Radio Earpiece Problems
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:59 pm
In my role at WDW, I have to wear a radio (well, we use Nextel phones rather than radios, but same difference). That in itself isn't a problem. The problem lies in the fact that I also have to wear an earpiece, constantly. Human ears were not designed to have a chunk of plastic shoved in them 40-60 hours a week, or at least, mine weren't.
I've gone through a few, and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. I was hoping that someone might have found something that works better, and/or would have advice to share.
Here's what I've tried
- Motorola NNTN4033 - this is your basic round black earbud with a microphone on a single wire. Advantage is that it's very cheap (company provides them), and fairly reliable (I've only burned through 1 so far, and it lasted me 6 months). Disadvantage is that it's exceedingly uncomfortable.
- Motorola NNTN5211 - "secret service" style earpiece ... one wire for the microphone (clipped to shirt button usually), one wire for the earpiece part (clips to back of collar, curly cord runs into ear) - This is the most comfortable earpiece I've worn, so much so that I don't even notice it. Decent sound quality. Big disadvantage though, seems to be reliability. I burned through 3 in a 6 month period ... first one the PTT button got stuck, 2nd one had some water damage in the microphone, and the 3rd one developed a short in the cable. I'm pretty sure the folks at the Nextel trailer got tired of swapping it out for me on Warranty.
- Jabra Earwave Boom - Loops around ear, with the actual ear piece sticking in the ear, with a short microphone that sits on the cheek. Advantage was that it was fairly comfortable. Disadvantages were that it didn't fit very well, and tended to slip, which lead to discomfort from the constant re-adjusting. Also, the mic picked up a lot of wind, and not much of my voice, so people couldn't hear me.
- Etymotic ER-22 - in-ear model, I actually got it and combined it with a custom ear-insert I had leftover from my TV days, since none of the standard ear-tips it came with felt good in my ear. Obviously, this makes it rather comfortable. It also has very good sound quality. Disadvantages - the cable isn't long enough, and the earpiece doesn't have a PTT button, which makes it useless with some of the radios in my department, which need to have their PTT repaired.
Anyone else try anything that worked better?
I've gone through a few, and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. I was hoping that someone might have found something that works better, and/or would have advice to share.
Here's what I've tried
- Motorola NNTN4033 - this is your basic round black earbud with a microphone on a single wire. Advantage is that it's very cheap (company provides them), and fairly reliable (I've only burned through 1 so far, and it lasted me 6 months). Disadvantage is that it's exceedingly uncomfortable.
- Motorola NNTN5211 - "secret service" style earpiece ... one wire for the microphone (clipped to shirt button usually), one wire for the earpiece part (clips to back of collar, curly cord runs into ear) - This is the most comfortable earpiece I've worn, so much so that I don't even notice it. Decent sound quality. Big disadvantage though, seems to be reliability. I burned through 3 in a 6 month period ... first one the PTT button got stuck, 2nd one had some water damage in the microphone, and the 3rd one developed a short in the cable. I'm pretty sure the folks at the Nextel trailer got tired of swapping it out for me on Warranty.
- Jabra Earwave Boom - Loops around ear, with the actual ear piece sticking in the ear, with a short microphone that sits on the cheek. Advantage was that it was fairly comfortable. Disadvantages were that it didn't fit very well, and tended to slip, which lead to discomfort from the constant re-adjusting. Also, the mic picked up a lot of wind, and not much of my voice, so people couldn't hear me.
- Etymotic ER-22 - in-ear model, I actually got it and combined it with a custom ear-insert I had leftover from my TV days, since none of the standard ear-tips it came with felt good in my ear. Obviously, this makes it rather comfortable. It also has very good sound quality. Disadvantages - the cable isn't long enough, and the earpiece doesn't have a PTT button, which makes it useless with some of the radios in my department, which need to have their PTT repaired.
Anyone else try anything that worked better?