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Lavalier vs handheld
Mike Caldwell:
--- Quote from: Jerome Malsack on July 02, 2018, 11:23:17 AM ---
With the headsets are they omni or cardiod ? most are omni. so again prone to feedback easily. you will not now if you do not try to work with them. Turn down the gain some and have them speak out and project the voice. Ensure the body packs are not over loading and clipping.
--- End quote ---
I generally like an omni headset better, cardiods can sound strange if they slip or get bumped out of position, omnis are more consistent.
Omni headsets have the advantage of only being a inch from the mouth that helps considerably on the gain before feedback.
Now how do we get everyone to "speak out and project the voice"
Is it just me or are people speaking softer these days when they do a presentation.
Ken Webster:
We have used an omni lav, dynamic cardioid and head mic.
At the time we used a lav, the speaker would constantly bump the lead. The shock traveling up the lead, either to the mic or plug wound make very loud banging noise. Tried lots of things to alleviate this. Some reduced it a bit but the speaker was a shocker for waving arms around, hitting and pulling on the lead. Broke the lead a few times. I'm sure part of the issue was stress on the plug as it was better immediately after repair, but it's a very delicate repair and you just can't do that every week.....
Our most successful setup with dynamic cardioid mics was to mount a pair in stands either side of the speaker and aimed slightly either side of them. If we had them, it would have been better to use instrument rather than vocal mics for this due to their spectrum response vs proximity effect. Even so, the vocal mics handled speaker movement pretty well and eliminated handling noise. People would fiddle with and move the stands of course. ::) So they had to be repositioned again for the preacher which was a major interruption and distraction. I have seen dual mics attached to lecterns in this configuration but that again seems to be subject to people touching the lectern and moving books and notes around. Bang bang scrape kick Sigh!
Currently using an omni headset. This seems reasonably OK except, it's a single ear mount as the speaker can't abide a double mount. The stock mount allowed it to swing around out of place though so it has been modded to hold in place better. Use the foam sock otherwise it gets breath pops even though it's well to the side out of the breath zone. It does sometimes get skin friction noise, could be too tight against the cheek or maybe a shaving issue, not sure. Even so, this is possibly the best solution so far as it doesn't get messed up before use and the mic has so much proximity, is fine at low gain so feedback is a complete non event. Have to use a fair bit of parametric EQ on this channel but eventually did get it to sound clear and natural.
Ken
Stephen Swaffer:
--- Quote from: Mike Caldwell on July 02, 2018, 01:47:07 PM ---
Now how do we get everyone to "speak out and project the voice"
Is it just me are or people speaker softer these days when they do a presentation.
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This is most of the issue-a huge part of what I fight is that an extremely high percentage of visiting speakers will start out with a bit of chit chat to get comfortable-that is usually soft-then when they start their message which they have prepared and are comfortable with their volume goes up a couple notches. The problem for me is this preliminary chat time is when I need to get it set for that speaker. (OK-I know it should be set ahead of time-but getting that done is a battle I haven't won for 25 years and isn't likely to change soon).
My preference, in order if they want to leave the pulpit, is a handheld mic (gives the speaker the most control over dynamics and sounds the best), then a headset, last is a lavalier. Some in our circles resist headsets as "too modern" in appearance, so often the choice is handheld or lavalier-and I try to cater to the speaker.
My surprise in this case was how much better the handheld in the shirt pocket sounded than I ever have gotten a lavalier to sound-even a directional lavalier. Mic positioning is the same-but honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better sounding mic than what I got out of this handheld-I was always thinking the difference was proximity to the speakers mouth.
Jonathan Johnson:
--- Quote from: Mike Caldwell on July 02, 2018, 01:47:07 PM ---Now how do we get everyone to "speak out and project the voice"
Is it just me are or people speaker softer these days when they do a presentation.
--- End quote ---
Before the advent of live audio amplification, one of the qualifications to be a preacher (or a public speaker) was the ability to "speak out and project the voice." While there were soft-spoken evangelists back in the day, they weren't the one preaching from the pulpit or leading revival services.
A lot of being able to project the voice is related to charisma. The same sort of people who can do this are often the same sort who can capture the attention of a crowd and energize them.
So, yes, people speak softer these days, because microphones allow them to. And, because of microphones, we let "just anybody" do a presentation.
ANECDOTE: My church was built in 1898; it seats about 100-120 worshippers (depending on girth). Sometime in the 1960s, probably coinciding with getting a soft-spoken pastor, the church purchased a PA system. Since it was the people in the back that couldn't hear, the speaker was mounted on the back side wall (firing across the seating area). Naturally, when a preacher would get up and see a microphone, there was a subconscious though that "I don't have to speak as loud." Now the people in the back could hear but the people in the front couldn't...
So an electronics-enthusiast member of the congregation installed some speakers on the front sidewalls. Unfortunately, he was also the deafest member of the congregation with severe loss of the upper registers, so those speakers sounded harsh and tinny to everyone (except him). This persisted until I grew up and learned enough to become the next electronics-enthusiast member of the congregation. Thankfully, I'm not deaf. Around 20 years ago I was able to improve the whole works with a single speaker at the front.
We're still using a dynamic cardioid mic on the pulpit on an Atlas gooseneck. It works well for us; we don't have any preachers that like to roam the stage. It's a quite conservative church.
Jonathan Johnson:
--- Quote from: Stephen Swaffer on July 04, 2018, 10:45:28 PM ---My surprise in this case was how much better the handheld in the shirt pocket sounded than I ever have gotten a lavalier to sound-even a directional lavalier. Mic positioning is the same-but honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better sounding mic than what I got out of this handheld-I was always thinking the difference was proximity to the speakers mouth.
--- End quote ---
Maybe something like this is what you need:
Ali Express - Microphone Hands-Free Brace
Not exactly unobtrusive. And I can't vouch for it -- it was just what I found when I did a search.
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