Your best bet for use with the Vocoder is a “dynamic” mic (as the A/D Input on the MODX does not supply phantom power). You will find many headset mics are “condenser” which must have a power source, either batteries or they look to draw phantom power from the Input; the MODX does not supply any power for microphones.

In general, condenser mic are considered ‘more sensitive, warmer’ etc., but if your goal is to use it for the Vocoder, then that’s a second reason to seek out a “dynamic” microphone. Dynamic microphones do not require an electrical power source because it utilizes the principle of generating a Current with a permanent magnet. And dynamic mics are less sensitive which is going to be an advantage for Vocoding — the signal from the microphone passes through a special 10-band EQ, where the signal is heavily filtered down to basically the noise components — what is used from the mic’s input, if heard alone, would be very thin and whispy sounding (It would sound very much like a person whispering, vocal without pitch)... the vowel sounds are provided by the synth notes. This is why a condenser mic’s hyper sensitivity is not an advantage when vocoding... too sensitive is not what you want.

You will struggle with harnessing extraneous noises (extraneous is any unwanted noise). We usually warn everyone before using the Vocoder be careful with the volume... the high frequency content can quickly be painfully loud... what usually happens is when it is not setup and working, it is natural to think that you’ve made all the settings so it must be that I don’t have it turned up enough. And everything that makes the instrument louder is turned up to absolute maximum in an attempt to fix the problem... but what if the problem had nothing to do with volume level?

The problem is usually one missed setting that when finally stumbled upon activates the Vocoder at a VOLUME THAT HURTS!!!! It’s only funny if you survive without hurting yourself. When working with the Vocoder always start with the volume down. And return it to down while you check the settings. The first time you hear the “Vocoded” sound should be you raising the Volume... never you hitting a button. In other words, when you first hear the vocoded sound it should be you easing the volume up, not you turning it ON with a button without knowing how loud it is. Trust me...

Tips: Also because you have a “live” microphone in the same space with your speakers, you must take care to avoid feedback. Vocoded Feedback canNOT be described... please avoid this scenario.

Never use an Omnidirectioanl microphone. You want a one direction (unidirectional) cardioid Pattern.
Because Omnidirectional mics pick up in all directions, you will not be able to control what it picks up. Items close or far are all picked up — this is the worst possible mic for the job.
Unidirectional (or cardioid) has a pick up pattern that means you must be in front of the mic to be “in the pattern” or “on mic”. This type of pick up pattern has the proximity effect. The closer you are the better the reception and the fuller the sound. You want your voice to be the only Input to the mic... not any surrounding noises, and definitely not your speakers!

You will need to get the appropriate cable to connect the microphone’s male XLR to the MODX’s 1/4” (TS) Input.

Hope that helps. Let us know.

Shure and Audio Technica both have <$100 dynamic headset mics. One of them has XLR needing the XLR-to-TS conversion. The other has a different terminating connector and I believe comes with a 1/4" phono TS converter. (Probably 3.5mm native - and the cheap - everyone-probably-has-one-in-their-drawer typical 3.5mm to 1/4 inch phono).

I had a response with these and the model numbers on deck yesterday but canceled because I have no actual usage information - which is what you asked for.

I wouldn't invest much into such a headset. I'd probably personally even search more - maybe even computer microphones. Vocoder doesn't take the highest fidelity mic. Just needs to match the power requirements.

Do you think I should look at an inexpensive gooseneck mic instead? I saw a cheap one on amazon for Dj's; would only need to get the XLR to ¼ adaptor.

If all I was doing was vocoder, I'd probably go this route. This is what I currently do. I just have a bunch of mics laying around. Even the toy Karaoke mics work fine for this application. They already have 1/4" TS and perform well enough for the application. Depending on the amount of "dry" signal you ever want to pass - lesser mics may not cut it for you. This is something only you can call as it goes to usage specifics along with your concept of what you want the final sound to be.