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Signal fidelity and control flexibility streamline operations for forward-thinking guitar band
- Radiohead utilize Astral ARX32 Wireless Receivers, Astral TX Wireless Transmitters, and Astral HH Wireless Handheld Microphones on recent run of European Arena shows
- Astral Guitar System sounds “as good as a cable” and passes muster through intensive testing and blind shoot-outs with wired equipment
- Astral Wireless control flexibility ensures seamless transitions between guitars during live performances
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, IM, 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 game changer for us, and the band have been quite happy with the results on stage.”
All photos courtesy of Alex Lake, @twoshortdays
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