Category: Gear Talk

Welcome back to our series on micing up speakers. Over the last few weeks we have been talking about podium mics and lapels as well as a couple really cheap options if money is just really tight. This week it’s time to talk about my favorite utility headset. If I have a new speaker on stage and I’m not sure which headset to use, this is the one I grab by default to try first. It fits everyone really well, is super durable, and sounds pretty good too. Some of you guessed this last week on Facebook, it’s the Point Source CO-8. I’m going to do my best to not let this be a commercial but because I’m focusing on one headset, it’s going to feel like that no matter what.

When it was released in 2014 it won several awards (including best new headset) and I can understand why. The microphone boom itself is unbreakable and can bend in any direction needed to fit the speakers head and the frame that it attaches to while not as flexible, has several adjustments available to custom fit the headset to the wearers head. One of my favorite features is that it’s basically waterproof/sweatproof. It’s actually IP57 rated so if your pastor wants to use it in the baptismal, you’ll be good! While some see this as another point of failure, I love that the connector on the end is interchangeable by design. This has already saved my butt because we’ve had a failure at the connector and a $20 adapter saved a $450 headset. The headset is also available in the three standard colors (beige, brown, and black) and either omnidirectional or cardioid (if that’s your thing). The biggest application for me is that because the headset can get really small it’s great for kids or folks with smaller heads where our other headsets just can’t even compete because they cannot get small enough to lock into the subject’s head. It also has several clips that I adjust for each person. Unlike the picture however, I take a clip of the side that isn’t being used and place it down by where the microphone passes the ear so it can clip in there and be even less likely to float around during a given event. This also allows the cable to drop naturally in the middle in the back of the head instead of needing to be clipped along the side.

But let’s get down to the brass tax here, what does it sound like? While it doesn’t carry the extremely natural sound that a mic like any DPA headset can achieve it sounds dramatically better than the standard Countryman E6 or any lapel will sound. I’ve included a frequency response curve and as you can see it’s very flat (with a small bump around 5k) so if your system is properly setup and the headset is worn properly, this mic should sound great in your space. I find it to work well for both women and men and have used it on a few kids as well with great success. You will need to high-pass the microphone and make a cut in the mids to pull some throat out of the mic but I usually end up doing this with every mic anyway as it is a remnant of amplifying the human voice. The capsule itself is extremely dynamic and will not clip until it hits 136 dB SPL which really helps it to hold up under hard conditions with very loud speakers who like to yell. Even as an omnidirectional microphone (the variety we use for increased flexibility regarding placement) there is a lot of headroom before feedback on our stage at least so we get plenty of signal to process from anyone’s voice.

Both of these things are all well and good right? Both reliable and decent sounding, there has to be a catch right? Well there is and there isn’t. At $450 you get a great headset and a reasonable price. This price point has allowed me to be able to pick up quite a few of these for different ministries around the church and I know that won’t be wasted because the headset is incredibly durable. In nearly 3 years of using them or so, we have only had one break and that headset was in our busiest room (main auditorium) and the break was in the adapter at the end of the cord so less than $30 later we are back to normal. My only complaint is that the frame that the mic attaches to is getting beat up pretty easy. It’s missing a few chunks of paint in high stress areas but that is to be expected and well, you can’t even see those spots anyway when it’s being worn. I love that they are waterproof so I can clean them very easily with some antibacterial wipe and than rinse it off in the sink to get the residue off if needed. All in all, a great headset and worth the demo if you are in the market for a headset in this price range.

I know, it’s not a DPA, but as I argued last week, having a variety of options will only help you match headsets up to users to get the best sound each week. Fit and finish matter as well and the adjustability of size on this headset make a great option for anyone. What headsets do you use as your go to mic for speakers? Let me know in the comments below, on facebook, or email me at daniel@studiostagelive.com. We heard about this headset through a conversation similar to what I’m writing here so I’d love to hear about what you use so we can continue to expand our arsenal. Tune in next week as we will be talking about top of the line mics used by pros everywhere. Yep, it’s DPA week. Be sure to sign up at this link and you’ll get an email when that post goes live next monday. See you in the comments!

Here we are in week 2 of our Gear Talk series talking about headset microphones. Last week we quickly discussed the types of microphones I prefer to use with speakers and my choice of lapels and podiums along with the pros and cons for each options. This week I wanted to talk about two budget options for headsets to use if money is a bit tight. Both of these options are omnidirectional and both have the option to be dual ear headsets which I would highly recommend for stability and reliability in general.

This first option is a headset my supervisor ended up ordering in a hurry because one of our regional campuses didn’t know they needed so many headsets until basically the last minute. We simply didn’t have time to rent in our normal stock so we had to look for something with great reviews that we could purchase 5 or 6 of. That was the Pyle-Pro PMHMS20. Yes these are $20 headsets (sometimes cheaper) but we were pleasantly surprised at how well they work given the price point. I should note that I actually have my speakers wear them upside down simply because I feel like it fits people better and stays in place much easier. Here is the thing, they could sound a lot better for sure, but they are dual ear and omnidirectional and incredibly cheap so you are getting what you are paying for (it’s not a DPA folks). If you have a drama coming up and using lapels doesn’t seem like an appealing option or you just need a “pyle” of headsets to have around for folks, these aren’t a bad option at all. We actually ended up keeping them in a bin when they were done and we pass them out for use in large group Bible studies and for use in our other tech spaces around the church. They work great and guess what, they are $20 bucks so you don’t mind if one doesn’t come back or is broken. We can comfortably send this out to a camp or on a trip and not worry about a $400 headset getting broken. In my mind, this is just another tool that can find a home and find its’ purpose within a larger arsenal of tools to be used in different scenarios.

This next headset is the one I grew up and basically learned on. When I was younger this seemed to be the industry goto for a long time: the Countryman E6. Now I linked up the dual ear model which rings in just under $500 (perhaps less on other sites) but the single ear version is usually under $350. Earning it a place in the budget category. If you spend time customizing and bending the single ear model to each person, it can and will stick to them reliably but in my experience, very few techs spend enough time doing that. Alternatively, a few pieces of medical tape will help dramatically if time is short (which we all know it can be). Or you can just get the dual ear model. Acoustically, this headset is very middle of the line, which can be a very good thing. It sounds like a tiny condenser so the lows are a bit thin but better placement can help this dramatically. But, it is easy to make sound pretty good and the headset as a whole is great foundation to build on in any arsenal. It also comes with several accessories like windscreens that can help with those unwieldy pops and such. We do keep a stock of these to give out for internal events because they still work great but as they age, we’ve had a few get very brittle because metal can only be flexed so many times before it snaps. This wouldn’t be my very first choice but if I wanted a good place to start, the Countryman is great for that.

So what headset do you guys say is a great budget headset? I’m always looking for new headsets to learn about and keep in the hopper for unique situations. Please use the comments below or on Facebook as a way to let me know what you guys use or have seen so we can get some conversations started. If you have any more questions about either of these headsets or some use case scenarios email me at daniel@studiostagelive.com or drop me a message on Facebook. Next week I’m going to spend the week talking about my utility headset. The one I’ve been turning to a lot. It has a great balance of sonic quality, reliability, and build quality that have made it my go to headset in most situations. If you don’t want to miss it be sure to subscribe to the blog here by following this link. See you all next week!

This week I’m starting a new Gear Talk series on micing up speakers for different events. I spent a lot of my early years without much choice in any given scenario and while what I was doing worked, sometimes pretty effectively, I’ve learned that things could have been better. I see just about everyday in a lot of the groups I’m in people asking about a certain headset or lapel or this or that. What I’d like to reinforce with this series is to accumulate for yourself options. With options you can fit each mic into a given scenario instead of forcing one option on all scenarios. This week I’m going to hit on what I use for podium mics and lapels, next week is my pick for a budget microphones with best utility and best sound the following weeks. I’m going to do my best as well to present you with options of other things I’ve tried or heard of over the last few years as I’ve started to build up my “options.” Probably one of the best things you can do if you are hesitant to buy other microphones is to rent/demo a headset for an event. Don’t take any unnecessary risks but spend the money to try new things, you just never know what you might discover.  

But before I get into the specifics, I wanted to talk about the types of mics we buy. There is a big trend, especially in the church world, to buy cardioid or unidirectional microphones. The idea being that you have a much higher threshold before feedback. However, if you don’t get that mic placed perfectly on someone’s face you’re going to have issues. Ever wonder why you see those crazy EQ curves posted, well they were probably using a cardioid mic that wasn’t placed well so to make it sound clear they had to fake it. That’s why I’ve always preferred omnidirectional microphones. You need to be a bit more careful as far as feedback is concerned but it is incredibly forgiving in terms of placement and can move a bit and not lose it’s clear tone. At that point you are EQing for mostly feedback prevention and slight corrections for tone. I always try to argue for omnidirectional as far as headsets go because it was always my theory that cardioid microphones were developed for situations like intercom and sportscasting in loud stadiums not for speech in an auditorium. If you have any more questions regarding this topic, just hit me up in the comments section and we can touch base.

Sometimes you don’t always have wireless channels available for speakers or it’s a no-fail scenario like a memorial service or wedding, or there is just the need for a mic that a bunch of people can walk up and use than you are going to want to use a podium mic. In my early years I would just make a really tight ORTF pair with some beta58 microphones or just any condenser I had sitting around to create a wide pickup pattern. But, since then, I have seen the light in regards to podium microphones and finally stepped up my game. We have a few options for flexible neck microphones here but the main one we always have on a stand is the Shure MX418. I love it for a number of reasons, the principle of which is just its’ size and design. At 18” long it’s a length suitable for any podium height or depth and allows for the stand to be out of the limelight. It also has a very small and lightweight microphone which helps it basically disappear. When properly gained it’s pickup range is quite large which when coupled with a properly placed and tuned sound system has a huge amount of headroom before feedback (yes it’s a cardioid mic but that works to our advantage here because of how podium mics are setup). Adjustable and flexible necks like this are great for this because you can encourage each speaker to gently adjust the mic to fit each time. It is incredibly priced and I’d encourage you to check it out if you don’t already have a solid podium mic in your arsenal.

At least one lapel is something that everyone should probably have in their drawers just for those unexpected requests or strange situations. There are some speakers that insist on not wearing a headset or simply just ask for a lapel (even though it’s not my form factor of choice) so I believe that you need to have at least one, if not a couple. For me, it’s a pretty simple choice, the Shure WL185 (used to be the WL184 but they’ve updated it and thus changed the model number). It ships with a lot of wireless packages and if you don’t have one, you can pick it up for about $100. For me, this is the sm58 of lapel microphones. I’ve used it at corporate events, memorial services, weddings, and just about anything you can think of. However, because of it’s pattern, be sure to place it very carefully. Face the mic towards the mouth of the subject and place it about six inches away to start with. When it gets too far off axis from the speaker, it’s going to start really struggling. So, if you want something that is a bit more flexible (read omnidirectional), we have a few DPA 4060 lapels that our video teams use for their videos that I’d recommend as well. On a side note, these can also be great string instrument mics with the right clips in a pinch. This could be the only place where I might prefer a cardioid lapel for live speech vs. omnidirectional but I’d probably end up waffling back and forth. Either way, it is worth having at least one lapel and I’d highly recommend one of the two that I just listed.

That’s it for this week. But for my own growth, let me know what podium mics or lapels you use that aren’t listed or perhaps there is a great podium setup you use regularly, jot it down and send me the note. I’d love to learn what works for you guys. Next week, as I mentioned above are my picks for budget headsets that still sound pretty good. As always if you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment below or drop me an email at daniel@studiostagelive.com. If you haven’t already but would like to, follow this link and subscribe to the blog to get an email when new content has been posted. Until next week, happy mixing!