Purchasing Quandries

[mJohnson880]

I've been put in charge of finding suitable replacements to a couple of headset that went bad while preparing for my last show. The lead sound tech wants to stay within the Shure family since the transmitters we're using are Shure ULX-something (FX i think). The price range is "within a tight tolerance" of 100 dollars. She's looking at WH20, WH30, WL184, WL185, and WL93. I went wandering using Google as my guide looking for significant problems people had with said mic systems. Unfortunately, professional mic trouble doesn't seem to enter Google's search libraries very much. If anyone knows of deterring issues with these mics or know any better ideas that I haven't posted, suggestions are most welcome. Please keep in mind that these are for a high school drama/show choir group. We don't care much about hiding the mics and more about durability. (We've been having... interesting issues with mics, but that's in another post)

 

[museav]

I've been put in charge of finding suitable replacements to a couple of headset that went bad while preparing for my last show. The lead sound tech wants to stay within the Shure family since the transmitters we're using are Shure ULX-something (FX i think). The price range is "within a tight tolerance" of 100 dollars. She's looking at WH20, WH30, WL184, WL185, and WL93.

The ULX systems should be either -S or -P versions. The "L" in WL93, WL184 and WL185 stands for lavaliere, so of the mics you listed only the WH20 dynamic and WH30 condenser are headset mics.

 

[rwhealey]

I think you'll find that Shure doesn't really make a small headset mic. In fact, they distribute the Countryman E6 for that purpose:

Shure Americas | Countryman WCE6 Earset Microphone | All-purpose, Lavalier, Paging, Production

The WH20 and WH30 are huge!

 

[wolf825]

The only 'headset' that Shure makes are the WH20, WH30 which as mentioned are huge for 'theater' use and more suited for bands and groups like Madonna, Bieber or Hanson..and they are not 'great' having used a few... Shure also makes a WCM16 which is a bit smaller and could be used for some musicals...but appears suited mostly for speakers and bands...but not much to say more since I have not tried one of those yet on a show. The WL184's are just utter junk and far too big for theater use and they have a huge handling noise issue I have always disliked IMO--I hate using them even on talking heads. You can do far better with other mic's that are more flexible and less obtrusive today.

The cheaper theatrical headsets are by Point Source--and having used a few on a couple of shows they are surprisingly not bad sounding for general use in HS shows...and they are comparable to affordable depending on what model you get (and they now make one--their CO 7 model, that has a boom arm that is 'unbreakable'...so they claim). But for really fine or pro headsets you're limited to a few like Countryman and Audio Technica and Sennheiser--but all of those take you far from that price range of $100 and most are far too delicate and easily broken if not professionally cared for by the users & techs.

You can get almost any miniature mic or headset from almost any mfg wired to the TA4F or Lemo connectors for your shure wireless, so that is not a huge issue to worry about. For high school in all honesty I have done just fine with WL93's on deep budget shows (which come in black or tan) or WL50's...and to that you can always get better quality and sound with AT miniature lavs or the Countryman B6 or B3 or the Sennheiser MKE II's etc or go crazy and splurge the $$ with the dpa's and so on. They can be used in theatrical applications and hidden, or can be applied like a regular lavalier mic with clip and perform perfectly. For musical theater I use and like the E6..and the new E2's are very nice (but you NEED that windscreen for those--grr!)...but not everyone can afford to have a dozen of those including backups, AND the fact of the matter is I don't always NEED to use those...when I can use a WL93 or a WL50 or B3 instead. It comes down to the fact that you don't 'have' to have those high dollar head worn mics for good theater or choir uses....especially in high school shows. For theatrical uses just take your best miniature mic like a WL93 or B3 or B6 or MKE II etc etc, and for 'headsets' you simply take those and some wire, foam & heatshrink and build your own earsets....or get thin elastic bands to make halo rigs and so on...or you can directly attach...it really makes it more versatile and flexible and budget saavy IMO to have these miniature lav style mics and be able to adapt to the need of the show and actor and the budget over a headset...because if you can't afford to have or risk to use a headset for some reason, you can always place the mic in other more securable locations or adapt it to fit for costume or for visability....but if you stick with just a straight forward headset mic like an E6 you remove that flexibility and option. So the other consideration here is in durability--where a Countryman B3, a 93 or a WL50 will last me several years with good basic care and it will be flexible for me to use it many ways--an E6 headset may last me 1-2 years or less depending on how it gets used/abused and handled.... So repeat replacement costs and frequency factors in here IMO for what is more durable for your application and for your tech saavy students...

In that price range--those are your best options IMO... Its not always the 'best gear' or a certain brand that makes good sound--you can have the best gear possible and it still sound terrible---because it all comes down to how it is used and how well the mixer/operator knows his stuff. A good sound guy with experience can make a $70 WL93 mic sound great...and a bad sound guy can make a $600 E6 scream with feedback and pops and distortion.. I would focus more on the training fundamentals and uses when it comes to High School kids and leave the higher $$$$ money mics for those who can afford the replacements...


JMO...good luck....
-w

 

[mJohnson880]

Thanks for the responses. I'll start sifting through the suggestions immediately. As for the tech behind the scenes, our mixer (person) is pretty decent at her job. It helps that she is also the choir teacher. As for the E6s, thats what we've been using. During the first three rehearsals, we watched as four or five of our mics died in an epic blaze of glory. I now need to find what we'll use as replacements.

 

[FMEng]

Thanks for the responses. I'll start sifting through the suggestions immediately. As for the tech behind the scenes, our mixer (person) is pretty decent at her job. It helps that she is also the choir teacher. As for the E6s, thats what we've been using. During the first three rehearsals, we watched as four or five of our mics died in an epic blaze of glory. I now need to find what we'll use as replacements.

Be sure to do some trouble shooting with the E6 mics. A common failure is the cable, which is replaceable. Take the cord from a known good mic and test it on the dead mics before you give up on them. The cords are not terribly expensive, and they also make a heavy duty cord.

 

[MNicolai]

Thanks for the responses. I'll start sifting through the suggestions immediately. As for the tech behind the scenes, our mixer (person) is pretty decent at her job. It helps that she is also the choir teacher. As for the E6s, thats what we've been using. During the first three rehearsals, we watched as four or five of our mics died in an epic blaze of glory. I now need to find what we'll use as replacements.

Do not purchase new microphones.

I assure you the microphones are fine, and the cables for the E6's are replaceable for roughly $50-$60/ea (which is why they are great microphones for schools).

It's also possible that your stock cables were 1mm. When you replace them, purchase the 2mm Duramax cables from Countryman. The cables will be a little more noticeable, but they'll also be a lot more durable.

The existing cables on your mic's snap together where the wire meets the headset. You can disconnect these wires and swap them between microphones to verify it is the cables that have failed, but in the last two years we've had twenty-four E6's in use at our facility, every failure has been due to the cable and not the microphone head.

 

[mJohnson880]

Not Quite... All our cables are fine. It's literally ear grip to element that broke. We had two where the connector went bad. Anytime the connection moved we heard hisses and pops. We replaced the cable but to no avail. Two had a much more interesting fail. The rubber/plastic casing that protects the mic diaphragm (at the very end of the assembly) cracked all the way around. The mic couldn't here anything, but if the broken end was touched, a loud pop could be heard. Trust me, those mics are dead. ^.^

 

[museav]

Not Quite... All our cables are fine. It's literally ear grip to element that broke. We had two where the connector went bad. Anytime the connection moved we heard hisses and pops. We replaced the cable but to no avail. Two had a much more interesting fail. The rubber/plastic casing that protects the mic diaphragm (at the very end of the assembly) cracked all the way around. The mic couldn't here anything, but if the broken end was touched, a loud pop could be heard. Trust me, those mics are dead. ^.^

Four or five mics dying in the manner noted in three rehearsals suggests either laying in a large stock of mics in order to continuously replace mics as they break or trying to figure out what is happening and how to avoid it before purchasing anything else. If nothing else, knowing what specifically is causing them to fail may help in identifying what you need to look for in any replacements.

 

[MNicolai]

You've got something unusual going on.

How long have you owned the mic's?

Are there similarities between how they might have failed? (i.e. the mic's broke on the same cast member each night)

Are there points during the show where specific actions might be causing the mic's to break? (i.e. a cast member performs a cartwheel or a fast costume change requires the mic being torn off the cast member's body very quickly)

 

[sdauditorium]

In addition to what Mike said, take a look at the boom itself and the method by which you reshape the boom (especially around the performer's ear). Countryman recommends using the diameter of your finger as you reshape the boom. While, depending on the version you get, the boom casing can bend and constrict the space in which the wire runs and be a cause of the pop and hissing that you're hearing.

However, I'd concur with Mike in something going bad with the cables..especially near the strain relief going into the bodypack.

We run 17 E6s for our HS shows and run into the same issue of 2-3 of the 1mm cables going bad per run and having to replace them with the 2 mm cables.