Mark Burnett Productions’ tremendously successful reality show The Apprentice has permeated the national psyche and imbued the previously dreaded phrase, “you’re fired!” with campy humor. It has lifted business magnate Donald Trump and his collection of comely assistants to otherwise inexplicable celebrity, and, above all, has helped cement the reality show format in the 21st century. Now in its seventh season, “The Celebrity Apprentice” features high-profile celebrities competing to raise money and awareness for important causes. National rental and pro audio sales company Audio Specialties Group (also known as Bexel ASG) has secured a steady stock of Sennheiser wired and wireless equipment for the show from its inception. The current season uses seventy Sennheiser wireless channels in the Trump Tower and throughout the “RF jungle” of New York City.

The season begins with sixteen contestants. A large number of wireless channels are needed to cover Donald, his assistant, the contestants, and everyone that they interact with around the city, throughout Trump Tower, and even in their living quarters. The show’s audio supervisor, Ronnie Ali, requested an impressive complement of Sennheiser equipment to ensure reliable high-fidelity performance throughout taping. It includes twenty-six MKE 2 Gold lavalier mics, twenty-six SK 50 body-pack transmitters, eighty-eight EK 3041 portable receivers (four each for twenty ENG bags with eight spare), and ten rack-mounted EM 3532 dual-channel receivers. In addition, the show will use Sennheiser antenna systems including four A 2003 and four A 1031 U antennas and an ASA 3000 wideband active antenna splitter. Two Sennheiser NET 1 wireless channel monitoring systems simplify the management of so many channels.

In addition to providing equipment, Bexel ASG / Audio Specialties Group designs and manufactures solutions for unique client needs. In the case of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Ali required an antenna system for proper coverage across the many floors of Trump Tower used by the show. Their ASG MAS 101 antenna combiner/splitter ably accomplishes the task. Ali will also use a number of wired “surveillance” mics throughout the building, including Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun mics. As in previous years, he requested three eight-channel TRUE Systems Precision 8 mic preamps because of their remarkable fidelity and compact size. The Aphex 454 head pod headphone amp and the Fostex DV-824’s are used in the control room monitoring and round out the fixed, wired portion of equipment list.

“The show’s audio supervisor is a big Sennheiser adherent,” said Gary Vahling, rental manager at Audio Specialties Group. “It’s a combination of the sound quality and the RF flexibility and reliability. The NET 1 systems allow for complete real-time analysis of the entire wireless system and guarantee that things run smoothly and predictably at Trump Tower. The overall flexibility in finding open channels and the robustness of those channels once they’re found makes travel throughout New York City possible. As for the wired Sennheiser mics, Ronnie loves the sound quality and the ease with which he can hide them and still get good coverage.”

For breakout groups in which contestants head out into the city to complete assignments, each of the twenty ENG bags is outfitted with a Wendt X5 mixer, in addition to the previously-mentioned Sennheiser EK 3041 receivers. Noted Vahling, “There are 2 types of ENG audio bags on this show. One is the standard Wendt X5, 4- Sennheiser EK-3041’s, etc. The other is the Sound Devices 442 Mixer, Sound Devices 744T recorder, and the EK-3041 receivers, Ronnie uses to record Donald in the field as well as his judges.”

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Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in 60 countries around the world with U.S. headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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