Wireless Microphone Headset Recommendations

[Brax]

Good Morning all,

 

Looking for recommendations for wireless headset's for assemblies and speakers etc. We've found this one Gear4music but was wondering if anyone has one they're really happy with? https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Single-Lavalier-and-Headset-Wireless-Microphone-System-by-Gear4music/1OJ9?origin=product-ads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjf2Q4eTx_AIVmcftCh1bIgK9EAQYBCABEgJEy_D_BwE

[plumyeti]

Hi,

 

While I haven't used that specific gear4music headset.

I always find that the cheaper ones are not great.(interference,falling apart...)

 

I would always go with the more expensive brands (shure,senheiser....)

[Brax]

Hi,

 

While I haven't used that specific gear4music headset.

I always find that the cheaper ones are not great.(interference,falling apart...)

 

I would always go with the more expensive brands (shure,senheiser....)

Hello! Agreed, we went with something on Gear4music but it was a bit more expensive. Going to try it out shortly as it just arrived.

[Aprice]

The events company I work with on the side uses these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.bone_headmike_d_ew.htm

With Sennheiser EW100 body packs on a mix of CH70 and 38.

 

Have to say the cheaper options are almost a complete waste of time in my experience, provided that the batteries are fresh in the Sennheisers they just work fine, whereas we just have issues with the cheaper ones. Might get away with it for a school assembly, but for performances the cheap ones are a nightmare with dropouts, interference.

 

Whichever you go with will chew through batteries, and the rechargeable ones tend to get about half the runtime in our experience than a set of Duracells.

[dhicks]

We've found this one Gear4music but was wondering if anyone has one they're really happy with?

 

There's been several discussions on here recently about various microphone setups. If you don't know about licensing for wireless mics already, this handy guide is quite useful:

 

https://www.canford.co.uk/TechZone/Article/UKLegalRadioMicFrequencies

 

That £40 GearForMusic headset operates on 175MHz, so license-free but might be subject to interference. In practice, we have a couple of similar-quality handheld mics on the same license-free frequency range kicking around the main hall for people to use as needed and they're fine for assemblies and similar. There doesn't seem to be issues with interference, and we're right on a busy street in central London. It's the kind of price where it's not a complete diaster if someone breaks / wanders off with the equipment, so having a couple of cheap mics to hand for daily use might be an idea.

 

We bought a set of 8 wireless mics that operate on the WiFi band (starting at 2,400MHz). They were a bit more expensive than £40 a headset, but not hugely so. Again, we don't seem to have had issues with interference, despite having wireless networking kit all around the building.

[Brax]

Just updating this thread. We went with this microphone: https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/SubZero-SZW-20-Lavalier-and-Headset-Wireless-Microphone-System/1OJB

Downsides:

You can't change the frequency like other microphones so it's stuck at 863.1MHz.

The clip/lavalier microphone quality isn't great and sounds a bit "tinny" however with some mixing adjustments it sounds OK.

Positives:

The headset is really good quality and it's quite thin in it's size.

Is pretty much plug and play.

[Brax]

The events company I work with on the side uses these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.bone_headmike_d_ew.htm

With Sennheiser EW100 body packs on a mix of CH70 and 38.

 

Have to say the cheaper options are almost a complete waste of time in my experience, provided that the batteries are fresh in the Sennheisers they just work fine, whereas we just have issues with the cheaper ones. Might get away with it for a school assembly, but for performances the cheap ones are a nightmare with dropouts, interference.

 

Whichever you go with will chew through batteries, and the rechargeable ones tend to get about half the runtime in our experience than a set of Duracells.

Yeah it's mostly for assemblies and sometimes when speakers come in. Thank you for the recommendation I'll make a note.

[Chris_Cook]

The events company I work with on the side uses these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.bone_headmike_d_ew.htm

With Sennheiser EW100 body packs on a mix of CH70 and 38.

 

Have to say the cheaper options are almost a complete waste of time in my experience, provided that the batteries are fresh in the Sennheisers they just work fine, whereas we just have issues with the cheaper ones. Might get away with it for a school assembly, but for performances the cheap ones are a nightmare with dropouts, interference.

 

Whichever you go with will chew through batteries, and the rechargeable ones tend to get about half the runtime in our experience than a set of Duracells.

 

I'd echo this as well. Cheaper ones might work well to start with, but soon you will spend so much time troubleshooting its not worth it. The other option is hire. you can get these things fairly cheap if you only need them occaisionally.

[dhicks]

The events company I work with on the side uses these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.bone_headmike_d_ew.htm

 

£50-ish - do you reckon they're worth buying for non-Shure mic packs (so maybe another £20 for an adaptor)?

[Aprice]

£50-ish - do you reckon they're worth buying for non-Shure mic packs (so maybe another £20 for an adaptor)?

 

Can't say for Shure but they do pick up well on the Sennheiser packs I've used. They are delicate though, on a week long production I wouldn't be surprised if one gets broken, sometimes the connection is repairable other times it just isn't. Usually it's by the connector that fails.

[SamanthaD]

Any reason you're choosing headmics over lapels? Getting the mic closer to the mouth is always a good thing, but headmics are a lot more hassle to fit correctly and obviously pick up more germs.

 

Our lecture theatres use Sennheiser G3/G4 with ME2 lapel mics, as long as their worn correctly (ie not by their belly button) they pick up well and provide the small uplift in volume we need. By using BA2015 batteries with the L2015 charger they're always ready to go, and gives somewhere for them to live when not in use. I'd definitely recommend a secondhand G3 set over a new Gear4Music set any day.

[Brax]

Any reason you're choosing headmics over lapels? Getting the mic closer to the mouth is always a good thing, but headmics are a lot more hassle to fit correctly and obviously pick up more germs.

 

Our lecture theatres use Sennheiser G3/G4 with ME2 lapel mics, as long as their worn correctly (ie not by their belly button) they pick up well and provide the small uplift in volume we need. By using BA2015 batteries with the L2015 charger they're always ready to go, and gives somewhere for them to live when not in use. I'd definitely recommend a secondhand G3 set over a new Gear4Music set any day.

Ultimately the reason for our choice was because we were limited in the budget and it probably won't get used that often, we do have an older sennheiser lapel so most of the time we do use that but the powers that be wanted a head mic also to add to our collection. We have some nice Sennheiser handheld microphones too but on this purchase we didn't have much to work with. I do like the look of the G3/G4 would love to add that with the lapels rather than what we have right now.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Brax