Sennheiser's Spectera makes its debut at Glastonbury Festival
Sennheiser's Spectera Shines at Glastonbury 2025's Arcadia Dance Music Area
At this year's Glastonbury Festival, Sennheiser's Spectera wireless system took centre stage on the Arcadia dance music area, providing reliable, high-quality wireless audio coverage and in-ear monitoring across an exceptionally large and complex area.
The Spectera system was chosen to meet the unique demands of the Dragonfly installation, a massive 13-meter-long metallic sculpture that is augmented by 360-degree lighting, immersive sound system, lasers, projection mapping, and LED panels. Sennheiser worked closely with Arcadia over the year leading up to the festival to customize this solution, culminating in a successful integration that allowed performers to use advanced in-ear monitoring with clear, interference-free sound.
The performance takes place suspended above the audience inside a near 100m diameter ring of PA towers, making in-ear monitors essential for performers. To ensure seamless wireless audio transmission, a pair of omni-directional active antennas were installed inside the helicopter, with the EW-DX microphones operating exclusively within the Dragonfly body and running analogue signals to an SD rack. A second antenna was installed at the structure entrance with direct line of sight to the performers, connected via a 100m ethercon run.
Six Spectera SEK bodypacks provided IEM mixes for DJ and MC monitoring, as well as featured artists. Four channels of EW-DX handheld transmitters, equipped with Sennheiser's MM 435 capsules, handled DJ and MC vocal duties in a hybrid side-by-side configuration. The coverage of the entire Arcadia arena, as well as the stage, was flawless.
Rob Cook, FOH engineer for the Arcadia Stage, installed a local antenna at FOH that covered the entire Arcadia field. This antenna, along with the one inside the helicopter structure and the one at the front-of-house position, provided range extension across the festival.
Sennheiser's Spectera provided wireless audio coverage for the first time at Glastonbury Festival's Arcadia dance music area. The base station for the Spectera was located at FOH and connected directly to the mixing console. Both antennas transmitted and received on the same TV channel, providing seamless, dropout-free coverage across the field, including catering areas.
The success of the Spectera deployment marked a significant evolution in the wireless technology supporting Arcadia’s performance art collective, enabling pristine audio delivery in one of the world’s most challenging radio frequency (RF) environments. The system's power and pristine clarity allowed each vocal artist to immediately feel comfortable and connected in such a unique environment.
In conclusion, Sennheiser Spectera enabled seamless wireless audio transmission and in-ear monitoring for Arcadia’s Dragonfly stage at Glastonbury 2025, addressing complex RF challenges and supporting the spectacular live artistic performances.
- The Arcadia dance music area at Glastonbury 2025 showcased innovative gadgets, as Sennheiser's Spectera wireless system integrated artificial-intelligence-powered in-ear monitoring, providing clear audio for performers and overcoming RF challenges.
- At Glastonbury 2025's Arcadia dance music area, the immersive experience extended beyond 360-degree lighting, lasers, and projection mapping, with Sennheiser's Spectera technology delivering high-quality audio through wireless projection of clear, interference-free sound.
