Who should own this checklist?

One person on your side and one on the production side. Shared ownership of a pre-show checklist is how items quietly go unconfirmed — assign it to a named individual with authority to escalate.

When should each item be confirmed?

Equipment and crew at booking, power and rigging after the recce, timings two weeks out, and content 72 hours before. Anything still open 48 hours out should be treated as a risk, not an action.

Why does RF coordination matter so much?

Because frequencies interact. Two transmitters can combine to produce an intermodulation product that lands on a third channel's frequency and causes a dropout nobody can explain by looking at any one system. Coordination software calculates those products across every channel, which is impossible to do by picking frequencies by hand.

Why do you scan the venue twice?

Because the UHF environment at load-in is not the environment at show time. An empty hall at 9 am has none of the phones, press transmitters, broadcast links and comms systems that arrive by 7 pm. We scan at load-in to build the plan and re-scan with the venue populated, moving channels if the picture has changed.

Is Shure Axient actually worth the premium?

At four channels in a quiet room, honestly not — a good mid-range digital system will sound nearly identical. At twenty-four channels in a venue with broadcast trucks outside, the wide tuning range, frequency diversity and remote monitoring are what keep the show on air, and that is what you are paying for.

Lavalier or headset microphone for a keynote?

Headset, if the speaker will accept it. A boom at the corner of the mouth maintains a constant distance from the mouth, so level and tone stay consistent however the speaker turns, and it is far less prone to clothing noise. Lavaliers are less visible and more acceptable, which is why they remain common despite being technically inferior.

Wireless Microphones & IEMs Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day

Category: Checklists
Read time: 7 min
Sections: 3
Updated: Feb 2026

Key takeaway

Before show day, confirm the wireless microphones & IEMs equipment list with exact model numbers, the spares that travel with it, sanctioned power and generator changeover, rigging sign-off, named crew, the load-in and rehearsal slots, final content files and a single named show-caller. Missing any one of these causes most event AV failures.

Key takeaways

Exact models, not categories, on the equipment list
Spares for anything that would stop the show
Power sanction plus generator changeover confirmed
One named show-caller holding the cue sheet

Wireless Microphones & IEMs: pre-show checklist

Equipment & specification

Systems confirmed: Shure Axient Digital AD4Q, Sennheiser Digital 6000 / EM 6000
Coordination software confirmed: Shure Wireless Workbench, Sennheiser Wireless Systems Manager
Spectrum confirmed: UHF television bands under WPC licensing, with narrowing available headroom
Scan practice confirmed: Full RF scan at load-in and again at the show hour with the venue populated
Frequency diversity confirmed: Critical channels transmitting on two frequencies simultaneously on Axient
Itemised list naming exact models, not categories
Spares for mics, cables, processors and any single point of failure

Power & safety

Venue sanctioned load confirmed in writing against the rig's draw
Silent generator sized with automatic changeover
Earthing check completed and logged
Rigging certification and load calculations signed off
Cable covers on every walkway and crowd line

People

RF coordinator named and briefed
Microphone technician named and briefed
IEM technician named and briefed
Antenna and systems technician named and briefed
Monitoring operator named and briefed

Timings

Load-in slot agreed with the venue in writing
Sound check and line check scheduled
Full technical rehearsal booked with real presenters and real content
Venue curfew and strike window confirmed

Content & handover

RF scan record from load-in and from the populated venue
Coordinated frequency plan with intermodulation analysis and reserve channels
Microphone allocation chart naming every wearer and channel
Antenna placement drawing with distribution topology
All video, audio and slides delivered 72 hours ahead in the agreed format

What this checklist is protecting you from

What can go wrong

How we prevent it

What can go wrong
RF dropouts when the venue fills with phones and the press arrives.
How we prevent it
Full RF scan at load-in, coordinated frequencies across all Axient channels, and two spare clean frequencies held in reserve.
What can go wrong
A press or broadcast crew arrives with their own wireless on frequencies nobody coordinated.
How we prevent it
A single shared frequency plan is published for the whole site, and arriving crews are allocated bands at accreditation rather than allowed to scan for themselves.
What can go wrong
Antennas mounted behind an LED wall or beside dimmer racks pick up broadband noise.
How we prevent it
Antennas are placed at height with line of sight to the performance area and routed well clear of LED panels, dimmers and LED fixtures on low-loss cable.
What can go wrong
A lavalier on a heavy jacket or a sari rustles through every speech.
How we prevent it
Mounting is planned per outfit — vampire clips, tape positions and cable dressing agreed at fitting — and for critical speakers we recommend a headset boom instead.
What can go wrong
A transmitter battery dies mid-performance because packs were not managed per channel.
How we prevent it
Fresh batteries per performance block, remote battery telemetry watched by a monitoring operator, and a dressed spare pack on a reserve frequency ready to hand over.
What can go wrong
Intermodulation between IEM transmitters and microphone receivers creates a fault nobody can explain.
How we prevent it
IEMs and microphones are coordinated in a single frequency plan with intermodulation analysis, and IEM antennas are sited away from the receive antennas to limit blocking.

Want this tailored to your event?

Get an itemised quote from Prime AV Solutions within 24 hours — call +91 93093 80958 or WhatsApp our producers.

Published 20 February 2026 by the Prime AV Solutions production team.

FAQ

Wireless Microphones & IEMs Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day: FAQs

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