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Sports Headset Recommendation

C

ChiefOperator

Folks-

Station has asked me to purchase a couple headsets for our Friday night football season. Some of our guys are quite loud, so they would need to handle high levels with overdriving.

I've used the Beyer DT190 and like them, but we've had a problem with the mic arms staying in place. I'm now looking at this Sennheiser HMD280 and the new headset by Audio-Technica. Does anyone have an evaluation on these sets or perhaps a better option?

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/professional-headphones-headsets-high-noise-environments_USHMD280-XQ

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/f36152d8a3580d50/index.html

Thanks!
 
I've used Sennheiser headset/mics in the past. They're very good but kind of expensive.
On the other hand, I never had a single headset go bad. Not even a broken wire.
 
HMD280s are good headsets but some complain it's like having a vise clamped to your head. Never had that complaint about the HMD25s, however. But they ARE expensive.
 
I have used all sorts of headsets over the years starting with Telex and Astrolites...Today's headsets are a good bit better.

Unlike Frankberry I am not a fan of the Sennheiser headsets. I have not used the HMD-280 but I have used a ton of HMD-25s. No two sound alike. They are extremely fragile. Expensive. And they are difficult to repair in the field. I always have at least two spares.

With that being said, talent likes them. I once had a NBA play by play guy refuse to use a Beyer DT-290 even though it was the only headset we had. He would not give a good reason why.

I like the Beyer headsets. The DT-109 and DT-190 are good basketball headsets. The DT-290 has the same mic element as the DT-190. The advantage to the 290 is the goose neck style mic arm that does not droop like to 109/190.

I am using DT-297s in my main football kit. They have a condenser mic that sounds somewhat better than the dynamic in the 290s.

Every part of a DT series headset can be replace in the field. Only tool you need is a greenie. You can buy parts directly from Beyer.

The only problem I have ever had with Beyer is the main cable. They seem better than in the past but I have had them go bad. They are expensive to replace.

I purchased a couple of new Audio Technica headsets before this football season for a third kit I put together. I think they are pretty good. They don't sound bad at all. The main cable seems tough enough and is field replaceable. The mic arm is flexible like the DT-290 but can be moved to the other side (some guys like the mic on the right) without removing screws like DTs. Overall I like them and would choose them over the Sennheisers...

t123
 
I have used 4 of the Audio Technicia sets this year and they seem to work good. No problems yet, cord is easy to replace if needed.
 
We've switched over to the AT's from some ageing Sennheisers. The talent likes them a lot, and they sound much better on the air. Our remotes all are using POTS and a JK Audio Sportsmix. It is a good combination. The AT mic element seems to have a response curve that really helps "fatten up" the sound of a phone line.
 
Thanks all for the comments . Good stuff! For those of you using the AT headsets, do they handle LOUD play-by-play announcers well?

Thanks!
 
CO...

I bet you could call your friendly broadcast supply house and arrange a demo. I have a feeling you will be happy with the ATs.

t123
 
ChiefOperator said:
Thanks all for the comments . Good stuff! For those of you using the AT headsets, do they handle LOUD play-by-play announcers well?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The microphone is not the real problem for "shouters." Dynamic mics don't overload very noticeably in normal use, even at very high levels. It is the mic preamp in the mixer and the headroom (or lack thereof) inherent in the phone line that is the most obvious problem.

Years ago, while pondering why concert sound systems sounded so awful, I discovered that if you shouted into it loud enough, a simple Shure SM-57 was capable of roughly a -10 dbm output into a 600 ohm load. Many performers of the era were very adept at shouting.

Since most mic preamps of the day were looking at nominal levels closer to -55 or even a -70, adding a resistive pad on the front end of the mixer made a HUGE impact on distortion.

That said, the guy who does our sports remotes gets very excited when the home team scores. The AT stands up very well to that kind of level.
 
We have 10 of the DT-190s and use them for all of our talk show remotes & sports broadcasts. Do notice some difference in tonal quality between headsets. Could be the results of wear and tear.
For close talkers a wind screen helps. They do hold up really well. Just keep the hardware tight with regular maintenance and have a spare cable assembly in the remote bag.

Also have 4 DT-290MKII. Talent liked them better because of the lighter ear cushions. They sound tinny compared to the DT-190 so the PD doesn’t like to use them much.
 
We have used the Beyer DT-290's (very comfortable), the Sennheiser HMD-25's (good sounding and comfortable), and are currently using the AKG HSC-271. IMO, the AKG sounds amazing and is the most comfortable to wear. I also like how they are put-together - very solid. There are two drawbacks to them though: 1 - they have a condensor mic that requires phantom power from your mixer; 2 - the output of the stock mic capsules is VERY hot. Right out of the box, the AKG's were overdriving the preamps in a JK RemoteMix-4. I had to modify the preamp stages in the JK (which has too much gain to begin with IMO) to use them.
-D
 
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