Hollyland Solidcom C1 Pro Intercom System for Film Crews – a Closer Look

by Alex Hohenthaner10 days ago

At this year’s NAB, we got the chance to take a closer look at the previously announced Hollyland Solidcom C1 Pro intercom system. In our video, Randall Stewart from Hollyland talks Graham through the system.

Before, many intercom headset systems with noise cancellation had the problem that as soon as you started whispering into them, the system would think the whisper was part of the background noise and filter it out. Hollyland has solved this problem by including a mic on the outside of the headset to pick up surrounding noise. This makes it easier for the Environmental Noise Cancellation (ENC) system to distinguish between language that should be transmitted and background that can be canceled out.

Upgrades to the previous version

Further upgrades to the previous version include a brown leather inlay in the headpiece. The Mute button on the side of the headset can now be pressed up to mute – if held longer it activates the push-to-talk functionality. 

Numbers of headsets – from small to large teams

It is possible to pair up to 8 headsets with one designated as the master. Battery life for the master will suffer and be down to about 5 hours, while the rest of the headsets will last up to 10 hours. The replaceable batteries of the devices can be charged to 100% in 2.5 hours. Hollyland says that the range from the master headset will be around 1,100 feet in every direction. The master headset is distinguished by a red nameplate on the outside; the remote units can be identified by their blue nameplates. 

To connect more headsets – up to a maximum of 27 – you need wired hub units that can be daisy-chained.

Tech specs

Here are all the technical specifications for the headsets according to Hollyland:

• Transmission Range: 1,100ft (350m) LOS
• Frequency Band:
  • 1880-1900 MHz: Europe, South Africa, much of Asia, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand (10 channels)
  • 1880-1895 MHz: Taiwan (8 channels)
  • 1893-1906 MHz: Japan (J-DECT)
  • 1910-1920 MHz: Brazil (10 channels)
  • 1910-1930 MHz: Much of Latin America excluding Brazil
  • 1920-1930 MHz: USA and Canada
• Modulation Mode: GFSK
• RX Sensitivity: <-90dBm
• Battery Capacity: 700mAh（2.66Wh）
• Operation Time:
  • Remote headset: >10 hours (ENC ON)
  • Master headset: >5 hours (ENC ON with 5 remote headsets)
  • Master headset: >4 hours (ENC ON with 7 remote headsets)
• Charging Time: About 2.5 hours
• Frequency Response:
  • ENC OFF: 150Hz–7kHz (fluctuation range: ±6dB)
  • ENC ON: 150Hz–7kHz
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 71±2dB@94dBSPL,1kHz
• Distortion: <1%@94dBSPL, 150Hz–7kHz
• Microphone Type: Electret
• Input SPL: >115dBSPL
• Output SPL: 94±3dBSPL (@94dBSPL, 1kHz)
• ENC: 20dB±2
• Net Weight: About 170g (6oz) with the battery included for each wireless headset
• Temperature Range:
  • 0℃ to 45℃ (working condition)
  • –10℃ to 60℃ (storage condition)

Pricing and availability

The Hollyland Solidcom C1 Pro system is available right now. A hub unit by itself is $1,799.

These are the kits that are available:

• Solidcom C1 Pro-3S: $979
• Solidcom C1 Pro-4S: $1,299
• Solidcom C1 Pro-6S: $1,949
• Solidcom C1 Pro-8S: $2,549

Each kit includes a battery charger, two batteries per headset, a carrying case, one USB-A to USB-C cable for firmware updates, and one microphone cushion/over-ear cushion/on-ear foam cushion per headset.

Do you often work in large teams that need intercom systems? Is this solution interesting to you? Let us know in the comments below!