for about a year, contemplating purchasing their stereo IEM unit but held off because it looked like getting additional packs was kind of tough and I only wanted to run four mono signals using two stereo transmitters. Well, happened to be browsing some new gear and came upon these and thought they were perfect for my application.
My primary reason for the purchase is setting up an isolated split in-ear rig for my band. We do small gigs at bars once a month or so. We are getting older and more conscious of our hearing and so in-ears are pretty important to us. We were running wired in-ears using the Behringer P2 packs which worked great for the most part. The only kicker is it causes so much stage clutter and it also makes load in longer. We wanted to go wireless but the Sennheiser G4 or Shure PSM options were crazy expensive for what we have going on.
Saw these and bought them immediately! Played an event where we ran three separate sets and decided to do a test to compare against the Sennheiser G3 unit that a friend of mine bought a few years back. Played the first set with the PTM-22 and the second with the G3.
Receiver Packs:
You can definitely tell a difference in quality of the receiver packs. The G3 is very sturdy, mostly metal, and has tons of options for things like EQ, panning, limiting, etc. The PTM pack is mostly plastic and literally is only a volume control. It syncs with the transmitter and that is it. I think if I was a touring band that was playing shows every single night of the week for weeks on end, the PTM would not hold up to the road wear. The G3 would probably show some minor wear but they would be absolute tanks and hold up extremely well. Headroom on both the G3 and the PTM were great, the G3 definitely has more but I never found myself out of volume and I keep my pack running pretty hot.
Transmitter:
I set up the transmitter in my rack case with my IEM mixer. Installation was definitely a breeze. The provided rack ears were easy to install and feel very sturdy. The body of the transmitter is plastic but since it lives in my rack unit protected at all times I'm honestly not worried about it at all. Changing channels is super easy and the sync is a breeze. The G3 is also a pretty easy setup but if you have to change frequencies it can be a bit more difficult.
Setup:
Setup on the PTM system was an absolute breeze compared to the G3. The G3 has to be set in stereo mode on the transmitter and mono on the receivers with panning setup completely left or completely right. Even with that setup there is still some signal bleed from the two sides. The PTM is completely isolated mono signals which is fantastic. Setup was pretty much plug and play. After I got the transmitter mounted in the rack and hooked up to my mixer, it was only a few minutes before I had it working.
Sound Quality:
You can certainly tell a difference between the G3 and the PTM when you're swapping between the two using the same signal. That being said, it is not a distracting difference and I would never say the PTM audio quality is bad. There was a slight hiss when I pushed the volume that I didn't have with the G3 but it was completely unnoticeable when playing. Only heard it between songs when things got quiet.
Overall this is an absolute steal at this price. I don't know how they are offering this quality of product at this price. I'm blown away by this thing and it is perfect for my application. The G3 is absolutely a better product, but it is by no means $1,000 better in my opinion. The only situation I would be uneasy about this product would be as a touring group. I don't think the plastic housing of the receiver packs would hold up to the abuse of the road. If you are a church, smaller weekend warrior type band, maybe even a wedding band this is absolutely perfect for what you need. I only bought one PTM-22 and very likely will be buying a second after our test run last night!