CHEAP and PORTABLE Wireless Guitar/Bass System - Phenyx Pro PTG-12

[@moebloggs7219]

Based on this great review I purchase a PTG-12 unit to try (used the support link too!). My only negative is the transmitter battery only goes 2.5 hours, then shuts down. It quit on my during a performance at 2.5 hours... then I tested at home and 2.5 hours shut down. The receiver keeps going. I reached out to Phenyx and they replied same day, and offered to send me a replacement or refund. I tried the replacement and still 2.5 hour transmit time. Positive is ease of setup and sound quality is great! These give a signal gain option, so on a passive acoustic it acts like an active DI. No interference at all... and customer service was excellent. Just wanted to share my 2.5 hour transmit experience.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Hmmm interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve used these for over 3.5 hours with no problems. And yeah, PP customer service is always top notch. Something else I love about that company 🤘

[@DanWolkoff]

I have the exact same battery issue. Passive guitar pickups. Sad if I can’t use it. :-(

[@northtrader]

Thanks for the video Scott. I bought this unit January 2023 based on this review. Some additional Info for others considering to buy: 1) The top of each unit is now labelled "transmitter" and "receiver" from the factory - no need to have to remember which one is which. 2) Pressing "Freq +" actually selects the next lower frequency - meaning you step from CH4 to CH3 (I tested this with a frequency analyzer). Go figure?? 3) The "freq selection" buttons (+ or -) just scroll through the channels from the start once you get to the end - meaning there is no 'end' where the selector stops. 4) You have no idea which frequency you're on unless you use an analyzer to see it. 5) The 20 frequencies programmed into the unit are: 550 550.8 551. 6 552.4 553. 2 554 554.8 555. 6 556.4 557. 2 558 558. 8 559. 6 560.4 561. 2 562 562.8 563. 6 564.4 565. 2

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing this 🤘

[@bobbynip66]

Thanks for this info. Came here looking for this because I have some mic’s that overlap in these frequencies, so looking for a way I can keep from colliding

[@northtrader]

@@bobbynip66 I ended up ditching the PTG-12 in the end. Went with the Lekato 5G system instead. Much more reliable and less prone to interference issues.

[@jaredhouseman2094]

The Phenix pro unit is also usable for dynamic microphones (with 1/4" to xlr adaptor). My other wireless was too noisy when trying to use a mic

[@ScottUhlMusic]

You definitely could do that too!

[@juand.g.2602]

You earned a sub. Didn't know there was a wireless system transmitting at 500MHZ

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Thanks, and with these cheaper ones, this was the first time I’ve seen it too 👍

[@michaelb.42112]

Keep them coming, Scott !!!

[@ScottUhlMusic]

🤘🤘

[@steveliberty]

I've pretty much switched over completely to UHF dongles from the 2.4gHz and even 5.8gHz models. As you've recommended in your videos, I do carry one of those others as a backup (along with a cable or two). I've been having some troiuble with these Phenyx dongles. It seemed to me that they didn't have enough dynamic range. If I hit a string or a chord too hard, the sound would break up (in a bad way) and cut out a bit. Signal chain is guitar -> Lekato UHF wireless -> pedalbaord including an Iridium in the FX loop of an HX FX -> Phenyx UHF wireless -> DIY Class D power amp -> 1x12" guitar cabinet. I swapped out the Penyx set for something else, and the problem went away. But it also wasn't as loud (quite noticably). Then I remembered about the volume adjustments on the receiver (most guitar wireless systems don't have this, so I forgot). I really haven't messed with the controls on the Phenyx set much yet, so I will play around with the volume setting and see if it solves my problems. I suspect it will.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Interesting. Yeah I have trouble with these when there are too many wireless around. But when I do use it at my home studio with it being the only wireless it works great… and sounds really good too actually. A lot of these cheap ones are guess and check. Thanks for the comment Steve 👍

[@steveliberty]

@@ScottUhlMusic One more followup. I tried out the Volum + and - buttons, and they do resolve the dynamic range issue. At first I couldn't really think of why I would want this feature, and I'm still not totally sure that it is a great idea given that it can cause clipping problems. But, at the same time, I thought of a use case. I mostly play guitars with P90s and Humbuckers. But when I play my Strat, of course the output is considerably lower. If I use the Phenyx wireless from guitar to pedalboard (or amp), I could use the Vol+ button to raise up the signal hitting my pedalboard. In this situation, it might be handy. Unfortunately, there is no indicator on the dongle as to what Vol level you are at, so you literally have to "play it by ear".

[@steveliberty]

@@electronik808 It can distort if the volume level coming from the transmitter is too hot. You have to adjust level to avoid the clipping.

[@ktfo4620]

Thanks Scott. Exactly what I'm looking for.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Glad to help 🤘

[@juricakondres8760]

Thank you!

[@DeathMetalGuitar]

thank you Scott - love your vids esp the wireless and IEM setups!😎😎

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Thank you! I appreciate it

[@MeanMaoriMean555]

Thank you Scott. I was looking at a Pod Go here in NZ. There’s a $450 difference between that and the new wireless one!! Lol! Really appreciate this review!

[@ScottUhlMusic]

For sure 🤘 glad to help! Just remember what I mention about how more expensive wireless generally have more channels to chose from. So just budget accordingly to your needs. Enjoy the wireless! I’m using it today for a gig again 🤘

[@newmeutube1]

Thanks mate 👌

[@DanWolkoff]

I bought a Kwalita wireless with rechargeable case. It looked good, but has a distortion issue. It had to go back.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Cheap stuff doesn’t work with every guitar/pedalboard/amp/etc. Go Shure or Sennheiser for very reliable 👍

[@samhouch]

Can the receiver plug directly into a 1/4" mixer input? Line in?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Yup 👍

Hi Scott! Unfortunately both the PTG-12 and the PTG-11 are unavailable anywhere, even on the Phenyx website there is only a PTG-D or something that is 2,4 Ghz. Do you know a workaround to get these units still?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Yeah that’s what they switched over to

[@homebrew7543]

Scott first off thanks for the videos they are very informative! I have a PTM-10 IEM system right now and thinking of adding another one, would it be a bad idea to get this PTG-12 system since they all share that same frequency range? Thanks!

[@ScottUhlMusic]

I've found that the PTG-12 doesn't play nice with a lot of other wireless systems. If it's just 2 of them, you should be fine. But once you get above 3, I don't recommend the PTG-12 personally. But the PTG-11 does play nicely with others. Cheers!

[@AdventistasHD]

@@ScottUhlMusic sorry to pigback on this post. Just to be sure, would two PTG-12 be ok in working together? We are a small church, and really tight on budget. Thank you!

[@ScottUhlMusic]

@@AdventistasHD I recommend using two different wireless on two different frequencies. Again, it depends on how many wireless you are using at once. Do you need to be wireless at a church gig? And how many other wireless are you using (mics, in ears, etc). If you are just needing two I would get the PTG-12 and this one just to be safe: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoTUlZdjYpVpnrM

[@julianpena1547]

Hey, me again... I got two of these and can't manage to get them working in parallel steadily. I can randomly match each transmitter to its corresponding receiver, but most of the time the two transmitters sync to one and the same receiver. I've tried different approaches and, as I said, only randomly and after quite a while I get them working as expected. Is there a trick or steps to follow? Thanks again!

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Interesting… I only use one at a time. I would try returning one and get another one on a different frequency possibly.

[@Albion12345]

Is this the new version you were talking about? I still haven’t seen anything from Phenyx pro about an updated version yet. Fun note, on mine at least… when you hit freq - it actually goes to a higher frequency and when you hit + it goes to a lower frequency lol

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Oh really? Haha that’s interesting, I didn’t know that. But I guess as long as it changes frequency that’s what important :) and as far as the “new version” (good memory by the way), my understanding was it was something to do with the battery life. But I’m able to play 4 hours and do soundcheck no problem with these, so the battery life is good for sure 👍 Thanks for the comment!

[@Albion12345]

@@ScottUhlMusic I wonder if the reason you have issues with it cutting out when you gave a bunch of your other wireless gear running is because you have a lot of other 500MHz gear. You should check out the wireless workbench software from Shure. It’s free and it will help you make sure you won’t have interference between all of your gear. Unfortunately, you can’t tell what frequency the ptg-12 is on unless you have a spectrum analyzer. I bought a TinySA which goes up to 960MHz. It’s super cheap for what it can do. Then you can tell exactly what frequency your 500MHz and 960MHz wireless guitar systems are running on. RFExplorer has a Spectrum Analyzer that can do the lower frequencies up to 6GHz. So that would be really awesome because you could view the frequency of all your 2.4 and 5.8 gear too. It’s around $500 for the one with all the frequencies though.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Yeah it definitely was cutting out because of a ton of the 500mhz stuff, no question. And I do need to eventually get a frequency analyzer for sure. I’ve just been putting it off and relying on scanning and it’s done pretty well so far. But I probably do need to just bite the bullet and get one. Thanks for the comments!

[@Albion12345]

@@ScottUhlMusic it’s good to know you can make things work with out being super meticulous. I’ve been worried we’ll run into a lot of problems at church if we get more wireless devices. We are going to have 900MHz for most wireless iems and 500MHz for mics. A couple 2.4 devices. I’m not sure what will be best for guitars.

[@steveclutter8478]

Hows the frequency response on a low B for bass? Does it lose anything?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Im not sure. You can always try it and return it if you don’t like it 👍 that’s always good advice for cheap wireless

[@NeoFromMatrixReality]

I have Lekato WS-70 and as you said I feel less volume, generating feedback from amp is challenging. It looks like there is some kind of gate builtin. Do you think that Phenyx is a lot better than Lekato ?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

I like the lekato one. But there was one time I used it where I felt like the sustain had some issues (like I mentioned in this video). The Phenyx pro one I don’t feel that at all 👍

[@adamcalmis3699]

Recently bought these for bedroom play. They work well. My only issue is that every so often, I get a very loud click noise, as if if I plugged my cord into a live amp with the volume up. I’ve tried changing the freq, but it still happens. Any ideas?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Hmm. No I don’t. I’ve never had that issue with these when I use them. You can message PP. They have a one year warranty on everything

[@robgeller1]

Does it work with Bass guitar? If so, how do pedals connect? Ex. my lineup is bass - compressor pedal - Ampeg classic pedal - amp

[@ScottUhlMusic]

It works with bass. Replace your instrument cable with this and it will work 👍

[@robgeller1]

@@ScottUhlMusic Fabulous. It's simple if the cable is direct from Bass to amp: Transmitter into the guitar, receiver in the amp. What happens if I want to use pedals? do I need another pair of dongles?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Whatever cable you want to replace… You will need a transmitter and receiver wireless. bass to pedal board….. pedalboard to amp… etc

[@robgeller1]

@@ScottUhlMusic exactly as I thought. My wife will be ecstatic. Her happiness is inversely related to the number of cables. My daughter: "just looking at all those cables gives me a migraine"

[@juand.g.2602]

I got this and they absolutely rock. But the battery time says 8 hours but the transmitter runs out really fast. Do you know how much time it takes to charge this?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

I don’t think it’s supposed to survive 8 hours. It should be around 4-5. It doesn’t take long to charge at all. If it’s getting less than that for battery life, message Phenyx pro. They have a great warranty system 👍

[@juand.g.2602]

@@ScottUhlMusic And is there a way to know if they are completely charged? Or just leaving it for 3 hours charging? It's only the transmitter that runs out

[@ScottUhlMusic]

The light will turn off when it’s done charging 👍

[@mfradell]

Hi Scott I bought the PTH-12 wireless from the company. Not a great experience. Shipping took 2 weeks from China and the transmitter battery only lasted 2 hours. I wrote to the company, they said the 8 hr battery life is from an old system and the pt-12 only lasts 4-5 hrs. Love your videos, no reflection on you but wanted to give you a heads up on the company’s false advertising.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

On this one? I still have mine and still continue to use it. It works great. You could have had a faulty unit. I would message them because their product comes under a 1 year warranty 👍

[@TheBassDrill]

What do you think about using this guitar wireless as a IEM? This is the only guitar wireless with volume control on the receiver.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

You could do that. It’s not meant to be done that way and isn’t a real IEM system, so watch your ears. But that can work. I did a review on one that could be used as a “back diy IEM” setup, and that would be the same concept as this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHibl6GuZsqSosU And actually, this Phenyx Pro one would be better since it has volume control

[@markcunningham6086]

Ok....now I'm on the fence. This review is good info but really like the Brien Fey set even compared to the lite. Dont know which way to go. Both have a coolness of features. I dont gig so the 50 dollar area is all I ever will use. I read all the reviews, probably too much. (Fear factor) You gota choice ? Thnx.....🤔

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Either one are definitely fine, especially if you do not gig. Either one will work great 👍

[@maxx-as4947]

While many of these affordable wireless systems sound great for guitar with no discernable change of sound compared to a cable, I found them lacking when used with bass guitar. I mean there is an unacceptable loss of bass frequencies and the sound becomes less full and less rich. It would be great if you could do a shootout specifically for use with bass guitar.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

Interesting, thanks for the comment. Everyone has different preference on tone. Everyone. So there is no way for me to get everyone’s tone preference in my videos. I still stand by that I do not do tone comparisons because I think they are not valuable and instead we should focus on “does it sound good? If so, use it.” You sound like you used these cheaper ones and you do not like them even without a comparison, which only helps confirm my thesis :) But as I also always tell people, you can always go for the Shure or sennheiser systems if you do personally hear a tone loss with these. I’ve reviewed a ton of those too 👍

[@maxx-as4947]

@@ScottUhlMusic I wouldn't call it "preference of tone", I only tried out the wireless systems (one of them was the 5.8ghz Ammoon) of the guitar players in my band and compared them to my 20ft cable and the wireless sound was lacking in depth and punch. I also own an older "AKG WMS 40 Mini Instrument" wireless myself which works perfectly fine for guitar but is inferior to the cable just as well when used with bass guitar. It seems to me that wireless systems (at least the affordable ones) have trouble transmitting the lower frequencies, or something like that.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

That’s totally possible too 👍

[@peterhess2610]

I read a lot of reviews on these products. Almost all of them are geared towards guitar. Being a bass player I find these reviews practically useless. I’ll buy a product based on a good guitar review but find them not so good for bass even though the description from the manufacturer states they’re good for bass especially basses with active electronics. I have found two that are ok. The ones from Kliq are the best with the ones from Brian Fay a close second. Others, like the ones from Swiff, are horrible. I’m beginning to think that giving negative reviews are not permitted on KZbin. I, as well as my fellow bass players, would certainly appreciate how these products perform for us lowenders. I, myself, am getting tired of getting a product and finding out it is useless for me and having to go through the hassle of returning it it Amazon. Would it be possible for you to include in your reviews how these products perform with BASS guitars?

[@ScottUhlMusic]

I’ve gotten many positive comments on these for bass guitars. Especially on the Swiff one. Everyone is going to be different in what they are looking for. My advice… if you have had that much trouble with them, get a nice sennheiser or a nice Shure one. I’ve reviewed many of those on this channel as well. I recommend that if you are not happy with these. I do think these cheap ones are geared more towards guitar. But I think they would be useable for bass as well. I actually do not own a bass so I wouldn’t be able to test them out on bass for my reviews. But thanks for the comment 👍

[@peterhess2610]

Thanx for your reply. I looked at the sennheiser and it’s way beyond my pay scale. $180 just for the transmitter! It’s too bad you don’t do reviews for us bassmen. I enjoy looking at your reviews and I especially like the fact you take the time to respond to your commenters. 👍👍

[@ScottUhlMusic]

@@peterhess2610 For sure. And $180 is not bad at all actually... my nice Sennheiser system is $900. It's worth it to me, and it's what I do full time. So I needed a reliable one. If you are unhappy with these cheap ones, that's okay... everyone has their tone preferences. I see more positive comments about these cheap wireless than negative ones, but it's all your preference. Look into the Shure BLX system. That's about as cheap as you are going to get for a good entry level Shure system. I did a video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWayfmd9iq-BrLM If that's still out of your price range... either save up, or use a cable :)

[@neilkendall9857]

So a couple of months ago I bought a Phenyx Pro PTG-12 wireless guitar system for my guitar after seeing good reviews of it online. I have it connected to my digital mixer (Zoom L-12), which is connected to a Windows 10 laptop running Amplitube 5. The sound quality is great, however the problem is that every so often I get slight microsecond dropouts in the signal, which messes up notes or chords even though it's just a slight blip of a dropout. Is this supposed happen? How can it be solved? I've tried a few different frequencies, yet the same thing still happens. Do I need to dial through every frequency on the transmitter and receiver until I fine one that gets no dropouts, or is it something else causing it? I get no dropouts at all when using a guitar cable, so it can't be the mixer or computer causing the dropouts, but it's the wireless system. I also dispute the 8 hours battery life claim. I get around 3 to 4 hours maximum use out of this unit fully charged.

[@ScottUhlMusic]

As far as the battery life, that sounds like an issue with the unit because mine works amazingly. I would reach out to them. As far as the dropouts does it only happen at one location or at multiple locations? If it’s happening at a single location, it just means that wireless environment is crowded. And like I mentioned in the video, the cheaper gear has less available channels. If you do need more open channels for the risk of less dropouts, you gotta spend the money. That’s a part of value and pricing for these cheaper wireless. 👍

[@misahel924]

I had the dame issues today.. battery 3 hours only AND i few micro dropouts