Microphone Selection Guide

Over thirty-five years ago, Countryman Associates started as a company crafting custom microphones, direct boxes, and audio products for touring rock bands and performers. Today, we still aim to fulfill the unique needs of each user and application by offering a wide range of microphone options. Lavaliers. Instrument mics and podiums. Earsets. Omni and directional. Stiff, soft, or semi-soft booms. Selectable colors, polar patterns, sensitivities, and frequency responses.

The choices are sometimes overwhelming, but we can make selecting the perfect microphone easy. We designed this page to help guide you through our line, and, as always, we would love to talk with you directly at 1-800-669-1422.

1. My pastor doesn’t want to look like Garth Brooks/Madonna/etc. Why should I get an earset over a lavalier?

Earsets, such as the E6, have two main advantages over lavaliers (lapel mics): they’re much closer to the mouth for better gain and they move with the head so the sound stays clean and consistent. Most people, once they hear the difference between the two, are convinced to go with an earset; although, there are certainly a few cases when a lavalier would be just as good of a choice or better.

For the best sound and the most gain before feedback, it comes down to how far the microphone is from your mouth. Move a microphone twice as far from the mouth and you get one quarter the sound energy. Earset microphones are usually within an inch of the mouth, while a lavalier hidden in the hair might be 5 inches away, and one on the chest could be 8 to 10 inches away. The sound person has to increase the gain as much as 10 or 12 dB on the lavalier to get the same voice level as they would with an earset, which translates directly into 10 to 12 dB less headroom and 10 to 12 dB more ambient noise in the mix.

For consistent sound it's extremely important to keep the distance and orientation between the mic and the mouth the same. Because an earset microphone is fixed relative to the mouth, when performers tilt their heads down the sound doesn’t get loud and boomy, and when they turn away it doesn’t get quiet and thin like it would with a lavalier on the chest.

Sometimes, you just need the mic to be completely hidden: for example, on an actor for a TV show or movie. For these situations, a lavalier may make a lot of sense. The B6 is the world’s smallest lavalier, and can easily be hidden in the hair, under a button, on eyeglasses, in the tie knot, etc.

2. OK, I want an earset, but you have so many. Which earset should I get?

Choosing the right earset—much like designing earsets—involves tailoring the right solution for your application and making careful trade-offs. When choosing an earset for any application, here are some of the things you might consider:

• How much isolation do I need?
• Can the mic be on the user’s face?
• Will the user be moving around on stage, wearing the mic outdoors, or standing under air vents?
• How many users will wear the mic?
• Will the user be speaking, singing, or singing loudly?

The last two questions are addressed later in the next sections. The things we are never willing to “trade-off” in any microphone are ruggedness, reliability, and full frequency response. A broken microphone, or a mic that just doesn’t pick up the subtleties of the sound, are of no use to a sound professional.

It turns out that the E6 Omni (E6O) is the perfect choice for many applications. The omnidirectional pattern makes the E6O easy to use and position, with low handling and wind noise and the flattest frequency response of any earset mic. Also, since it lives so close to the user’s mouth, the E6O provides excellent gain-before-feedback and isolation from other interfering sounds—about 10-12 dB more than you would get from a lavalier on the chest. With the E6O, we include three protective caps so you can shape the high-end of the frequency response to add extra sibilance when needed.

When the user is close to loud stage monitors or speakers, and you need even more isolation, we recommend the E6 Directional (E6D). The E6D must, however, be fitted properly on the user’s face to get the best performance. We suggest placing the mic capsule in a quarter-sized spot on the face at the corner of the mouth when the user smiles. As with any directional mic, the E6D is more susceptible to wind, handling, and cable noise than an omni. When placed correctly, it has a very flat frequency response, but because of the proximity effect the bass is boosted when closer to the mouth, and reduced when moved farther away. (This is why proper fitting is so critical.)

The E2 Earset, with an extra-short boom, is great for users who care most about hiding the mic (even more than with an E6). The frequency response is natural and full. The isolation is only slightly less (2-3 dB) than an E6O, but the mic is nearly invisible on the face. Since the E2 does use a directional mic element, it is more susceptible to wind and handling noise than the E6O. If you are wearing the mic outdoors, or will be moving around on stage (e.g., theater applications), choose the E6O since it will be more immune to wind noise. One advantage of the E2 mic position over the E6 is that you will never get any breath pops or plosives.

With both the E6D and the E2, it is important to always use the collar clips and, when needed, the windscreen we provide with the mics. The collar clip will greatly reduce handling noise and cable noise and the windscreen will reduce the wind effects on the mic.

3. Do I choose an E6, an E6i, or an E6 Flex?

The classic E6 is a good choice when one person will wear the microphone. Because the boom is stiffer, once it is adjusted to fit the user’s face, it can be stored away, unpacked, and quickly worn with a minimum of fuss.

The E6i is soft and highly-flexible with a larger silicone rubber ear piece. When multiple users share a mic, the E6i is a great choice. The soft boom is fantastically durable and the extreme flexibility makes changing users a breeze.

The E6 Flex offers a versatile blend of the E6 and the E6i. With a springy, thin earpiece and a flexible boom, the E6 Flex is faster to fit a new face than any other earset microphone available—all without compromising true invisibility and world class sound. The E6 Flex is marked with an orange band.

4. How do I choose the right color for my skin tone?

Tan is the most popular color choice for the E6i, because it works perfectly for average Caucasian skin tones, as well as olive complexions. Light beige works well in theatrical applications due to its slightly pink undertone, which is also appropriate for extremely fair skin. Cocoa is the ideal choice for African American skin tones ranging from very light to chocolate, and black is appropriate for extremely dark skin, or for situations where you want the mic to be visible. When in doubt, choose the darker option. That's because a mic that's too light can resemble a scar or blemish, while a mic that's slightly darker than the background tends to blend much better and draws less attention.

5. Which sensitivity should I choose?

Making a microphone more sensitive to catch soft sounds means it will overload sooner for loud sounds. Because sound pressure levels vary between individuals and applications, we provide three sensitivities with three overload or clipping characteristics.

• The most sensitive (W5) is for general speaking, such as presentations or sermons.
• The middle sensitivity (W6) is for vocals and strong speaking, such as in theater.
• The most powerful vocals require the least sensitive mic (W7) with the highest overload sound level.

6. What about lavaliers? I see that you have three—which one should I choose?

All three of our lavaliers—the B6, B3, and EMW—have extremely flat and full frequency response, and are very rugged. They are all omnidirectional, and we offer a variety of different clips to allow easy, creative and flexible mounting.

Many times, with a lav, it comes down to size: the world’s smallest lav is the B6 at 0.1” diameter, which means you have all kinds of options for hiding it and still getting great sound. We get stories from users all of the time about creative ways they have hidden the B6. One magician wears it on his eyeglasses using o-rings. Some theater users tape the B6 to the user’s head, just in front of the ear. (For this situation, an E6s may be a better choice, since it provides a way to do just that without any tape.)

Other times, users can live with the lav being slightly larger (but still very small!), and we recommend the B3. This mic is very popular on Broadway since it can be hidden in the hair and is incredibly rugged and durable with a 2mm, aramid-reinforced cable flaunting a break-strength of over 50 lbs. The B3, even when worn on the head, won’t overload—at huge 140 dBSPL levels the harmonic distortion is still less than 1%. Both the B3 and B6 have changeable caps allowing you to quickly add extra sibilance when needed. The B3 is also a superb value.

Arguably, our toughest lav is the EMW, worn by pro sports players in their jerseys, cave divers, surfers, and tap dancers under their shoes. The EMW is omnidirectional, but the sound port is only exposed on one side of the rectangular capsule, making it easy to hide the mic under clothes without much rubbing noise.