[CQ-Contest] Headsets redux

[jljarvis]

This is both a fertile and welcome topic, in the 
post-Dayton opinion flurry.

First, Bob....you are the ONLY guy I know who would
complain that the headset booties are too expensive 
at six bux a pair.  Let's see, a pair of bencher skyhawks
costs what...$2k?  A pair of booties $6.  

As a guy who spent too much of his youth in the broadcast
business, and has ears that stick out too far, I've probably
tried every headset made by man, in search of good sound and
isolation, and comfort.  With those credentials:

1)  The booties make the Proset more comfortable.  I added
them to mine.  (Gee, Honey, I shopped for 3 days, and spent
six bucks!  And yeah, I paid too much, you're right.)

2)  The Proset+ is about 20% heavier than the smaller one.
It's more comfortable because the earpieces are larger, and
it has a secondary head band, below the primary spring.

3)  The earpiece phasing is intriguing.  If I had a 1000MP
or D, I would say it's definitely useful, because of their
stereo audio.  In the Icom world, I think it may be questionable,
but I didn't choose to spend $180 to find out.  
    If anything causes me to dump my PRO for a 1000Field, it will
be the stereo audio/headset phasing combination.
    Opinions?

4)  The HC4/HC5 choice has always been a problem for me.  The 4 
cuts out a good half of my talk power, and sounds thinner. The 5
has a lot of punch, with my voice.  
    Were it not for that, I would have brought a + home from Dayton.
My conclusion, therefore, is that if the HC4 works for you...the +
is worth having.  If the HC4 works for you, and you use Yaesu, 
there is no question about it.

5)  I'm contemplating installing a phasing switch inside my Proset,
to test the effect with mono audio.  Will report results here.

Jim N2EA