[Elecraft] Microphone for the K3 questions

[Gary Smith]

I use a K3 and rarely work SSB and I'm 99+% CW. I normally use a set 
of Bose QC15 headsets and have a very old Heil HC-4 Mic element in an 
older HM-5 Ball tip desk mic.

I've been consistently getting poor reports with SSB but listening to 
the K3 monitor I'm not hearing anything unexpected. The HC-4 element 
was geared to contesting and DXing, not for a pretty voice quality. 
Perhaps there's a problem with the mic or the settings but I bought 
the element back around 85 or so and the mic has been dropped over 
the years so maybe I should try another mic & see if that makes a 
difference. Problem is I have no other mic to try except a few old 
Neumann studio mics and the ones for voice take awhile for the tube 
to warm up. A bit of overkill that's not worth exploring.

I just looked on the Elecraft product list & see the MH2 and the Heil 
Proset. The MH2 is surely wired properly for the K3 but I wonder 
about the quality of sound its element generates. It looks like the 
Heil proset would be the ideal if I worked SSB frequently but I 
don't. The MH2 would surely be fine for the occasional use but I've 
never cared for having the thicker coiled wire hand for hand mics 
extending out on the desk from the radio. 

If I got something like the heil proset I couldn't use my QC15 and I 
seriously wonder if the Heil comes close to the audio quality in this 
Bose headset, I don't know, I'd have to compare to know. The QC15 is 
the finest headset I've ever used for radio, thanks to the electronic 
noise cancelling feature I can't hear the amp at all and I keep the 
fan at full speed. As a musician the QC15 give a really pleasant 
reproduction and are very comfortable.

Any suggestions on something else I might look into that is less 
pricey than this Heil set & maybe better sounding than the MH2? I 
don't have to have it now and am not in a rush.

73,

Gary
KA1J