I was so impressed with the first mic I bought for our church, I bought another one for personal use. Admittedly, another reason is that the preacher was so enthused that we finally found a head-worn microphone that was "just right" in performance and wearability, he asked that we reserve it for his use only -- So if I teach a class or perform in a dramatic vignette I have to bring my own toys. That was because many guest speakers have been pretty rough on the previous head mics we had used (and wore out). The elastic band that goes behind the ear is such a simple and elegant solution in providing a rock-solid placement on your ear, I am surprised that more manufacturers don't use it. We have had our first mic for well over a year and our preacher has jumped around and worked up a sweat and this mic's placement on his face hasn't budged (I can easily see this being used by a fitness instructor going through an aerobic routine, assuming the cable is well anchored to them). Speaking of sweat, one thing that is not shown on the main picture of the product at the top of the web page is the drip ring that is attached to wire between the ear clip and the mic capsule (you can see it in the picture used in the product description farther down the page though). This ring will make sure any moisture that finds it way onto the wire won't make it down to the capsule. The ring's placement is adjustable and can be set anywhere along the wire. The ring's diameter is slighter more than the capsule and slightly less than the windscreen. The wire and capsule are hardly noticeable unless you are sitting in the first few rows. If moisture is a secondary problem and you are more concerned about the visibility of the wire, like you would if using it on actors in live theatre, you can just move the ring all the way to one end or the other which will minimize is visual presence. We rarely use the windscreens because the headset isn't used outside and also the placement used in relation to the side of the face rarely results in popping and sibilance issues. If you need a windscreen, Samson includes four total, the three spares even have their own slots cut in the foam of the carrying case. We bought the tan/beige model and the wire and capsule are small enough to be barely visible even on those with darker skin or men with a dark beard. However, when our preacher grew a beard, it was initially decided to use a windscreen to guard against the sound of the capsule grazing against his whiskers. Unfortunately, because of the windscreen being large enough to be seen from much farther away, it looked to some as if the tip off a cotton swab was stuck in his beard or perhaps the stub of a cigarette was in the corner of his mouth (yes, someone really said that). Since we had three spare windscreens, one possible solution was to use a marker to color one of them brown. Our preacher's final solution was to forego the windscreen altogether and adjust the wire ever so slightly farther way from his face and do an even more meticulous grooming job on his beard.Some potentially useful and valuable extras in the package are the four different adaptors included. Besides being able to be used with Samson's own systems, there are adaptors for Sennheiser (the systems we use), Audio-Technica, AKG, and Shure belt packs. Most other headset mic manufacturers require you to order a specific configuration and frequently at a higher price. Some may not like the fact that the adaptors might add almost an inch of extra "bulk" to the product. Since this extra length is at the belt pack and nowhere near the face, I think this minor inconvenience is more than outweighed by the versatility and anti-obsolescence the adaptors provide. In my opinion, these adaptors are well built and I haven't had to make any adjustments to either set we use. On the topic of anti-obsolescence, another handy part of the headset's design is that it has a detachable cable so that a defective one can easily be replaced and is readily available through Amazon. In the past you rarely saw this feature on the big name brands although that is beginning to change. This makes so much sense since cables are usually what take the most abuse in both head worn and hand held mic systems. If our previous $300+ Audio Technica model had an easily replaceable cable we would still be using it today.A few other nifty touches are found in the respectable-quality foam-filled carrying case. Its foam not only has a cutout for the headset and every accessory included, it also includes a cutout that will accommodate most belt packs and their antenna. Nice. I find the cable clip for clothing is the only accessory in the whole kit which wasn't that impressive but I have seen much worse, and at this price point I'm more than satisfied with it.As far as voice reproduction in a live sound environment this mic has performed very well for us. I am the tech consultant for this church (plus two local community theaters), have worked with sound recording and sound reinforcement for just over 40 years, and I have no significant complaints with this mic. Any slight shortcoming with the lack of depth or harshness of the sound has been easily overcome in our case with a light touch to the EQ at the sound board. I have experienced no more problems with feedback using the SE10 than I have had with our wired Shures or wireless handheld Sennheisers. I have also had no problem with the mic being overdriven or experiencing distortion even when our preacher has gotten very passionate with his message (i.e., loud). You have to remember that problems like this depend not just on the mic itself, but rather on the combination of the mic, belt pack transmitter, receiver, and sound board -- the entire signal chain. When we first replaced the AT headset with the SE10 I had to make several tweaks to the gain structure and EQ for this mic's channel on the sound board. (TIP: If your sound quality seems to degrade over time and you are not the only one that has access to your equipment, be sure to take a picture of your settings when you first make them. By doing this I found out that apparently people had been "helping" me by making adjustments in my absence. With the aid of the photos I was able to quickly return the controls to their original settings.) I have used the SE10 personally for presentations and classes in rooms range from 50 to 300 seats and have never received complaints about sound quality and intelligibility, even when I have asked. These two units were purchased specifically for the spoken word and that is how they have solely been used. We have not used it with vocalists so I cannot vouch on whether it would provide the same sterling results we have received for our application. Use of a mic in a live band environment with monitors facing towards the singers presents much more of a challenge. Also, I can't speak to its longevity. We have used the first one for a year and a half without problem. Only time will tell if it will outdo our previous AT unit's 7-year life span.For anyone who needs a simple and effective headset for the spoken word and has a tight budget, I can highly recommend the Samson SE10 as your go-to mic. Even if you have a decent budget, and you and/or your users are really set on using a bigger name headset, I would still suggest one of these be in your gig bag as an economical backup in case you find yourself between a rock and a hard place just minutes before the speaker goes on. I don't give 5 star ratings often, but this product just makes that grade with me because it has the right combination of functionality, usability, and value to earn it.