PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic headset mike for live performance

I'd like to save mike stand transport, and be able to turn my head keeping right distance to mike. Doesn't have to be wireless, my guitar is also connected by cable. Has anyone worked with the AKG C 520? Is it comparable to the AKG C 1000 regular mike? Other recommendations?

Appreciate your advice.
- Steve

Crown CM 311

Countryman Isomax E6 - used them for over a decade (at least the Isomax line) get the thicker cable. Pricey, but outstanding sound and comfort.

-Scott

Both suggestions have great reviews - the Crown is about twice as expensive in Germany as in the States. Well, I hope to visit my family next year ...

I was hoping for a less expensive product that is dynamite for the money. One technically-minded friend of mine says that the specifications companies make so much hullabaloo about are largely irrelevant for a live situation. I guess you can only trust experience - your own or a trusted advisor's.

This forum has a good track record.

Singadream,

I can speak from personal experience as an A/V engineer at our church that the countryman IsoMax series gives excellent performance in a live situation for feedback rejection, sound quality, and durability - as long as you take reasonable precautions with them.

We've had them on performers from kids under 10 to adults over 70, pastors, singers, actors, you name it. Very reliable.

We've used them with belt-packs from Sennheiser, Audio Technica, and Samson. Of those 3, I would recommend the Audio Technica belt-packs.

I also used them in my weekend job doing A/V training for a company, Portable Church Industries ( www.portablechurch.com )

We've never used them wired in directly. In our situation, we are always looking for mobility. I understand that this is different than your situation.

Probably the most interesting application I've seen of the use of a countryman was on my job with Portable Church. That church had the isomax straightened out and mounted to the inside of the temple piece of the pastor's reading glasses that he used each week from the pulpit. The mic/business end of the isomax was right at the joint of where the lens part of the frame joins the temple piece at the hinge. They are light enough that you can do that kind of thing with them.

But they are pricey. I'm sure there are probably cheaper, wired alternatives than the isomax that would fit your situation.

Thanks, Scott. Mobility is cool, so are high-end products. But at the moment, my venues are small cafés with fairly slight amplification to balance out the louder and quieter instruments and voices. Gig equipment can get lost, damaged or stolen, especially in a big city like Berlin. But if your equipment has lasted that long with so many users, that's a good sign.

The Crown is a condenser mic and needs phantom power from the console or you can install a 9v battery in the belt pack. As well as the XLR connector there's also an 1/8 phone jack meant to go to a wireless but can be used as input to a sound card. I used one for years.

Hi,

Looking at your stated spec, I would recommend that you not go for a condenser element headset mic, but rather take a look at a dynamic cardioid headset mic.

*It will respond more like the kind of mic you are already used to using. The proximity effect of bass for male vocal will simply be smoother to use. By adjusting the position of closeness to your mouth, you can get that low-end thang that we male vocalists love about dynamic mics. Translates to punch.

*NO BATTERIES. No battery pack needed, no need to worry about obtaining or charging a battery for the next gig, or a battery running down in the middle of a performance.

Fortunately, Audio Technica makes and markets a nice one.

Audio-Technica PRO 8H

*Lower cost than equal quality condenser mic headset.

*No batteries nor Phantom Power needed.

*Condenser Mic Elements are prone to humidity/moisture damage that is irreversible. One drop of rainwater, one spray of beer or saliva, can KILL the element permanently. Not so with the good old dynamic mic elements.

*Dynamic Mic element can typically be easier to use and will sound better, regardless of what the "audiophiles" rant about. Written specs are not real world and very often are borderline in actual effectiveness.

*When performing, simplicity and ease-of-use is always a consideration.

*This model uses the neodymium magnet design, which means that they are typicaly LOUD microphones, generating a larger voltage swing for the amount of energy applied to the diaphragm. Also are good for "more gain before feedback" -- which, while an argument in itself, really does help somewhat to keep the intelligibility and punch up and the feedback down a wee bit.

A problem when using a headworn mic and operating your own sound is that the mic is right next to your mouth at all times and is therefore always "hot". This can even be a problem when you have a soundman at the board, as he will not always be able to turn you up and down at appropriate times.

I recommend the use of a device like the ProcoSound Cough Drop, which is a silent switchbox that can be worn like a belt pack. Push the button to cough, or talk to a fellow bandmember, or respond to someone from the crowd who will come up and talk with you between songs without having what you say being amplified to the entire crowd. IMO this is an essential item to have with any type of headset mic. Get one before "blurt" can cost you embarassment or a gig, man. You know what I mean (grin).

Proco Cough Drop

Before you ask, no, the Cough Drop is not just some simple switch in a box. That would make a thump or CLICK every time it is operated because mic lines are so sensitive by nature, needing to amplify the few milliVolts that a microphone makes from your voice. The ProCo Cough Drop contains circuitry that prevents that thump.

The link I provided also has the schematic at the bottom of the .pdf file, you can see that the circuit is not active, meaning no batteries needed, and that it consists of only a capacitor, a resistor and a pushbutton switch. It is easy for the handyman who knows a wee bit about electronics soldering to BUILD one of these into a small beltpack type case if necessary. Don't leave home without it.


--Mac

The Crown has that built in switch. I really liked the mic.

Well, I asked for some ideas, and sure got some. The Audio Technica certainly has a sweet price. But they've got quite a line in headset mikes now, only gradually going up in price ... a form of torture for people who have trouble making decisions.

Normally I'd be all for the dynamic mike for live, but with the (keyboard) amp I'm using now even a good stand mike (I have the Electrovoice N/D767a) doesn't come through with nearly as natural a sound as the middle-class AKG condenser mike (C 1000). That's why that mike is my reference at this moment.

For a lot of recording I like the Electrovoice better than a condenser - it's kinder about filtering out crud in my voice and saves a lot of painstaking EQ adjustment and re-adjustment. Also it's not sensitive to the poor acoustics of a small recording room.

Maybe a dynamic mike needs a pre-amp for this amp. I guess there's never an end point when it comes to trying stuff out.

Anyway thanks again. - Steve