Microphones Countryman E6i

[Tyler Lindsley]

We have 24 fairly new Countryman E6i. I am finding that because they are so flexible, as they get bent and re-bent, the wire inside the earpiece snaps. Leaving us with broken microphones. What have you done to prevent breakage and flexibility of these units?

 

[TimMc]

We have 24 fairly new Countryman E6i. I am finding that because they are so flexible, as they get bent and re-bent, the wire inside the earpiece snaps. Leaving us with broken microphones. What have you done to prevent breakage and flexibility of these units?

Don't let students do the bending and forming. Seriously. Failures at that point in the rig are usually not considered a warranty item, either...

 

[LPdan]

We tried these for community and school theatre. Honestly, they just don't hold up to these applications. They are amazing mics, but constantly re-bending for different people plus amateur handling is too much for them. We switched to the B3 model, and have not had a single failure. Also, they make an E6X which I think is slightly less flexible if you want to try staying with the E6.

 

[Tyler Lindsley]

We never let students put on or take off mics, let alone shape their own. But there is always the few who can't keep their hands off - which is where we fell to this issue.

 

[macsound]

Another option is using a small amount of transpore tape. Adult or kid supervisor places on actor and applies tape, then the actor can apply and blend makeup but can't rebend because it's taped to them.

 

[Dionysus]

Agree with the above:

• Never let performers (outside a professional setting) take off or put on mics
• Never let them adjust or bend mics
• Generally, make sure only specifically trained people touch anything to do with the mics

If wanting to reinforce booms you could take a page from the book of how we often MAKE booms back in the day and take some floral wire and tape and wrap along the boom especially along the more prone areas of bends. Then again you might as well go with a hairline mic and make a boom from scratch if you are taking that route.

As mentioned above perhaps you should steer away from the "I" designation. The E6i variant is the "extremely flexible boom", the E6x is a "flexible boom and springy ear section" and as suggested may be a better fit. Once bent to shape the E6 will hold its shape very well. Both the E6 and E6i can only take so much bending before they are going to break, so if you want them to last try and shape them and reuse the mic on similiar faces to reduce bending and extend life.