| WB2VVV |
Rating:  |
2023-04-23 | |
| Found Much Better Ear Pads, Easy Retrofit! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have used the Pro-Set Elite with the IC electret element for several years with one of my Icom rigs and the received audio as well as the transmit audio using my Elite are both excellent. My Pro-Set Elite also seems a lot better made to me than my 25 year old Pro-Set, which is starting to get a little floppy but has the now unobtainable DX oriented HC4 Dynamic Element that works great with the JRC rig I use them with.
Unfortunately, the OEM Ear Pads on my Pro-Set Elite simply did not provide enough cushioning to be comfortable on my head for more than about 1 hour, unlike my previous Pro-Set and BM-10 Boom-Set which are both very comfortable for long periods of time. My Pro-Set Elite always felt like the cartilage part of my outer ears was being crushed by headphone pressure and my ears would start physically aching too soon. I finally gave up on hoping the headband would stretch out, and instead started searching for replacement Ear Pads that would provide a thicker cushion around my ears to reduce the physical pressure against my outer ears. I found a set of replacement Ear Pads from China on eBay for a little over $10 shipped that said in the title that they were made for the Pro-Set Elite. They took a few weeks to arrive and only around 5 minutes to install on my Pro-Set Elite. Ahhh, comfort at last! The replacement set have an oval instead of a round opening for the ears, using quite thicker vinyl wrapped foam cushions to seal nicely around the ears without crushing my outer ear cartilage. Now I love my Pro-Set Elite (with replacement Ear Pads). My only regret is that I waited so long to retrofit thicker replacement Ear Pads on them.
If you are having the same issue I experienced with ears physically aching after an hour, I recommend simply replacing the Heil OEM Ear Pads with a thicker more cushioned set of generic replacement Ear Pads - not from Heil.
I give them 4 stars because Heil supplied inadequately cushioned Ear Pads, which I found very uncomfortable after 1 hour of wear, but now that I updated the Ear Pads they would get 5 stars from me. |
|
| W1BR |
Rating: |
2023-03-20 | |
| repair service was good |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Same problems as the others noted: Plastics became sticky, and eventually the earpieces simply broke free of the headband--and this was with them sitting on a hanger and not during use! The good news? Heil was able to fully restore my pair for about $62, including return shipping. They look like new, and work like new. Give them a A for service. |
|
| M0EAS |
Rating: |
2023-03-03 | |
| Had 1.5 years before cable broke |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Found heil Pro 7 was too small around my ear and felt too heavy so went for the Heil Pro set elite 6 as £100 cheaper at the time and larger ear covers. Overall the ear pieces very fiddly as they turn on 2 axis and flapped around on my desk (your tube has posts explaining this)
Pros - Price and audio was good
Cons - Cheap headphones which only sat on my ears and as such I could hear background noise in the room.
Sound went after a year due to fault in cable in the left ear and now back with Martin Lynch (uk) for warranty repair (pending 5+ weeks lead-time).
Now have a Radiosport RC60CF (anniversary 10 year). Much better quality and worth the extra money. Headphones have larger ear pieces and are so much more comfortable. Very good fit and good isolation from room noise. Paid £250 for the headphone + £100 for cables but very happy. Anniversary edition has different microphone profile to the standard version (See Arlan communications website). Heils for sale when i get them back.
De M0EAS. |
|
| M0RFC |
Rating: |
2023-01-08 | |
| Had for nearly 5 years and fell apart like everyone else's |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Excellent audio reports and comfy once you adjust the headband appropriately. I had the extra comfy pads from the dealer and they really do improve the "feel" of the headset on each ear!
Then, after 5 years they fell apart. The plastic parts became very sticky and they broke just where they join other parts of the headset—the twisty arms & the half-moons that connect the cans.
Going to email Heil and see if I can get them repaired as others have said they were not a cheap pair when first purchased. |
|
| ON7MV |
Rating: |
2022-10-31 | |
| Bad construction |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Best,
I have been using a heil proset elite 6 for several years now... very good microphone. But it's falling apart... plastic is hardened... plastic sticks and apparently I'm not the only one with this problem.
For a microphone that cost me a lot of money, I do expect this to be quality. These seem to me to be manufacturing defects due to the use of wrong materials. |
|
| K5INI |
Rating: |
2022-05-15 | |
| Does everything I expected - no problems |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I don't have a complaint as some others do. This
mike is adjustable and I don't care if it doesn't swing up and down. The construction is fine, no quality issues and the sound is clear. Not heavy and I've had it on for quite some time without any issues. Not as quiet as my Pro 7's |
|
| K5WW |
Rating: |
2022-05-01 | |
| Good headsets, even better service. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
We, at KN5S, own two of these headsets. We've had them for 7 or 8 years now, after KS5TX donated them. A must-have, in a multi operator station. They are comfortable and do what they promise - punch through that pileup.
They hadn't really been used for the past two years. The Covid pandemic left the club shack under-utilized; with most of the time just me contesting, part-time, by myself. No need for a headset, since I'm primarily an RTTY contester.
But just a few weeks ago, after repairing our Spiderbeam (again) we decided to have some fun (pun intended) in one of the RTTY contests. KS5TX and I, side by side.
Soon after getting starting my left speaker fell apart. Minutes later KS5TX's right speaker came off. And another 10 or so minutes later my right speaker popped off. Ugh! Both headsets rendered (almost) useless in less than a half hour. Both felt sticky, as if some glue was spilled on them.
I took both headsets home and thought I'd be able to "crazy glue" them back together; but I abandoned that idea after taking a very good look at them. Everything below the headband broke; and gluing those parts - with all of the stress on them - would be a bad idea.
So I went to the Heil website and discovered that they actually offer replacement part sets for issues like these. Affordably, given the price of the headsets themselves. Only problem: they were not in stock.
I emailed Heil anyway, asking when/if those parts would be in stock again. It's not just semiconductors that are in short supply these days.
A day or two later I got a reply from Jerry (Lynch) at Heil. He said that the reason they were not in stock is that one part was missing: the plastic part right below t he headband. And he mentioned that, if that part on our headsets was in good shape, he'd mail me two sets free of charge.
And he did! The parts came in a few days later. But after "unboxing" (don't you just hate that word) I discovered that a few parts were missing. I only had enough parts two fix, say, a set and a half.
Another email to Jerry and once again I had the missing parts in my mailbox, just a few days later.
I have fixed one pair so far. Perfect working conditions, almost looks - and works - like new. The other I "fixed" with the parts that came in the first shipment; but I wish I had waited a bit. Because it's a mix of new and old parts; and as soon as I tested it out at the shack it fell apart again. Of course, after installing the new parts, the remaining (old) parts broke as well. That's my fault, and perfectly logical; I should have waited.
All in all: I am impressed with Heil's products, and even more so with the service. I have a few at my own shack, going back 30 years. They always delivered; it's just odd that this design is not quite perfect.
Note: if you want to fix these with replacement parts please (please!) be careful around the swiveling (T) parts. Those wires, even though I didn't break them, seem very fragile. And if you have to replace that part... be ready to do some soldering with a small tip. |
|
| ON4BHQ |
Rating: |
2021-12-26 | |
| Very good sound, poor construction |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I own 2 of them.
Love the sound quality of speakers and microphone.
But: after 4 years they both fell apart. Plastics became very sticky and they broke just seeing at it!
So same story as many before…
I contacted Heil and they could send me a repair kit (hopefully of better quality).
I ordered 2 at 15 $ each. So: parts 30$, shipping 37$ and Belgium customs 30.50 € !!!
Needs some skill to change the parts, as you have to unsolder the thin wires and guide them trough the new swivels, which is a very tricky thing to do.
Dismantling and reassembling the headset takes 2 hours each for this guy with 58 yrs old eyes!
Now hoping these repaired ones will last a bit longer HI.
Next time, I’ll buy a new one, but perhaps another brand.
73 from ON4BHQ
|
|
| W2TXB |
Rating: |
2021-09-05 | |
| Excellent headphones and mic |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Having used a similar setup (ProSet iC) on an ICOM IC-7000 with great results, I bought this to use with a new Flex 5000A, and am not disappointed. Audio quality and build quality are really good... getting great (unsolicited) reports on my transmit audio.
Bob Heil & Co. hit another home run.
Update: Now, several years later, the rubber (?) parts have become sticky/gummy, leaving residue on my fingers and hands whenever I touch this device. One of the (plastic) parts that holds the left earphone and mic has broken... apparently the parts used in these have become brittle (and may be known for doing so).
I sent a message out to Heil Sound to find out if there is a reasonable fix for these problems, and will post on their response. |
|
| VK4JAK |
Rating: |
2020-11-02 | |
| Headset poor construction |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Purchased my set in 2012. Had to wait a while as I live in Brisbane, Australia. Packed them back in the box for a year thinking they would be preserved. Took them out and went to put them on my head and the left side swivel parts disintegrated. Heil was happy to send out replacement parts at cost of shipping. I thought that was really good. They sent me the right side parts as well! Move on a few years and the right side disintegrated. Looked at my spare parts and they sent me the wrong part. Frustrating. Anyway, was repairing as best I could and then the left side upper disintegrated in front of me. Totally Frustrating. I contacted them by email numerous times with no response. As I am outside USA the web site says I have to contact them first for repairs. So, now they are sitting in their box in pieces. Totally disheartened as these are meant to be commercial head sets. I paid a price due to the exchange rate. Now I just wait hoping one day someone will contact me. regards James VK4JAK
****Update: Interesting experience but in the end I have a working set again.****
My mind was wondering about this broken headset which was not my fault. So, I packed them up in a box and sent them to Heil for repair with fingers crossed. Then I sent another couple of emails and apparently they were misplaced. But after careful searching by a wonderful Donna they found them. They were fixed with the new type of plastics and sent back to me. Hooray!. Maybe I spoke to soon as when I went to test them only the left side worked. I was not about to send them back and I knew it was just a wire off a solder joint. Donna to the rescue! It was simple instruction and with my trusty Weller soldering iron I was able to reconnect the wire. Now they are working perfectly again!. I was sitting there enjoying my accomplishment and thought where is the original box that I sent back as they came in a blank brown cardboard box. So, another email off to Heil and they are now sending it in the post via an envelope. So, got there in the end....fingers crossed. Time to give a different rating. Those who are not experiencing any issues probably have the later plastics. |
|
