This summer saw the final All-Star baseball game of the century played at Fenway Park in Boston, MA. The three days of festivities (July 11th, 12th, and 13th) culminated in an American League victory in a game described (to the dismay of home-run fans) as "all about the pitching." Behind the scenes, Lee Kalish led Rock City Sound, a sound reinforcement company specializing in corporate and special events based in Red Hook, NY, in the overall in-park event-related entertainment sound reinforcement. Kalish then hired Kevin Sanford of Wireless First, a Boston, MA contractor, to handle the RF coordination and frequency allocations for the heavily used wireless microphone technology.

Rock City Sound mixed from atop the roof along the first base line, giving them a birds eye view of the stadium at the expense of 300ft transmission lines. Perched on the roof with them was a gaggle of antennas (including the Sennheiser SAS-116 Antenna Distribution Systems and two A2003 wideband UHF receiver antennas) connecting to eight Sennheiser EM 1031-U receivers, used to interface with Sennheiser SKM 3072-U, SKM 5000 handheld microphones and a number of ME-3005E capsules. About their reliance on Sennheiser, Kalish commented, "Sennheiser wireless always exceeds our specifications, even in extremely demanding situations. Its simply the best unit out there." All Sennheiser wireless systems (the 1000, 3000 and 5000 series) are optimally matched and compatible making it simple to add-on as needed. This is especially important since both ESPN and FOX were also using a large number of Sennheiser wireless microphones.

In addition to the Sennheiser wireless, Kalish had to contend with thirty-two wireless intercom frequencies, six in-ear monitoring systems, a horde of walkie-talkies, and incipient HDTV bands, making the frequency allocations tricky. Sanford stepped in to assist, contacting ESPN, FOX, and the local FTC to allot frequencies for both the Rock City Sound and FOX. "Naturally, when we got on site, we discovered some of the Äopen frequencies were occupied and had to search out new ones," recalled Sanford. While Kalish and Sanford preset most of the frequencies, Sean Kelly, also of Wireless First, oversaw real-time frequency adjustments via the help of a laptop at game time.

Rock City Sound rounded out their setup with a Midas XL3, a Crest X8 Monitor Board, an XTA Digital EQ rack, digital crossover networks, Crown amplifiers, and twenty-four VDOSC speakers hung in two stacks in the left-center field area as a point source. All audio was delayed 1/2 second, necessitating the use of in-ear monitors and aiding the Sennheiser microphones in a performance free of feedback.

ESPN aired the first two evenings events that included a celebrity hitting challenge and the home run derby. Both in-stadium interviews and play-by-play announcements used on-field Sennheiser wireless microphones. On the night of the actual game, the Moffetts sung the Canadian national anthem and Donna Summer sung the United States national anthem using Sennheiser 3072-U Series handheld microphones. FOX aired the final game, at the beginning of which Kevin Costner announced the "All-Century" team with the same 3072-U microphone. FOX also authorized the placement of microphones in the bases, eliciting an enthusiastic viewer response. Said one ardent fan, "its nice to hear the grunts as the players slide in."

Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is the acknowledged world leader in microphone technology, RF-wireless and infrared sound transmission, headphone transducer technology, and most recently in the development of active noise-cancellation.

The above images and article are from Sennheiser's web site