As much as I love the freedom my Crown CM311A provides, I've never really liked the way it looks. So, on three, different occasions I've tried the Countryman E6 supercardiod mic. It's lightweight and nearly invisible, but I've never been able to get high quality vocals using the mic. To ME, the vocals always sounded thin, and feedback was always a problem. I just received a video from a friend today, and the entire ensemble of singers were all wearing them - they sounded great. Any tips from you E6 users out there to improve the sound would be much appreciated.



Gary

Donny, both of those are omni-directional condenser mics, which are specifically set up for speaking, lecturers, etc... They don't seem to work well with singers, at least that's been my experience with them. And, when you look at the specs, they pretty much tell you that is the case. When I had the E6, and had horrendous feedback problems, I called their tech support and they told me the E6, even the super cardiod mic, was not really intended for solo singers. They said it was better suited for choir members and female vocalists. And, therein lies the problem. Seems like the headset mics with the larger footprint are better suited for male vocalist.

Gary

Gary personally I hate headset mics for performing on stage,.... but some like to use them and that's fine.....it's just not my cup of tea,...if the countryman E6 doesn't work for you move on to another one until you find what suits your needs there are a few good ones on the market.

I know you don't like them, Donny, but for me they've been the best things since sliced bread. I'm still using the Crown CM311A, which is the same mic used by Madonna, Garth Brooks and several other country singers. The sound quality is excellent by all standards, it's the large footprint that I don't like.

Gary

well then you'll have to demo some of the TOTL headset Mics till you find what works ...good luck in your search buddy...keep us posted..

I'd think that if the ilkes of Madonna and Garth Brooks are using the Crown, then there's probably not much better out there, footprint notwithstanding. Given their teams of pro engineers and virtually limitless budgets, if there were a better, smaller option, then those guys would already be using it.

124, I think you're probably right about that.

Gary

I see Garth once in a while. Don't get me wrong, we're not buddies or anything, but he lives near my son and I have run into him and/or Trisha on quite a few occasions. If the opportunity presents itself, I'll ask him what he really thinks about it. They are both great to talk to, just ordinary folks who happen to be extremely talented, and rich.

Donny, I tried the Sennheiser a couple years ago when they first became available - it's omni directional and had horrible feedback problems. It was pretty much a mic designed for preachers on a pulpit.

Gary

Don, I would really appreciate you doing that. I value his input as much as I value yours, which is a lot.

Gary

I seen Garth last night.....on Jay Leno's show

Which mic was he using, Fran?

Gary

A hand held with a mic stand..

Hi Gary,

I have used the E6 for the last 3 years. I started off with the omni-directional and it worked fine with the Tyros and separate PA system. Countryman say that you need to be at least 6 feet in front of the speaker, any closer and you will get feedback problems.

Since a lot of what I do is running a church service, I do quite a lot of speaking, and frankly standing out front, way in front of the speakers, the omni-directional was great!

However, when I bought the Korg Pa900 and started using the onboard speakers I was getting really bad feedback. Fortunately my wife and I had planned a trip out west to San Francisco, so while I was there I visited the Countryman office near SFO and had them convert it to a hyper cardioid, which they did at a nominal price.

This is working wonderfully, and I can boost the volume of the mic without any feedback problems. I have to be careful when walking out front to take a circuitous route keeping away from the on-board speaker, but with that caveat I am really happy with the Countryman.

Also bear in mind, though, that I prefer the clarity of the Countryman to the perhaps better vocal processing of the Crown (I suspect because of the positioning of the mic you can work the Crown in ways that you cannot work the Countryman) ; also the minimal appearance when I am out and about talking is important to me. That having been said, I am not as familiar with the vocal processing set up on the keyboard as you are, so no doubt you could make it sound better than me.

BBBB, thanks for the link - while the price is right, most of these, including this one, is setup exclusively for wireless systems, which I no longer use. And, because I'm just three feet from my Bose L1 Compact, all of the time, I pretty sure there would be a feedback problem.

Gary

Gary ... is the one you are using the one that sells for around $400+ ?

Tony, I paid a bit less, more like $350 when I bought mine. I got one on one of those crazy deals of the day sites for $199, though.



Gary

... thanks ...

Bottom line about any comparison with headsets used by big stars...

Ask them what the FOH guy uses for pre-amp, EQ, compression and gating to get them to sound so good. And how much that FOH guy charges a night!

The mike is only the START of the chain.

Most modern big shows, the star rarely gets in front of the speakers, and they all use in-ear monitors, so feedback is rarely an issue. I think that's the big difference. No in-ears, big issues...