Thread resurrection.......
 

One year later has the game changed any? I have a big wedding shoot this Spring (3 cams) and I am looking into getting some sort of system to help coordinate myself on ceremony Right, wife on Ceremony Left, and assistant / sound tech on back balcony in a very large church.

I just finished surfing through the Eartech web site and I still don't like the look of their headsets (flimsy) but I don't see any other options.

i use cheap wireless headphones (make sure they are radio in 433Mhz band for example, not infrared or bluetooth).
they cover both ears and are very comfortable. there is no cable and they work on a single pair of AAA cell.
you just need to tune them all at the beginning.
you can find such headphone for very low price (as low as 50$).
it is one way communication, but usually you do not need the way back (thumb up or down is ok too).
I got a set of 4, with 4 transmitters (3 are spares).
since the transmitter accept only line level, i had to build a small microphone amplifier (a 10$ kit is ok), so the director can give instruction even with a whisper.

A couple of years ago we tried the Eartecs on a real wedding and hated it. The audio kept cutting in and out during the reception, and the quality of the sound was a huge dissappointment. It sounded like you're talking into an empty soup can... maybe even worse because it's so muffled. We immediately sold the set to a competitor.

Today we're using PortaCom by Anchor, made in America! They're probably 2 or 3 times more expensive than the Eartecs, but work much better. My only gripe with these sets is that it's still lacking somewhat in the high frequencies, but it sounds leaps and bounds better than the Eartecs.

If you want to go cheap, try using 2 wireless microphone sets. Switch the receiver/transmitters, plug in headphones, and you can talk full duplex with each other in awesome audio quality!

Still using the Eartecs - still happy with them after over two years. They do what I want across the relatively close distances I need to use them. They have never failed me yet.

So-so quality
 

After over a year using our set of Eartec's I'm still standing by my first impression - you get what you pay for. They are inexpensive, convenient, easy to use, they get the job done 90% of the time - the other 10% you need to repeat your message. I don't think it would take such a huge tweaking to put back the high frequencies, they are cut some place along the audio line... that would help intelligibility a lot. But overall they get the job done.

Battery life is outstanding, I made a few times the mistake of forgetting to charge them simply because... they last for ever, I have not kept track, but I would estimate 24 hours or more of continuous use (not continuous transmission though).

It would be worth trying them with better headsets and better microphones, I think that's the weak part. Maybe some day, when I finished all my other projects...