I'll echo what others have said although we use E6's rather than B3 or 6's. We have an inventory of about 6 E6's with
Shure ULX-S, and during shows the problem we have the most often is with the cables. I prefer the 2mm cables because they seem a little more durable, but more importantly they don't seem to get tangled nearly as often or as badly. I try to keep an inventory of 4 spare cables on
hand, so I have a spare or two left when it comes time to order them.
A little off topic, I thought I'd just
throw our our best practices when it comes to E6's, and what I tell any new actor being mic'd for the first time (or the yearly reminder)
1. DO NOT wrap the cable around the
beltpack. I'd much rather you handed me the
beltpack and a bunch of loose cable than wind it tightly around the
beltpack. When I
lay mics out for users, I loosely coil the cable (maybe 6" loop?) then set the belt pack unconnected atop the mic and cable.
2. Put the mic on and run the cable down your shirt WITHOUT THE
BELTPACK attached, then connect the
beltpack and clip on your clothing. Removal is opposite of installation, turn the belt pack off, GENTLY
disconnect the
microphone, then take the
microphone off. I have watched actors
drop the connected
beltpack down their shirt using the weight of the pack to pull the cable down and I just cringe and demonstrate the proper technique!!
3. Do not stuff the cable in a pocket or other place where it will bunch up. We've found that actors who sit on a bunch of cable in their pocket inevitably end up with broken, popping cables.
4. If the costume permits, use collar clips whenever possible. Short of that, a short piece of skin tape on the inside of the collar is often preferred by the actors to actually taping the cable to their skin. Normally, if we can get the
strain relief right, the E6's tend to stay put without having to tape the
face.
5. Once you have the
beltpack on, turn it on and leave it on! The sound crew will be responsible for muting it when you're not on
stage. Sure, we burn through a little more battery that way, but we don't have problems with actors going on
stage with their pack off. If I have a particularly troublesome actor who likes to turn their pack off, I force them to
pick up the pack from me, and I tape the
switch on for the run and turn the pack on and off by removing the battery. I know, it probably makes me sound like a control freak, but if they won't abide by my suggestions, I will force the issue.
6. For child actors: Do not touch the
microphone, period.. If it's bothering you, or sliding down, ask a
stage hand for help when you go off
stage.
7. For most actors: If you'll take the time to have me help you fit the mic correctly, chances are very good it will stay in place without tape. If you can't be bothered to take the time, then I'm going to tape it every night. On the other
hand, particularly with child actors, there are some times I just can't
bend the E6 enough to keep it in place, and then it's tape anyway.
8. For
stage hands: When you see an actor backstage, take a quick peek to be sure the
microphone is in the right place. If not, try to quickly readjust before the actor goes on. The actors can't really see the position of the
microphone without a mirror, so they sometimes don't know their mic has shifted.
9: Makeup first, then
microphone. If we have to tape the
face, I generally ask the actor to avoid putting makeup there (right in front, or behind and below the ear) then touch up the makeup over the tape.
Since we only do 2-3 shows with a short run per year, we ask the actors to come out on
stage 10 minutes prior to open of
house to do a quick mic check. Understandably this wouldn't be
practical for long runs or lots of shows, but it certainly helps find problems/errors before the show starts.