Midrange headworn mic

[revbobuk]

Folks - if money was no object, I'd get myself a DPA 4066 headworn mic. My day job(!) is as a minister of a church. Money is a consideration, however, and they are £500+. So up until now, I've used the CPC/Pulse mics, and treated them as fairly disposable. But they don't last long - they get crackly after a while, and the finish isn't great. Sound is pretty good, but not excellent. What can you expect for what are they, £40 at the moment?

 

So here's the question. Is there anything in between? All the major radio mic manufacturers sell a headset, but which ones are just re-badged mics no better than the Pulse, and which ones are actually significant improvements? I look at the Line6 and the Rode, and the mouldings and turned parts look so similar to the Pulse that I get suspicious. Shure are clearly different, as are the AKG ones - but which ones are good value, and well made?

 

I'm looking for a both-ear with a TA-4 (mini-XLR for Shure) connector, omni capsule, discreet. Speech, not singing. And I'd rather pay £1-200 than £5-600! Any suggestions?

[Stuart91]

My experience (based on a handful of our better-heeled customers) is that expensive headsets don't seem to last any longer than the cheap ones. What I'd like is a headset with a slightly thicker cable and better retention so that it doesn't break the first time someone manhandles it...

[laolu]

Have you tried Mipro? They are locally (Taiwan) made and cost around NT$ 2000 here (about 40 - 50 bucks in your currency). I am not sure they are available where you live. I am using them for several years now with students, and they are not very careful with them, let me tell you. Speech quality is quite OK. They come with a (female) 4-pin Mini XLR.

 

http://www.mipro.com...en.html?gid=183

 

Norbert

[cedd]

I still use extra cheap Chinese ones but did briefly demo one of the microphone madness ones. Quite liked it! Not particularly adjustable - you've got to bend them rather than slide/adjust the boom, but they're nice and robust because of that.

 

I'd steer away from the Rode one. A good friend bought one to try and on its' very first use the boom retaining clip broke whilst being fitted (and it had been loosened correctly and wasn't being mishandled). We put the boom on a Cpc headset frame and continued the run. It certainly sounded nice. He used it again last week and on its' first use it came back with the plug pulled off of the end of the cable. Again, we don't believe this was misuse knowing the person involved. To say it's a headset with a Kevlar reinforced cable and an impressive warranty, we were really unimpressed!

[revbobuk]

My experience (based on a handful of our better-heeled customers) is that expensive headsets don't seem to last any longer than the cheap ones. What I'd like is a headset with a slightly thicker cable and better retention so that it doesn't break the first time someone manhandles it...

I've just got a set of the SoundMagic E10 earbuds. The cable on them is brilliant - really strong, but not too thick, and resists tangling. Would work really well on headset mics!

[Sound Man]

At our church we use a Trantec HM-22 headworn mic. We're happy with the sound quality.

[ChrisBogg]

We have started selling and stocking a a mic from Australia. a brand called JAG. the capsule is an IMX 6 and is the same capsule as on the county man. They list at around £200 plus vat. They are very adjustable just like a DPA boom and sound very good. They have replaceable cables and adaptors.

 

Im away on a show at the min but would be happy to send you a demo unit from our hire stock if your interested?

 

Chris

[Pete Alcock]

Dear Rev,

 

I know exactly what you mean, and I must have tried about six different manufacturers of headsets including JTS, Proel, CPC etc. They all give pleasing audio results, but none are really robust enough.

 

Recently I came acorss Mogan in the "technologies for Worship" magazine (US). I bought a Mogan Earset for about £100 and it seems to be a much hardier alernative to a headset. Audio quality is excellent. Not sure if it's in the Countryman/DPA league as I've never had the chance to use one.

 

Mogan Earset

 

Trust this helps,

 

PA.

[revbobuk]

Chris - thanks for the offer; I'd be glad to try one out. PM me when you are around.

 

Pete - never used a single sided mic like that, always had one of the over the ear style. Do they feel secure? Whenever we've used the single side Pulse ones, we've also taped down for security with Micropore.

[Pete Alcock]

Chris - thanks for the offer; I'd be glad to try one out. PM me when you are around.

 

Pete - never used a single sided mic like that, always had one of the over the ear style. Do they feel secure? Whenever we've used the single side Pulse ones, we've also taped down for security with Micropore.

 

They're pretty secure, though I guess it depends on how big your ears are. If you'd like to try it PM me and I'll stick it in the post. No immediate uses for it coming up.

 

ATB, PA.

[IJWesley]

We have started selling and stocking a a mic from Australia. a brand called JAG. the capsule is an IMX 6 and is the same capsule as on the county man. They list at around £200 plus vat. They are very adjustable just like a DPA boom and sound very good. They have replaceable cables and adaptors.

 

+1 for the JAG. We have been using them for our community theatre group for the last 6 years, and the company we hire gear from uses them exclusively. They are designed with theatre work in mind, so are highly adjustable, and also very secure. Sound quality is very good. As noted above, all the components are interchangeable (I've just spent a day cleaning frames and replacing clips). They also manufacture small versions for children.

 

Ian

[Jon Wiles]

Chris......

Do you have a link to the JAG audio mics please..

I can't seem to find them anywhere.

 

Cheers

[revbobuk]

Many thanks to Pete for lending me the Mogan to try - and I've found it really good. Not quite as secure on the head as a 2-ear design, so I wouldn't use it where there was lots of movement, but in ordinary use perfectly OK, and much better than the single ear ones that just use a loop of plastic-covered wire around the ear. The replaceable cable seems very sturdy, and I like the screw fitting at the headset end - very neatly done. The sound is particularly nice for me - I have a voice with a lot of low end, and the CPC/Pulse headsets don't really handle that well. This is much more solid at the bass end; quite a high output capsule (I'm using it with a Trantec s5 system) and very clear top end. Well worth the premium over the Pulse ones for a preacher. And a rather posh zip case too.

[irishsound]

Samson SE50

 

These have worked great for me. I have 10 of these and 25 of the countryman for a traveling show choir group. They stand up a lot longer than the countryman, plus they have the rubber ear part that helps keep it in place as they are moving and dancing around. They come with the adapters to be used with virtually any body pack including the t4 for Shure. To the untrained ear you won't notice a difference.

 

Hope this helps.

[revbobuk]

That looks nice - I like the retaining band idea, and the fact that it comes with Hirose and locking 3.5mm as well as Mini-XLR. And it's a 2.5mm capsule, which is nice and small. Can't say I like that the conversion to other connectors is by adaptors, which looks like a kludge. And they seem keenly priced - Studiospares stock them.