On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 5:30 PM, JoLaine Jones-Pokorney <jolaine(a)gmail.com> wrote: I've used a hand held mic that was... handy.... for getting out on the floor. Haven't tried a headset. I don't like a monitor so much, but got burned on a recent square dance. I was up just as a bunch more musicians sat in. So my mic level was good for the walk through but when the music started it was louder relative to the calling and people had trouble hearing. A monitor might have helped, but they don't always have the same mix that's going out to the main speakers, and the fix still had to come at the board. Best would be a sound guy paying attention.

My husband's an audio engineer who's run sound for plenty of callers at NEFFA and the Flurry, I'll see if he has an opinion on models. (And Dan Pearl should be chiming in any minute now, too) Re: monitor for the caller: DO IT. Get a small, intense one -- an old Hot Spot will work fine for more rough-hewn venues, if you want to go pricier I can wax poetic about my Mackie srm150 (two channels, self powered, can double as a micro-mini-sound-system for almost-acoustic gigs, works well as a piano monitor as well, rugged, good sound, good controls, easy to use for the non-cognoscenti, surprisingly powerful for its easily portable size, gush gush...) Put it on a stand and get it up at least to waist level, pointed right at him (but not at any of the mics!) It might just help with the screaming. It took me years of struggling (and probably annoying a lot of people, or at least making them wonder) before I figured out that I can't screen background noise very well, and especially not background verbiage. If I'm at a loud cocktail party I have a VERY hard time keeping track of my own thoughts or carrying on a cohesive conversation if the sound of my own voice in my ears isn't a good degree-of-magnitude stronger than the rest of the crowd. The temptation to TALK REALLY LOUD is incredibly compelling and it takes a fair degree of sustained mental effort to talk "normally" and just listen harder. It's actually quite exhausting. There are plenty of people like me out there - and you can spot them as soon as they get out their cell phones. Old phones have a speaker in the ear end that not only carries the other person but also your own voice -- you have a monitor, and you get to hear yourself from the outside. Cell phones don't, the ear part is dead unless the other person is speaking. Older folks used to exterior feedback can get really thrown off by this and start TALKING REALLY LOUD; what often helps is to go stand near a wall or in a corner where you get some bounceback from nearby hard surfaces. I've solved this by using a headset type earpiece/gooseneck mic setup (like a telemarketer). Is your caller a cell-phone shouter? Or comes on a little too big at parties? Could be he's having a hard time tracking his own thoughts, and at a dance when his thoughts/words are going to drive the action, he's going to be grabbing for whatever support he can get. On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 5:30 PM, JoLaine Jones-Pokorney <jolaine(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:

This is a note I wrote and posted a while back on my experience with my headset: As far as I¹m concerned, if you can afford it, the way to go is with a Countryman E6, and specifically the E6i which is the directional model vs the omni-directional one. The E6 is not cheap, generally $300-350 for the mike and a spare cable, you still have to buy the body pack and transceiver (I got a used Shure PGX with carrying case on ebay). These are the same mikes that are used in Broadway shows and by many performers, church pastors and choir soloists, etc. One or two people I¹ve seen use the big Shure headsets that come with the PGX kits, and I¹m sure they are adequate, but I like the fact that the Countryman is almost invisible and the quality is such that people have literally said to me ³it¹s like you are standing right next to me². I purchased mine from CCI Solutions (http://ccisolutions.com ­ Jeff Brown was my rep) a place that supplies lots of churches. Their prices on Countryman mikes are about $50 less than anyone else because they were the very first Countryman dealer. They also include an extra cable which is normally $50 extra. I tried both an the Omni (E6) and directional (E6i) versions before going with the latter. Jeff at CCI told me that they sell 100 omnis for each direction they sell, but that he agreed with my reasoning and experience that because as caller I would be standing very close to (or sometimes in front of) the mains that the directional would be better than the omni. And, in fact, experience has found that to be true. I can be almost directly in front of the mains doing a demo and get no feedback unless I turn at precisely the wrong angle. With an omni, the chances of getting feedback from multiple angles is MUCH higher. The caveat is that placement of the directional mike at the corner of your mouth is critical. You need to follow the detailed directions so the clip fits your ear well - both snug and comfortable - and so that the pickup is right at the corner of your mouth and not wiggling around. Not hard to do and once you've got it set it should stay that way. Will on 7/16/11 5:30 PM, JoLaine Jones-Pokorney at jolaine(a)gmail.com wrote: -- William M. Loving Dedication Technologies, Inc. 7 Coach Lane Amherst, MA 01002-3304 USA will(a)dedicationtechnologies.com Tel: +1 413 253-7223 (GMT ­5) Fax: +1 206 202-0476