Delta_Knight Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) I managed to snag these off Ebaybanned when they were only £34.50 ($55) and it was only this reason that I actually bought them as I was pretty content with my swimmer headset. But if like me you like to do "impressions" a bowman or swimmer isn't always appropriate, and I for one cannot afford a pair of genuine Peltors or Sordins which is always something I have always wanted. It took about 2 weeks to get here, which was marginally better than the delivery time my Norotos Plate took which was knocking on a month… but Ebaybanned being Ebaybanned they got here eventually. On opening the jiffy bag which it came in, I was greeted by a plain brown box labeled with one of Ebaybanneds reference stickies with the product code on it… so nothing high speed Inside was nothing more than the PTT and the headset in a plastic bag… not even instructions. Pictures… General build quality is good enough, made of plastic... and... well I'm not going to insult your intelligence On the whole though they are okay for the price I paid... any more and I would have been a little dissapointed As the wire for the boom mic moulded if bent at too much of an angle the outer while splits exposing the inner wire... so long run might snap clean off which i have nicley lablelled here The foam sections cover small plastic cups but pop in and out real easy so watch out you don't lose them in the field... just a word of advice The boom mic is also quick release, but since they are not really ear defenders reneder this feature a little useless... As far as how comfy they are just walk around with a pair of ear muffs on under a MICH for a day too see if you get on with them, but the soft material around the earcups are good enough for pushing up against the side of the head without major discomfort. A word of warning to spectacle wearers however, when I was wearing mine I found that it really pushed the arms of my glasses against my head and it was really uncomfortable, but my M-Frames arms are a little less big so they should be fine on the skirmish field. I tried them under all three of my helmets, my 2000, 2002 and IBH all of which are designed to takes coms units After a bit of adjusting and such, I got them to fit comfortably under the 2002, and likewise with my IBH, however I quickly lost enthusiasm to fit them under my 2000, but that was me just being stupid, they fit under fine As far as Function is concerned they are comms + "noise amplification" whatever that means. Too turn them on just hold both the the two buttons for a second or two and then you should here them come on. How do you know that they are on? A constant hissing noise which gets progressively louder as you turn them up. Bionic hearing? Yeah.... does nothing more to compensate what you can't hear with the headset on, so you won't be able to hear the OPFOR creeping up on you a mile away. On there own they dampen loads of sound, but don't expect any of that auto cut off stuff like with the real ones, so don't expect miracles next time a thunderflash rolls into a room you are in... but hey it's better than nothing. As for amplification there are two buttons one for LOUDER and one for ... well .... quieter. Hold down the two buttons again to turn them off. How about communications clarity? I wouldn't know because mine DO NOT WORK Yeah thats right... mine are faulty... as of yet I have contacted Ebaybanned but waiting on a reply so I'll see how that works out It's not the PTT becuase I changed it to try it, it's not my radio, but well I will have to solve the problem if it comes to it... it is only simple Comms circuitry, I'm just glad it is not the other way round with the amplification not working.... So I'll have to finish this review if/when I get them working... So is this a sad day for geardos all round? As the tears of sadness roll down their cordura for China ripping on another expensive product? Not likely, and for your average airsofter i'd reccomend the swimmer/bowman any day. If like me you need a pair to finish that impression you've already poured money into, another £50 or whatever price they are now will not break the bank to badly... But overall.... you get what you pay for, and loads of people have a working pair so please don't let my luck put you off I will answer your questions to the best of my ability Edited December 17, 2008 by Delta_Knight Quote Link to post Share on other sites
[VT]Mofo2000 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Great job!! your impression about the headset is exactly as mine, only difference is that my mic works. you get what you paid for. btw, how did you make yours fit under IBH/MICH? I'm having trouble getting the helmet straps around the gigantic earmuffs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Delta_Knight Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Thanks Alot of hassle, the IBH was pretty painless, but the MICH caused me a little bit of a problem. Just experiment, release all of the suspension straps to there biggest point, then through trial and error just shorten them until it all fits nicely. I suggest pulling the straps round your ears over the earcups or it will never go round (If that made any sense at all) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Delta_Knight Posted December 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 Okay then... It seems that Ebaybanned have pretty much told me where to go, as it was "tested before sending" so I'm in a little bit of a situation.... Can anyone confirm that the amplification and comms are on seperate circuitry? (i.e Do not need the headset on for comms to work) As I'm ging to have to attempt repairs (If i can diagnose the problem that is) When I connect it to my radio all I get is a feint buzzing sound and a repeated clicking noise Or has anyone else experienced the same problems as I have? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unas Posted December 21, 2008 Report Share Posted December 21, 2008 Is it possible to remove the microphone so that this looks like a Comtac I and not Comtac II ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Delta_Knight Posted December 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2008 Is it possible to remove the microphone so that this looks like a Comtac I and not Comtac II ? The boom mic is also quick release, but since they are not really ear defenders reneder this feature a little useless... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
[VT]Mofo2000 Posted December 21, 2008 Report Share Posted December 21, 2008 actually, the issue might come down to the radio itself. when I tested mine on a Motorola T6300 when it first arrived, it was working flawlessly. but at Saturday's game, I switched to a Moto T5700, i couldn't hear my teammate's comm, only clicking noise. however, when I talked w the PTT, they said they could hear me fine. when I came back, I tried the headset w the T6300 again, it's working again. it seems like the problem lies within the PTT's radio plug wasn't being pushed into the radio's jack far enough, due to the excess molding around the metal connector. I think the T6300 was able to let the connector pin to be pushed in a bit farther. I'm going to try sanding off a bit of the plastic molding and see if it'll work w the T5700. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-Drake- Posted December 21, 2008 Report Share Posted December 21, 2008 Anyone know if the boom mic and ptt is compatable with the genuine set of comtac 1s ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unas Posted December 21, 2008 Report Share Posted December 21, 2008 Would this make any sense ? An Comtac I costs ~250€ , you can get a Comtac II for ~300€ and the Replika costs ~50€ ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-Drake- Posted December 23, 2008 Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 Because I own a genuine set of comtacs the only option is to buy a separate boom mic and separate ptt for them which combined would cost me almost the same amount the headset did (aka not cheap) If the replica's mic and ptt fitted my own head set i'd buy a set just for them. Cant seem to even be able to find a pic anywhere of these repo's boom mic plug and socket. =/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vbtb110 Posted December 23, 2008 Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 I am tempted to get these solely for the connector, as the multitude of adapters for real ones cost quite a pretty penny Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Delta_Knight Posted December 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 Drake is this what you were after? Thats is the Jack and Socket for the boom Mic Hope this helps Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-Drake- Posted December 23, 2008 Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 Absolute legend ! The socket looks almost identical. I think now i'll take the plunge and order so fingers crossed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Delta_Knight Posted December 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 (edited) Right here’s a quick fix for any one that interested, I’m no electronic engineer so don’t ask me too technical questions. The following mod does not interfere with the amplification circuitry, it only disconnects the right side radio speaker to enable the left one to work like a swimmer or bowman. When I first opened up the headset up I was surprised to see the com’s wired to the main circuitry as you are supposed to be able to use the com’s without turning the amplification on. So whatever the problem was, it must have been the two sides conflicting, so my plan was to wire the coms side independently like my swimmer headset. Without going straight in and hacking everything insight, I decided to disconnect one thing at a time and try if it works, so I started at the furthest point (right side). For any one hasn’t taken the thing apart yet, it is easy like the real thing, grip the outside of the right headset in your palm and with other put two finger inside the ear cup and hook your fingers on the hard backing behind the soft green pvc and pull, the oval padded thing should pop out then take the piece of sponge out and then you can see the speakers and circuit board. The two speakers is mounted to a rubber backing that fits on two plastic posts, carefully pull the speakers away and locate the red speaker wire soldered to J19 on the circuit board (see picture) then desolder and remove the red wire from the joint and put a bit of tape around the expose wire and tuck it out of way. Once reassembled, you should only get sound from left speaker only, but at least you can the communications now work, albeit like a swimmer or bowman with sound from one ear only This worked for me so should for you all, so good luck! Edited December 30, 2008 by Delta_Knight Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nilz Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Looks like it's indeed an amplification issue. Some radios just won't be able to output the power needed to drive both speakers it seems. Same thing happens if I connect my 250 Ohm Beyerdynamic headphones to my iPod. Could be fixed with a portable headphones amp inbetween the radio and the set, but that would set you back another 50 quid or so Quote Link to post Share on other sites
amateurstuntman Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 I have a set of these and mine have the loud noise cutout feature that makes them into a useful set of ear-defs. It might not be a quoted feature but mine do do it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
atz Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Hi! I have a problem with my element comtac too (arfff comtac II/ commtac Too...anyway) the amplifier works, I can send message, but I can't recieve anything... Was that the kind of problem you had Delta knight? I want to be sure it will work before destroying my headset! Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Burnell Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 hey man you said that the sound only comes out from one ear does that mean that only the radio tranmissions come through that ear and all other sounds through both ears or does it mean that the ambient sounds picked up by the mics come through the left ear only and the radio transmissions through the left ear only? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Delta_Knight Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Real Sorry about the ridiculously late reply, but if you still want to know.... It's only comms you can hear in one ear, ambient noises can be heard in both still. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unas Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Has anyone tried the new version of the Comtac Replica already? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
themonkeyfromoutbreak Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 I recenty bought a set of these with the replica peltor ptt. Had a problem initially with the headset plug and the ptt which was that as soon as I plugged in the headset to the ptt, it was constantly on send. I rectified this by filing/sanding down the headset plug so it could fully fit into the ptt. All in all I think they are great value for money (pay for what you get). As has already been said, this item will help finish off a look or impression, I am going to give them a go on the skirmish field as soon as possible and I shall post results. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stormbreaker Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 New Version? Where? Does EB have the new verison already? What I've read so far there were alot of problems with the first batch of comtacs... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rafter_Man Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Yes Paul has them all ready. I bought them to. http://www.ebairsoft.com/element-comtac-he...lug-p-2604.html Initially i had to solder a resistance between the PTT and the Microphone for the PTT to work correctly. But my Microphone doesn't seem to work with or without the resistance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deviat Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Ordered one of these a few days ago, though they sent me an email saying they will "send it in comming days." So I don't expect it to get here until december When I do get it though, I'll post up my thoughts, and probably ask for help on fixing it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
conger Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 @ Delta_Knight Many thanks for your post dude .... Setup: ComTac 2 with military plug Peltor PTT Motorola Talkabout T5410 PMR Problem was no comms out, and very very faint signal in. Ambient noise never a problem. Fixed with Delta_Knight's post detailing removed J19 wire. Good Hunting Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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