Audio-Technica PRO 8HEx Hypercardioid Dynamic Headworn Microphone, XLR Connector

I purchased this mic while training to teach classes at my gym. Satisfied with the product!

This microphone is performing very well for Dragon speech recognition software. One tricky part is being a dynamic microphone. Dynamic microphones do not require a bias, do not include an amplifier inside, and produce small amplitude signals. Majority of consumer electronic products have a microphone input that expects an electric condenser microphone, which includes a tiny preamp built into the microphone capsule and produces 10 to 50 times larger amplitude signals compared to this product. So, if you just buy this microphone and plug into whatever equipment you have without paying attention, you may be disappointed. But if your equipment is designed to work well with a dynamic microphone, you will be very happy.Regarding sound quality, compared within the class of dynamic microphones, the voice lacks the warm quality of a vocal microphone, which uses a larger diaphragm and is not as sharply directional. You might want to use an equalizer to adjust the sound quality to your taste; a flat output from this microphone is thinner than what people expect from an excellent vocal microphone.One reason to use a dynamic microphone for speech recognition, podcast, voiceover, and other speech communication applications, in spite that most electronic devices expect an electric condenser microphone, is much better suppression of the ambient noise. In particular, this hyper cardioid microphone is sharply directive in its sensitivity. I am very happy with this aspect of this microphone for my application.

The microphone itself a quality hypercardioid (highly directional) passive (does not require power) mic. It's essentially the same thing as the wand type mics you see singers use all the time. However, it's not the most comfortable. Having a band pressed against your temples is not ideal anyway, but the foam pads are thin, and it's not quite big enough for my melon. Either the band is too narrow and/or the mic stem is too short because it's impossible to place the mic directly in front of my mouth. If the mic is hot enough, it doesn't really matter, but the chance of it feeding back then increases. Overall, for ~$100 it's a good buy that has lasted me 5 years and many gigs (I'm a drummer, btw) so it's durable and reliable.

I have been using this microphone for about a month with my voice recognition software (Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional). I've been very pleased with the performance – it's comfortable to wear and accurately recognizes my speech (it's paired with an Andrea USB soundcard). I previously used a Sennheiser mike, and I like the Audio-Technica better. In my experience, the accuracy of the Audio-Technica is every bit as good as the Sennheiser at less than half the cost, and the connection between the Audio-Technica microphone and the Andrea soundcard is not nearly as temperamental (I had real issues with this with my old Sennheiser mike, which had to be plugged into the Andrea USB soundcard "just right" or the connection failed). The only thing I would note was a surprise with this product is the size of the actual microphone – it's larger than I expected, and when the foam ball windscreen is placed over the microphone, it's almost like having a ping-pong ball in front of your mouth. I'm exaggerating (somewhat), but it just took a little getting used to. But I've also concluded that if I'm going to wear a headset microphone at work, I've pretty much given up on worrying about whether I look like I'm working at Command Control. All that matters is that the product works, and works well – and this certainly fits the bill.

For general use, this is a nice microphone, It fits well, without being overly snug (some headworns can be painfully tight!) and the XLR cable is a few feet long, so its easy to route it where I need it. My primary use for this mic is with a transmitter, along with a Bose S1Pro+ speaker. The transmitter connect directly to the to the XLR out, with a solid and secure connection. Sound is excellent, with a balanced frequency response, and no static or other electrical noise. My one issue with the mic is that there is a lot of handling noise. Any movement of the cable while using it produces sound- and although I can reduce it using a noise gate in my effects loop, I’d rather have a slightly quieter mic. Otherwise it works as it should. Its compact and light and can easily fit in my gigbag. Positionng is pretty flexible - from close in for quiet work to a few inches away when I need to belt a song.

It's a decent microphone. You get what you pay for.I use this for miking a live speaker (person) on a stage. You need to make sure you keep the mic a minimum distance from the mouth, otherwise you get popped p's and it picks up breathing. It is pretty much a requirement to use the windscreens, which are large and unsightly. The actual quality of the recorded sound is quite decent, perhaps a little hollow.The unit fits awkwardly on the head, and is difficult to get comfortable. Keep in mind also that this is the wired XLR version, so you'll have a leash, limiting your movement. For stationary speakers, this is not problematic.Issues aside, you're not going to find a better mic for the money, but you may want to purchase a more expensive model for musical applications.

We purchased this headset for my husband, who is a professional percussionist and singer. He plays all over the region where we live and has been developing his singing more in the past few months. He is very happy with this unit - he can hear himself sing in addition to hearing the music created by himself and the bands he plays with, and this headset goes everywhere with him on performance days!