Author: mattwaddell

LONDON, UK, May 28, 2026 – Radiohead returned to live performances after a seven year break in late 2025 with a run of shows at select European arenas. The critically-acclaimed rock group brought a fresh approach to their stage show, with an intimate, ‘in the round’ performance setup bolstered by some of the most impressively crafted visuals and live sound of the group’s career. A key part of this new approach included the group’s extensive use of Sound Devices Astral Wireless kit, specifically the Astral Wireless Guitar System, which provided the sonic fidelity and control flexibility required to finally allow the band to ‘unleash’ after more than four decades of cabled performances.

Invested in sonic excellence

Radiohead and crew take every aspect of their live show’s presentation incredibly seriously, with sound quality being paramount. Although they have an earned reputation for being some of rock’s most adventurous sonic explorers, they still center the experience on human beings making creative sonic choices without the aid of traditional ‘big show’ trappings such as backing tracks or autotune. “The band is very invested in the experience being as real as possible without any ‘fixes’ or gimmicks,” explains Radiohead FOH mixer Simon Hodge. “There’s a lot of pressure for these shows to be amazing given the following that the band have. This is countered by the fact that the band are extremely reasonable people who are very invested in their output and their fans, so they enjoy the challenge to get the best results, rather than deferring to ‘easier’ solutions.”

“We were lucky enough to have time in advance of the tour (and thanks to Brit Row and Sound Devices) to thoroughly audition mics and other kit to make sure that it was the very best it could be for the application.”

Up until recently, the band had largely avoided using wireless systems in line with these principles, preferring simple, analog paths for their fidelity and reliability. When the time came to plan the 2025 shows, Hodge saw an opportunity to try something different. “The technology always needed to catch up in a sonic sense,” he states. “The band doesn’t tend to change how they operate for the sake of changing; they only are interested in upgrades that will serve their musical goals. Although the band have used RF systems for guitars in the past, the opinion was always that it never sounded as good as a cable and would not be adopted. In an arena, you have so many factors affecting the actual sound that go far beyond RF or cables, which is why we spend so much time in advance doing blind tests and ensuring we’re starting from the best place”

“When we became aware of Sound Devices Astral, we realized that the team had gone to some effort to make sure it truly did sound like a jack and cable input with customizable capacitance and impedance,” he continues. “I remember thinking ‘We might finally have something interesting here.’”

Everything in its right place

Radiohead utilizes three Sound Devices Astral ARX32 Wireless Receivers, 42 Astral TX Digital Wireless Bodypack Transmitters, and six Astral HH Wireless Handheld Microphones for their stage show. The Astral TX units were chosen for their compact size and flexibility, enabling the crew to utilize them across the show with microphone or line inputs as well as the Astral Guitar Cable. The Astral Guitar Cable proved to be the solution to the band’s sonic concerns, with its selectable input impedance (100k, 1M, or 10M ohms, matching popular amplifier specifications) and adjustable cable capacitance (0 pF to 1500 pF in 25 pF steps, corresponding to typical guitar lengths) providing the required sonic fidelity to match their cable rigs.

“After listening to it myself, we brought it into Jonny [Greenwood]’s studio and did some blind tests between Astral and their preferred cables,” Hodge says. “We all listened and even the most cynical guitar techs were impressed! The quality of the audio path was obvious, and it wasn’t changing the sound at all. The packs also auto-detect the cable, allowing us to easily adjust them in the receiver menu or UI as needed per instrument.”

In addition to preserving the sonic fidelity of the band’s carefully crafted guitar sounds, Astral Wireless also enabled a more seamless approach to the significant amount of guitar changes taking place over the course of a set. Hodge and Radiohead RF Tech Matt Hayes designed a custom solution which fed the Astral ARX32 inputs into a Prodigy Audio Processor via Dante and custom Streamdeck controllers to provide easy accessibility to both the band and their respective guitar techs. “The band travels with dozens of guitars, Ed O’Brien himself had 32 on this run,” Hodge states. “This was the first time we could have all 32 at once accessible and easily switchable in the same interface, a choice that either the musician or tech can make as needed.”

“The need for quick, seamless changes in a live show is incredibly important and often more challenging when done in an ‘in the round’ setup as we had,” he continues. “The ease of use in the Astral UI allowed us to manipulate the signal flow seamlessly, which worked really well for the logistics of the show and allowed us total control with no compromises.”

With stellar reviews of the tour and rumors of future outings as early as 2027, Hodge is eager to see the next iteration of live shows that are to come. “It was an excellent experience for both the band and the fans because the setup allowed it to be intimate while still giving us excellent control of all the sonic and visual details that are so important,” he says. “We are all very invested in that personal experience and anything added only makes the cut if it’s guaranteed to do that.”

“The Astral Guitar System ended up being a gamechanger for us, and the band have been quite happy with the results on stage.”

All photos courtesy of Alex Lake
www.twoshortdays.com • Instagram: @twoshortdays

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 29, 2026 – Lorde launched the Ultrasound World tour in late 2025 to promote her latest album, Virgin. The ambitious run of arena concerts across North America, Europe, and Oceania has seen the artist performing to some of the largest venues and crowds of her career thus far. To meet the extensive RF challenges presented by this global run of dates, Lorde’s audio team adopted an end-to-end wireless setup of Sound Devices Astral equipment to ensure flexibility and flawless performance in FOH, Monitoring, and backstage communications.

Setting the stage

The origins of the tour’s comprehensive wireless setup came about during rehearsals in May of 2025. Veteran Live Audio Engineer Kevin Glendinning and Tour Production Manager Robin Scott sought to develop an RF plan that would provide them with the adaptability, scalability, and reliability required. In addition to Glendinning on Monitors, the team consisted of RF Engineer Stacey Handley, Front of House Engineer Philip Harvey, and Systems Engineer Chris Demonbreun.

“We knew that we had to go beyond what would be considered a ‘standard’ deployment to provide ourselves with the most flexible RF toolbox,” Glendinning explains. “We had to prepare for large and diversely-configured venues, a very active and mobile on-stage performer in Ella [Lorde], and the ability to deal with a larger-than-normal amount of signal congestion all while providing pristine audio quality with the least amount of latency.”

“We tested Sound Devices Astral at her Glastonbury set and were immediately impressed with the fact that we could get the sound of a wired mic out of a wireless system,” he continues. “All the stars aligned and we recognized that Astral could provide us with everything we needed in all areas that required RF.”

“We’re very fortunate that Ella’s management is very audio-savvy and immediately understood what could be achieved with the right ingredients and the right chefs in the kitchen, so-to-speak,” he concludes. “They saw the value of adopting Astral wholesale and doing it right. That absolutely set our team up for success.”

The ultimate end-to-end RF toolbox

Handley approaches RF system design from an experienced, problem-solving mindset — looking to adopt a flexible set of tools that can quickly and reliably tackle any challenges that may arise. Building the tour’s system around Sound Devices Astral and its SpectraBand technology gave her the ability to easily adapt to every venue on the Ultrasound World Tour without compromise in sound or frequency strength.

“Looking at the size and scope of the venues and the fact that our initial run took us through some of the most heavily RF congested areas of the United States, my top priority was having maximum control, flexibility, and signal quality within the available frequencies,” she says. “With Astral this is easily achievable. SpectraBand’s tuning range of 169 – 1525 Mhz gives us ample frequency room to work within, and because it works globally we can take advantage of this as the tour continues to other regions of the world without changing equipment.”

Handley also cites the ease of use of Astral in providing critical information she needs quickly and easily, something that is not only useful to her own workflow but also to that of her colleagues and the performers who are not as well-versed in RF.

“I find that my workflow tends to revolve around gathering evidence and troubleshooting — I like to know exactly how things work and why things happen,” she explains. “Astral’s easily accessible displays and controls create an added layer of trust and reassurance that is invaluable on big productions like this, and makes it very easy to explain all of this to the people I work for in straight-forward terms.”

Astral out front

For the show’s primary RF needs, Handley utilizes the Sound Devices ARX32 Wireless Receiver with Astral HH wireless microphone for Lorde’s vocals. The team customized her Astral HH to ensure a comfortable weight and straight-forward control. “I run all of Ella’s frequencies in the first tuning band, making the most of the quad diversity,” Handley says. “I then place all of our auxiliary frequencies, such as talk-backs, in tuning band 3, giving me the flexibility to move them independently from day to day without any difficulty.”

“Sound-wise, Astral HH is transparent, clear, and makes minimal noise,” states Glendinning. “It has been a complete no-brainer for us to use because of that and everyone has been super happy with the results both out front and backstage. We customized Ella’s Astral HH with a nickel-plated shell from Rebel and a control ring switch to dial it exactly to what we needed cosmetically and control-wise.”

“There is a part of the show where Ella sits down for a quieter, more relaxed segment using a cable microphone with the exact same capsule,” he continues. “Believe it or not, she and I prefer the HH RF to that of the wired mic. The clarity, high frequency detail, and overall detail sound signature of the Astral HH beat out the cable mic that we all reference as the basis of true, direct vocal input – something I have never, nor heard anyone, ever say when A-Bing RF to hardwired inputs!”

Behind the scenes with a winning system

In addition to handling all of the production’s performance needs, Astral Wireless also was utilized for crew communications and testing and measurement for each venue. Astral TX Bodypacks are deployed for talkback amongst the crew and between the band members.

“We recognized that having it all in one system was a winning strategy once we’d been educated on all of the tools available in the Astral ecosystem,” shares Glendinning. “We’re all on in-ears and we have the Astral TX hooked up to our DPA Lav Mics  with a momentary switch so we can easily talk to each other, the band, or Ella without any issue. On a production of this scale it saves an incredible amount of time and allows us to be anywhere we need to be without having to be tied to the console.”

“The days of screaming across the stage are done,” he chuckles. “The layout is smooth and easy to use, and we’ve adapted to the convenience of it very quickly.”

On the testing and measurement side, Clair Global Systems Engineer Demonbreun uses an Astral ARX8 Wireless Receiver and Astral TX transmitters. “The Sound Devices Astral system is the best unit on the market I’ve used for system measurement,” he states. “The frequency response is super flat, and the phase response is ideal for measurements. I love having the capability of remotely controlling the transmitters from the ARX8 or my phone with the Astral Remote.”

“I’m taking anywhere from 20 to 30 measurements in arenas and sheds and upwards of 50 plus in stadiums, so battery life is also very important,” he continues. “The Astral transmitters have great battery life with the Sound Devices rechargeable batteries. Also, if I need to stop taking measurements for a while, I can remotely turn off the transmitters to save battery. The Astral devices are some of the best pieces of gear in my arsenal at FOH and making sure the system is properly tuned.”

“Typically on a show of this size you have a laundry list of worries when the lights go down – there are so many important details that need to be just right to make sure everything runs perfectly,” Glendinning adds. “I can honestly say that with Astral, we don’t have to worry about the RF side of things anymore. The technology is solid, the equipment is high-quality, it offers flexibility and redundancy that makes problem-solving straightforward, and we have the backing of the company every step of the way.”

“Astral is a proven entity for us. It checks every box and has contributed to making this tour a really successful run that we’re incredibly proud to be a part of.”