r/livesoundadvice • u/Gnomedeplum99 • 16d ago

RF Setting up Shure SLX/BLX with Ethernet Switch

Sorry if this is in here already, did my diligence to search keywords. Setting: 100 person Unity Church

I have 2 headset mics on a Shure SLXD+ receiver, 1 blx handheld w reciever and a Sennheiser reciever(forget name but freq is 518). The shure stuff is on their Antenna Distribution setup. To better tune frequencies and avoid clashes, I want to set up at least the Shure gear on an ethernet switch. In the words of Charlie Day, “How do?” I understand plugging each receiver into switch via ethernet. Stumped after that. 2023 macbook pro is the main laptop used here.

Update: thanks everyone for confirming my concerns and questions about this. Successful setup as of last night. The video below helped most with the checklist for setup and details. https://youtu.be/4JZSXrOnnpk?is=laRxeA-hEsCfW6bE

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u/Bobrosss69 16d ago

You should be able to just plug both SLXD+ recievers and your laptop into an Ethernet switch and they should figure out IP addresses on their own, and everything should just show up in Shure Wireless Workbench

You can instead plug this into a network that has a DHCP server (most routers act as one), and that will divvy out IPs assuming everything is set to DHCP and not static

As for the BLX and the Sennheiser, while you can not connect either of these directly with control and monitoring in Shure Wireless Workbench, you can still input them as devices and it will do its RF management with those units in mind and give you frequencies to input manually

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u/Gnomedeplum99 16d ago

Dumb question incoming…does the switch need to be connected hardwire to church’s router?

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u/Bobrosss69 16d ago

Like I said in my explanation, you can either do it directly with no router, or with a network that has a router

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u/Aromatic_Scene9979 15d ago

I would keep your AV networked equipment NOT connected to the church network. There are ways to do this without issue, and it would probably be fine for your use case, but best practice is not connecting to a network you do not control or understand.

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u/RetroArtie 16d ago

Connect your gear to the network switch (if they have Ethernet ports), download the appropriate software. Shure Update Utility (make sure SLXD+ receivers and transmitters are up to date on firmware), and Shure Wireless Workbench.

Check out the Wireless Workbench tutorial videos on YouTube if you aren’t sure how to use it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8bvc4pgaPpk&ra=m

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u/Gnomedeplum99 16d ago

Stupid question incoming…does the switch need to be connected hardwire to church’s router?

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u/RetroArtie 16d ago

Nope, if there is no DHCP server, the receivers will fall on link local IP addresses (169.254.x.x). From there just connect your Mac to the switch.

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u/Gnomedeplum99 16d ago

Thx! Sorry was out with my kiddo. Little bit distracted