What headset/microphone do they use for TED talks?

April 15, 2009 6:21 AM

What mic do they use for the TED talks?

Hey guys! I'm trying to track down the mic/receiver setup they use for TED talks (www.ted.com) ... It's an earpiece and it gives pretty amazing quality during their talks.

Incidentally, it's a cool site for speeches.

posted by jlstitt to technology (4 comments total)

Have you tried contacting them?
posted by rhizome at 7:47 AM on April 15

I believe Countryman was the first to come out with these, and others (eg. Audio Technica?) have followed. Contryman makes the mics only; they are connected to transmitter packs made by Sennheiser and others.

NB: Don't ever go cheap on a wireless setup; I guarantee it won't work if you do.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:51 AM on April 15 [1 favorite has favorites]

Looking at some photos of TED talks, it looks like a Countryman E6. Not cheap at all, but darn good for their size. These mics are also used a lot for musical theater along with the Countryman B3. In fact, I'm off to the theater to go wrangle some right now...
posted by zachlipton at 10:03 AM on April 15

It was a Countryman E6, as zachlipton guessed (I e-mailed TED, as rhizome suggested)
posted by jlstitt at 6:50 AM on May 19