Saramonic’s WiTalk9 X goes modular, lighter, and smarter for real-world crews

If you’ve ever worked on a shoot where communication breaks down, you’ll know how quickly things fall apart. It doesn’t matter if it’s a film set, a live event, or even a scrappy photo crew trying to coordinate across a location, a solid intercom system is essential.

Saramonic clearly knows this, and with the new WiTalk9 X, it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel so much as fix the things that tend to annoy people most. Things like comfort, flexibility, and actually being able to hear each other when things get noisy. DIYP caught up with Joe Nassar from Saramonic at NAB 2026 to find out more.

A modular headset that is actually modular

The headline feature here is the modular design, and unlike a lot of “modular” claims in the industry, this one seems genuinely useful. The WiTalk9 X can switch between single-ear, dual-ear, and even helmet-mounted configurations in seconds. There’s no need to buy entirely separate systems depending on the job specs, you can just reconfigure the headsets you already have.

That’s a big deal for crews working across different environments, for instance, one day you might be shooting a documentary in the field, the next you’re on a commercial set, and suddenly you need something that works with safety gear. Normally, that means more kit, more cost, and more hassle. Here, it’s just a quick swap.

You can also change ear pads, headbands, and accessories without needing tools. It’s clearly designed by people who know what using this kind of gear in real-life situations involves.

Lightweight enough to forget you’re wearing it

Headsets are one of those things you don’t notice until they become uncomfortable. The single-ear version of the WiTalk9 X comes in at around 172g, including the battery, which is pretty light. Combined with softer padding and less clamp pressure, it’s designed for long days where you don’t want something squeezing your head for 10 hours straight.

There’s also the option to ditch the headset altogether and plug in your own headphones, keeping just the mic. That’s a nice workaround for anyone who hates wearing bulky headgear.

AI noise cancellation

Most intercom systems rely on fairly basic environmental noise cancellation. It works fine for steady background noise, but tends to fall apart when things get unpredictable. The WiTalk9 X takes a different approach with AI-based noise cancellation trained on tens of thousands of real-world sound samples. That means it’s not just filtering out constant noise like traffic or crowd hum, but also reacting to sudden interruptions like barking dogs, random chatter, or someone shouting right next to you.

More importantly, it handles multiple people talking at once far better than traditional systems. Anyone who’s worked on a busy set knows how chaotic comms can get, so this could make a noticeable difference in practice.

Built for bigger teams

Out of the box, the system supports up to nine users in full-duplex communication, which will cover a lot of small to mid-sized crews. But it doesn’t have to stop there. If you add the WiTalk Base, you can scale up to 16 users, or even 64 by linking multiple bases together. You can also split people into groups, so camera, audio, and production can all have their own channels, while still being able to jump between them when needed.

That kind of flexibility is usually reserved for much more expensive systems, so it’s good to see it filtering down into something more accessible.

A quieter frequency band (and better range)

One of the more practical decisions here is the use of the 1.9GHz DECT band instead of the overcrowded 2.4GHz space. We know this only too well when working the floor at trade shows like IBC and NAB, and similarly, if you’ve ever dealt with interference from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or basically every consumer device on set, you’ll understand why that matters. The 1.9GHz band is far less congested, which means more stable connections and fewer dropouts.

It also helps with range, with the system capable of covering up to around 400 metres under ideal conditions. That should be more than enough for most production environments.

Backwards compatibility

If you’re already invested in the original WiTalk9 system, you’re not being left behind, and there’s no planned obsolescence. The WiTalk9 X is backwards compatible, meaning you can mix and match old and new headsets within the same setup. That’s a small detail, but an important one for anyone who’s already spent money building out a system.

Price and Availability

The Saramonic WiTalk9 X system is available to preorder now, from $250.

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