Head sets - what do you recommend?

We at Melville Theatre Company are sick of our headsets, which we bought to replace the very old but good ones we had before (unfortunately unavailable now!). So, what do other companies out there use and recommend? We don't want hard wired. We would prefer over the ear, not in the ear earphones. Make and model number and any comments would be very much appreciated! Cheers, Vanessa for MTC

Maybe you could tell us make and model of what you had and what you bought as a replacement to give us something to go with, such as what your budget is.

Can you tell us what headsets you have bought, why you are sick of them as this may be helpful to other groups, what were the ones you had before and what sort of budget you have in mind as the Motorolla full duplex headsets would normally be too expensive for community groups. It can help the budget if you have a mixture of wired for lighting, sound etc and wireless for stage manager.

IF you just want to replace your in-ear headsets then try jacar.com.au AA-2028 $14.95 Lightweight AA-2021 $39.95 Heavier but more comfortable, cancels more outside noise. Both come with 3.5mm jack to fit your two ways. They are domestic, so will not last as long as say professional DT109 but don't cost $300 either.

We bought the Jaycar headsets at Harbour Theatre & have not had a lot of success with them. I suppose you get what you pay for! Sorry I can't recommend anything else, we are still looking. Hard wiring is an option but not useful for mobile back stage staff such as SM & props

There have been 2 reply indicating that a wired system may be better, however as it is just the headsets that are the problem a wired system will not fix this. Any headset that can be used on a wired system can be made to work on two ways. So it comes down to price. Sub $100 = Domestic = Jacar, Dick Smith ect. Lightweight. Likely to break (not repairable) and not very comfortable. No outside noise reduction. $100-$300 = Semi Pro = Production Intercom 300 or 200 series and others. Fairly robust, but (other than the cable)usually not repairable. Comfort is OK. Options like single or dual muffs. Moderate outside noise reduction. $300+ = Professional = Beyerdynamic DT108/DT109. Med-heavy weight. Very robust and fully repairable. Very comfortable. Fully optionable. Good outside noise reduction. All of these can work on two ways and you get what you pay for. The middle range if probably the best value for money for amature theatre. In my theatre we run DT109 for the SM, LX and SX operators. Backstage and followspots use the Production Intercom (300series???).