****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I had been looking for an alternative to the hand microphone supplied with the Yaesu FT-857D amateur radio. I use it exclusively for ham radio satellites like AO-7, CAS-4A, 4B and the XW Series, all of which are 70cm uplink and 2m downlink. The audio quality of the provided hand mike is terrible. It is both bassy and mushy and no amount of DSP correction in the FT-857D can make up for it.At that point, I tried my Heil Headset with the HC-2 Element (DX). This is a dynamic element so no bias is required. The audio quality instantly became very good as soon a I replaced the hand mike with the Heil Headset. I did have to purchase an adapter cable to make the headset work with the modular mike jack of the Yaesu radio. (DXEngineering) This same adapter works with the Yamaha headset that is being reviewed.A ham radio friend recommended this Yamaha headset and it was MUCH less expensive than the Heil, so I thought I might give a try, as I could then dedicate the Yamaha to the FT-857D and use the Heil on my other radio.Setup:1. The black box containing the 2 x AAA batteries is REQUIRED for the Yamaha to work with the FT-857D on Transmit.2. A 3.5 mm female stereo to 3.5 mm MONO adapter is REQUIRED for the Yamaha on Transmit (FT-857d)3. Both the VOX Gain and the Microphone Gain had to be significantly adjusted to go from the Heil to the Yamaha. Audio gain had to be reduced from 35 to 3 ! Otherwise the radio input circuits were driven into distortion. I ended up with Vox Gain at about 45 when I reduced my Microphone Gain . Att that point I got reliable Vox activation. These adjustments were required because the Yamaha uses an "electret" cartridge that has a LOT more output than the dynamic cartridge of the Heil.Performance/Quality:The Yamaha produces a fuller (but not bass driven) and clearer sound than the HC-2 Heil DX Cartridge. This is especially true at very low signal levels. The intelligibility of both the Heil and the Yamaha is excellent, but the Yamaha has a fuller sound, surprisingly punchy , while the Heil sounds a bit pinched, but still quite good.I have made hours of 15 min long recording sessions of this Yamaha vs the Heil. (SDRC software with a FunCube Pro + Software Defined Radio). The differences among the 3 microphones (Yaesu Hand, Heil Headset, Yamaha Headset) vary from striking/astonishing to very good/even better.Build Quality:The Heil is clearly built from better materials, with more robust cables that are not likely to break easily with use. The Yamaha feels "cheap"....but it works VERY well on both transmit and receive. Note above, it has better transmit audio quality than the Heil HC-2 for satellite work (in my opinion), for less money.On that basis I strongly recommend the Yamaha for Ham Radio applications.73, N0AN
