The main decision is price vs. value.
Many people make decisions based on price. And for that, you get what you get.
Sometimes good, sometimes bad, mostly mediocre. But for those that choose to
make decisions that way, god bless ‘em. They keep the makers of mass-produced
items in business. And sometimes at a low price you can get good function for
what you need and then feel good about the dollars you saved. However.....
For those who want the best quality and/or best function for what they are
doing, then you have to be willing to spend, and the price of what you are
going to buy comes down to a decision on value. Spending a lot (relative term)
for anything does not guaranty excellent quality, but it usually means that the
components are better, are expected to last longer and there is more comfort
(in the case of headphones).
If you are operating for 1 – 3 hours, you likely won’t notice much difference
in comfort among most headphones. However, If you are operating for 40+ hours
in a contest, comfort or lack of it is an ENORMOUS consideration. How much
extra is it worth to not have to feel like screaming in agony because your head
feels like it has been in a vice for the past 2 days? Hmmm...
And what about audio range? For the type of operating that you are going to
do, is it important that you be able to hear the entire audible spectrum of the
human voice? Or will a certain accepted range of frequencies be more than
adequate? Or are you primarily a cw op where selecting a headphone with a
limited audio range will actually help as a de facto audio filter and reduce
the hiss and noise in your ears? That alone will help you to copy better
through qrn and splatter and reduce operating fatigue and make you more
efficient in your operating. How much is that worth to you?
And then there is the mechanical construction...
Do you want to buy something that after a few uses you may need to apply
electrical tape because the cheap screws weak housing and poorly machined
plastic/pvc boom mic can’t hold in place without it? Or do you want to buy
something so poorly made that it can’t survive the inevitable first fall onto
the floor? What about the size and shape of the ear pads and cups? Do you
have a high level of ambient noise in the shack from amp, heater/AC unit or
other appliances? Is your shack located below a room in the house with a tile
floor and which gets lots of traffic? Are you near water pipes and can hear
every flush or shower? If so, lightweight headphones with small earpads will
be largely useless.
Finally, how is your hearing? Does the hiss and pressure changes of
noise-canceling headphones irritate and hurt your earsdrums? Do you suffer
from tinnitus where volume levels and audio range can make a critical
difference between enjoyable copy and agony that lasts for hours – days? Do
you have high freq cutoff or gaps in your ability to hear sound?
These should all be considerations.
So, selection of the “right” headphones is a very personal and subjective
choice. What work best for me may or not be good for someone else and
vice-versa depending on your operating needs and usage, physiology and health.
Frankly, I have found that my needs are best served by multiple pairs of
headphones – for different uses and over different periods of time. But for
those that want to make decisions based on price alone, I offer this caveat:
There is NOTHING more important than being able to hear the stations that you
want to work. If you can’t copy them then you can’t work them and all that
money that you spent on equipment, antennas and other peripherals won’t help
you. So moving up a few grades in headphones – for an additional amount of
dollars – can be the most cost-effective and sensible way for you to help
improve you enjoyment and better your radio accomplishments.
What is that worth to you?
73
Bob KQ2M
From: Jim Brown
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2017 1:20 PM
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Wireless Headphone System
On 12/22/2017 8:24 AM, Joe wrote:
> I guess Contesting is not an aspect of this hobby for those with not a
> lot of money.
Contesting can be enjoyed at many levels. Winning can be VERY expensive.
Google to find websites of K3LR, W3LPL, N6RO, 4O3A and take a wild guess
at what those antenna farms cost. I started contesting in 1957 with
BC459 and ARC5 "Command Sets" for 40 and 80M, a BC348 RX, and a couple
of wires. 60 years later, I have a much bigger station (though not in
the same league as those listed above). I had fun then and I have fun now.
I use a Yamaha CM500 headset (about $60) for SSB and a Sony MDR7506
(about $100) for CW (the Sony is slightly more comfortable). I've also
quoted K6LL's recommendation for a Koss-branded headset that he
describes as nearly the same as the Yamaha, at half the cost. Have you
priced any Heil products recently? They're not cheap, and I view them as
wildly overpriced for what they are. As we say in the world of pro audio
about Bose, "better sound through advertising."
73, Jim K9YC
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