What is Reddit's opinion of In-Ear Back Electric Microphone - Portable Omnidirectional Wired Headset Pro Voice Audio Condenser Mic With 4 Pin Mini XLR Cable Wire and Windscreen - For Shure System - Pyle Pro PMEMS10 (Skin Tone)?

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I'm assuming this is more for higher end shows, but if you ever need a get out of jail quick mic, I've used the pyle-pro earset mic. I do a lot of middle to high school theater shows and we don't trust a kids wearing our countryman. It's cheap and sounds pretty good for the price.

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Pro-PMEMS10-Omni-Directional-Microphone-System/dp/B003D2YRLA/ref=sr_1_6?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1510165832&sr=1-6&keywords=pyle+pro&dpID=31G9WVG8nRL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Can't speak to the durability as I haven't used it a lot, but this is certainly cheaper:

Pyle-Pro PMEMS10 In Ear Mini XLR Omni-Directional Microphone (For Shure System) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003D2YRLA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Yqv5ybDAPCTWN

The price has gone up 60% since I bought mine at $12, but it's still way cheap.

Someone on here recommended this one a while back and I was curious so I bought one and it sounds way better than it should for the price. If you're looking to save some money, pick one up and audition it. They're definitely serviceable.

Hell, Pyle makes a Headset Mic for only $11 and it sounds pretty darned decent for $11. If it breaks, you're only out $10 vs $300+ of a Countryman. And you know what? Other than it being hotter than a Countryman (that's what the Gain knobs are for kids!), best $10 you can use. For $33, you can get 3. And you've wasted $35 on something even more inconsequential than these.

This is NOT a good mic and I am NOT suggesting it, just wanted to put it out there.

Years ago, and I forgot why exactly - possibly spurred from a post on this sub, I bought this ($13 at the time) Pyle Pro headset mic:

https://www.amazon.com/Ear-Back-Electric-Microphone-Omnidirectional/dp/B003D2YRLA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I mainly got it just to see how bad it was because it was literally the cheapest mic out there and the other guys at work were really curious too. The thing came in, and the first thing we noticed is that the signal was crazy hot compared to any other mic we put on the packs (at the time I was at a company that used all Shure wireless).

We actually A/B'd it against Countryman and DPA mics, and let me tell you, once you get the gain right at the board, it does not sound bad.

It sounded so not bad that I actually used it on a show once or twice just for kicks!

Anyway, just a bottom-of-the-barrel mic to use in a pinch, and you can chuck in a kit and not have to worry about it/baby it like a DPA.

Closest thing I can think of would be something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003D2YRLA/

It's not so much an attachment to existing audio gear as much as just another thing you wear

Using a long "shotgun" microphone indoors is typically problematic. The nearby acoustic reflections defeat the directional operation of the microphone and make it sound even worse. We typically use (shorter) "hyper-cardioid" microphones indoors because they are not as easily tricked by nearby sound reflections.

This is a quite decent, but very budget-price microphone that has a hyper-cardioid capsule option. This would be my first choice to try out:ISK Pro Audio Little Gem Microphone US$49comes with three interchangeable capsules including hyper-cardioid.

Especially if you have fixed locations where action happens (operating room cot, exam table, etc.) consider mounting fixed hyper-cardioid microphones to capture clean dialog. That ISK Little Gem is cheap enough to deploy several of them in the prime locations. And if you are booming, a hyper-cardioid mic is much shorter and lighter to get into tight locations.

Another significant factor in capturing clean dialog is to get the microphone as close to the subject's mouth as possible. It would be ideal if you could put a lav (or even better, a headset) microphone on the primary subjects (veterinary doctor/surgeon). That would greatly increase the intelligibility whether they are wearing a mask or not. If you have only a few primary "speaking parts" it might be worth investing in wireless lavs or headset microphones for the primary subjects. This is how most "reality" productions capture clear dialog audio.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:Pyle Pro PEMS10 Wired Headset Pro MicAs others have suggested, you could even try putting the head of the mic inside the mask.

Sounding "in a cave" is a primary symptom of too-distant micing with the wrong kind of microphone.

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Try this.

If one particular freq is feeding back, let's say 400hz, bring down 400hz on the EQ but don't bring it too far down. After bringing down 400hz, contour the surrounding freqs, 315hz and 500hz, by bringing down those freqs but not as much as 400hz. This pic is a good example of what I'm talking about.

And you're probably correct about the down firing speakers that are in your gym causing the feedback but you're probably also correct about the acoustics of the gym causing the muddiness in the sound. But it seems that the PA system that you brought would be a better solution than the House speakers. So try this if you aren't already. Place the speakers forward of the performers. So what I mean is, if the performers perform on a stage, place the speakers so they're at least parallel with the front of the stage and not behind it. Or if there isn't a stage, place the speakers so that they firing in front of the performers. You don't want a situation where the speakers are placed behind the performers. This makes it difficult to notch out the freqs that are giving you problems.

It's too bad that you don't use Shure Lavs because I highly recommend these Pyle Pro headsets. Even though these Pyles would seem like they would suck, they actually don't. I own 4 of these and I've successfully used all 4 at once and feedback wasn't that much of an issue and they sounded great. I've heard, although I can't verify, that Audio Technica will attach a 4 pin Hirose connector that they use on any mic for $30 bucks. It might be worth a shot since 3 of those Pyles with the connector conversion would be around the same price as 1 of those Audio Technicas.

People will call me crazy, but try this microphone from Pyle. They are super cheap, I think they're $16 now, (when I bought them they were $13) the price seems to fluctuate. I work in professional theatre, and a producer brought 12 of these in for a show. My audio engineer and I both laughed at them, because obviously a $13 mic is garbage. By the end of the show that night, we had both gone to Amazon and bought some.

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They will NOT give you the same sound quality as a nice Countryman. They will NOT stand up to heavy abuse. But the sound quality is decent, and at that price, I treat them as disposable. There are several reviews on Amazon that are very detailed. I myself have had 4 of them for over five years, and they all still work (although I don't use them often).

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Good luck!