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[Patrick Tracy]

I've been tasked by my employer (a small university) with selecting an ear worn mic. This was spurred by a guest speaker who brought his own Countryman which I connected to our Sennheiser body pack. It sounded very good, superior to the mics we usually use (which I'm assuming are Sennheiser).

I'm currently considering Countryman E6 variants but I could use some help from the experts narrowing it down to a specific one, particularly vocals or speaking version. Also E6 vs. E6i and directional vs. omnidirectional. If there's another make and/or model I should consider, please feel free to suggest it.

The primary use of the mic is likely to be spoken word, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets used for singing. My instinct says the vocals version would work for either while not being vulnerable to overloading, though there may be higher noise with quiet talkers. Venues will range from a school gym type room to a corporate style events room and perhaps the occasional classroom. Users would be VIP guests, paying clients of the venues and students in bigger productions.

[Caleb Dueck]

The correct answer - DPA d:fine.  E6's were popular in their time, but time marches on. 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[Patrick Tracy]

The correct answer - DPA d:fine.  E6's were popular in their time, but time marches on. 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

Thanks. DPA was the other name I had in mind. I'll check it out. Any suggestions regarding omnidirectional or unidirectional or other variations?

[Justice C. Bigler]

Nothing wrong with the Countryman E6 earset mics. But some people don't like the single ear only rigging for them. The Countryman's are a couple hundred less expensive than the DPAs, which are about $600.

Mics that small are kind of fragile. I would buy two of whatever you get.

[Mike Caldwell]

Nothing wrong with the Countryman E6 earset mics. But some people don't like the single ear only rigging for them. The Countryman's are a couple hundred less expensive than the DPAs, which are about $600.

Mics that small are kind of fragile. I would buy two of whatever you get.

Yea, depending on the persons "ear shape" a single ear can work, the dual ear headband style is far more secure, make sure the headband size will adjust.

If you just let anyone and everyone take the mics and use them without hands on guidance they will get bent up and broken, doesn't matter if it is a $50 or $650 headset / earset mic.

I assume you have been using lapel mics up to this point.

[Tim Hite]

Regarding omni vs cardioid. . .

For live sound, I'm not crazy about the omni in any brand. Can be rough getting enough gain before feedback, especially if the speaker is walking around not paying attention to where they are in relation to the PA.

The W6 sensitivity seems to be OK in most circumstances. I haven't owned any of the W5 or W7 capsules.

As far as the flex goes, I use the old school E6. I send mine out on demos and those stay looking the nicest the longest. I've worn all three flex patterns and they are all really comfortable.

I've been tasked by my employer (a small university) with selecting an ear worn mic. This was spurred by a guest speaker who brought his own Countryman which I connected to our Sennheiser body pack. It sounded very good, superior to the mics we usually use (which I'm assuming are Sennheiser).

I'm currently considering Countryman E6 variants but I could use some help from the experts narrowing it down to a specific one, particularly vocals or speaking version. Also E6 vs. E6i and directional vs. omnidirectional. If there's another make and/or model I should consider, please feel free to suggest it.

The primary use of the mic is likely to be spoken word, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets used for singing. My instinct says the vocals version would work for either while not being vulnerable to overloading, though there may be higher noise with quiet talkers. Venues will range from a school gym type room to a corporate style events room and perhaps the occasional classroom. Users would be VIP guests, paying clients of the venues and students in bigger productions.

[Christopher Irwin]

I work at a private university and we have been using headset mics for years (since before I started here 10 years ago) - we do a lot of chapels with presenters as well as other lectures, panel type events, etc . On average we probably use headset mics 6-7 times a week.

We have spent a few years switching from Countryman e6's to DPA d:fine's but now only use DPA headset mics (we own more than 20 of them!). Honestly, the e6's aren't bad; I believe we always used the Flex, omni version. Due to the design and way they got bent up we sometimes had issues getting them to be secure enough; but even more of a problem, they would snap in half after a few years of use, since they are getting re-shaped for almost every person (we also have student employees who didn't always know how to reshape them well).

Regarding DPA - they sound outstanding which is why we first started moving to them.  Our first few were the single ear version, but we quickly realized that the double ear version is significantly more secure.  We much prefer cardiod on these mics (after testing them against the omni version), and we don't reshape the boom arm ever since it really isn't designed for that, so there is no concern of the mic pointing the wrong way.  The DPA mics don't have issues snapping in half, but I have had to replace the over-the-ear parts, a cable or two, etc; none of which are cheap. So, I think in the end (over years of use) the price difference is likely to be a wash between using DPA or Countryman, my estimate that DPA last twice as long but cost twice as much.  However, the DPA mics are definitely superior. That said, I don't let the presenters put the mics on themself - we train our technicians how to do it and then always have a technician put the mics on people, which really is necessary with these mics.

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