Different microphones

[steve_qix]

Some mics on the site sound terrible and no amount of eq will help. My other point is that I know of no other place or url where one can hear these comparisons.
 

Some of the bad sounding ones are rather amazing!

[ka3zlr]

If Somebody is going for that B-1,.....that Mics optimum production is done with a WELL Sound Proofed room.....my opinion,... I have one, the three different settings make it a pretty cool mic.

73
Jack.

[kc2ifr]

I had a B1 and it did sound great but it died after about 6 months........
Not sure why but a few others had the same problem.

I now use an EV RE27 and I love it.....bit pricey but u get what u pay for.........

Bill

[steve_qix]

If Somebody is going for that B-1,.....that Mics optimum production is done with a WELL Sound Proofed room.....my opinion,... I have one, the three different settings make it a pretty cool mic.

73
Jack.

I have a B1 that I use for my main microphone -  Nice mic !!!  Very wide frequency response (down to single cycles per second, and higher than I can hear).  I close talk the mic (as I do all mics), and it sounds real nice!  The back of the mic rejection is pretty good, but as Jack pointed out, it is very sensitive, so if you're not close talking, the mic will definitely pick up the background noise in the room.

I have an RE20 also.  This is an excellent dynamic microhone, particularly nice for the male voice (when close talked).  The proximity affect is quite effective, but not boomy.

The B1 is sensitive to moisture (at least the earlier ones are).  The one I have is fairly old (5 years or so), but the shack is in a temperature and humidity controlled environment (first floor of the house), so the mic is not unduely subjected to high moisture.  I do close talk the mic, but since the room is always warm, there is probably little or no condensation on the mic element, even with close talking.

FWIW

Regards,

Steve

[kz0e]

Here are more mic tests, I think I recognized a couple being mentioned here.

http://www.transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200508.mic_shootout.html

http://www.transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200608_handheld_mic_shootout/

[w1vtp]

Here are more mic tests, I think I recognized a couple being mentioned here.

<snip>

Really enjoyed these sites.  I still think EV offers excellent mics for the $$.  Still no Heils !! !!

Al

[WA3VJB]

Also to consider --
Some people don't have the voice to match what the mic can do.

Ron Boot used to compensate for his shortcomings by dishing up a huge bass boost and knocking down all his midrange. Didn't really add any bass, imagine that.

Then there's Bill, K2LNU, who would probably sound good on a command set.

One of the few guys who has the voice, the gear, and the signal to put it all together is Ken W2DTC.

[flintstone mop]

I don't want to give anybody's call, but I know of one operator that I was shocked at what I was hearing live and what I would hear from my radio.

The RE-20 and 27 seem to be designed for close mic(ing). And usually pretty resistant to P's popping. IMHO waaay too much microphone for Ham use.

Fred

[steve_qix]

The RE-20 and 27 seem to be designed for close mic(ing). And usually pretty resistant to P's popping. IMHO waaay too much microphone for Ham use.

Fred

Too much microphone for ham use?  Never    There is just no such thing as too much.  I have an RE20 in my shack - it's great.  The transmitter will outperform the microphone's frequency response, but that's another story 

Regards,

Steve

[K5UJ]

I've listened to A/B tests between the RE20 and the Heil PR20.  Everything else the same except preamp gain because the RE20 doesn't put out as much.   There is a difference but it is extremely subtle--if I had not been told two mics were being compared I would have never noticed the difference.   There certainly wasn't a $200 or $300 difference in sound quality. 

I've also compared Heil's high end mics, the PR20, 30, 35 and 40.  For my voice,  they all sound the same.  But I have the kind of voice that has almost nothing below 120 Hz.   I'd probably sound the same on a rig with 100 hz to 6 KHz response and one that rolls off at 3 KHz.  For AM I don't mind that too much because I'd rather not hit peak modulation with low frequencies. 

But back to the RE20 and 27.   So why do broadcasters blow $400 or $500 on these mics?   Because for a broadcaster, sound is only half the requirement.  The 20 and 27 are popular with broadcasters because they're built like battleships.  You could probably hammer a nail with one.   And talent have a way of dropping mics in mud, stepping on them, standing out in the rain doing remotes, and hammering things with them.  Try that with Bob Heil's mics (I like Bob, he is a swell guy by the way) and you'll probably be buying new mics all the time, something a station engineer doesn't want to spend his time on if he can avoid it.  But I don't need to pay an extra $300, because not being a rock star I know better than to slam my mic against a wall or jump up and down on it.  The 20 and 27 have less prox effect but I can deal with that my backing off from my mic (I actually like some proximity effect).   They also have a hum bucking coil which means they can be worked close to a CRT monitor.  So use ur cheap mic a few feet away from a screen (if you're still using a CRT).  I'd rather spend the money saved on processing gear.   

There's also inertia.   If a station has 10 mics all RE20s, and 27s, then all the gear, the preamps, compressors, everything that depends on a certain level, are set up for those mics.  If they need 5 more mics, they're going to get the same thing rather than have to deal with two separate levels and response characteristics.   

Don't get me wrong, if you have the dough to spend on a mic, you can't go wrong with a RE20 and it will probably be the last mic you'll ever buy, but I can treat my PR20 right and if I told the guy at the other end I'm running a RE20 he'd believe me.

73

Rob K5UJ

[K5UJ]

I don't want to give anybody's call, but I know of one operator that I was shocked at what I was hearing live and what I would hear from my radio.

The RE-20 and 27 seem to be designed for close mic(ing). And usually pretty resistant to P's popping. IMHO waaay too much microphone for Ham use.

Fred

That would also be me Fred    I'm one of these guys who cheats a little by using a big bottom just a bit.  Hey, I don't want to sound totally prepubescent on the air   

Ur right about the way the EV mics are used.  Go to a b/c station using the SM7 and the EV mics you mentioned and the talent are almost always speaking in low tones with their lips touching the pop socks.  They sound like they're talking in these room filling stentorian levels on a receiver because of the eqing and compression and peak limiting being used.  But walk into the studio and hear them on-air with your own two ears and you find out they're almost mumbling into the mics in these low levels.   That's how they get that rich baritone for the guys.  Most men when they're talking loudly loose their low frequencies.

73

Rob K5UJ

[flintstone mop]

I don't want to give anybody's call, but I know of one operator that I was shocked at what I was hearing live and what I would hear from my radio.

The RE-20 and 27 seem to be designed for close mic(ing). And usually pretty resistant to P's popping. IMHO waaay too much microphone for Ham use.

Fred

That would also be me Fred    I'm one of these guys who cheats a little by using a big bottom just a bit.  Hey, I don't want to sound totally prepubescent on the air 

  Most men when they're talking loudly loose their low frequencies.

73

Rob K5UJ

\
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Sorta like a loudness control on the older audio equipment

Fred

[flintstone mop]

The RE-20 and 27 seem to be designed for close mic(ing). And usually pretty resistant to P's popping. IMHO waaay too much microphone for Ham use.

Fred

Too much microphone for ham use?  Never    There is just no such thing as too much.  I have an RE20 in my shack - it's great.  The transmitter will outperform the microphone's frequency response, but that's another story 

Regards,

Steve

BUT BUT BUT Steve...........someone listening to your station on an off-shore transceiver 500 miles from you will not enjoy all the beautiful sound from your station.
Fred

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

LOL. The audiophools have nothing on you guys.

[K1JJ]

I've had too many junk mics over the years.  For whatever reason they last in the shack for a few years then I try something else. I was never really happy with the sound of the overall system until....

One day my good friend Mike/ W2ZE  gave me a tremendous deal on an RE-20 and boom. I sent the RE-20 back to the factory for a minor "baby rattle" glue problem and ElectroVoice installed a NEW cartridge and refurbished it for free.  (Like new, lifetime guarantee)

For the last 10 years I have been totally happy with that mic and have no desire to try anything else. We all need one good mic in the shack as a standard. It's the only transducer in the chain.  Sure, there's cheaper mics and many will sound just as good, but there's something about the look, feel and confidence of running an old battleship standard like the RE-20 - the last mic you'll ever need to buy...

T

[kc2ifr]

SOME........ not all........good comments.......love it.
I close talk my RE27 for 3 reasons.
The proximity effect on the mic is not very heavy so I like to close talk it....
And I dont like to hear the room acoustics on other people and I can keep the audio gain down so folks cant hear all the fans on my 4x1...........
And finally...........I like the way the mic sounds when close talked.


Bill

[K1JJ]

SOME........ not all........good comments.......love it.
I close talk my RE27 for 3 reasons.
The proximity effect on the mic is not very heavy so I like to close talk it....
And I dont like to hear the room acoustics on other people and I can keep the audio gain down so folks cant hear all the fans on my 4x1...........
And finally...........I like the way the mic sounds when close talked.

Bill

I feel the same way on all three points, Bill.

My chief reason for close talking the RE-20 is to reduce blower noise. It makes a big difference - the difference between being able to run some compression on AM (or RF speech processing on ssb)  or not.   A dynamic noise gate on ssb has helped a lot too.  I have a wind screen but find I don't need it. The internal one is sufficient to keep popping to an inaudible level.


Also, I don't have a real lot of deep lows in my voice, so close talking helps to bring out what's there. Any help I can get is good.

T

[kc2ifr]

TNX Tom,
One more point that u alluded to is the fact that when u buy an expensive mic, usually the manufacture will fix it for free.......providing u didnt use it on SSB.............ONLY KIDDING...............

Bill 

[W2PFY]

Is it possible to catch a disease  from a used microphone that has been Closed Talked? I've heard that D-104's have been purchased with the wind screen full of tobacco juice,pig hairs and dog dander among other ingredients that baffled the medical scientific community world wide. I  disassemble any used microphone into it's component's and sanitize them  in a special solution that I purchase from Johnson &  Johnson when they were leaders in disinfection of broadcast microphones across the country. I think germs are the reason why AM broadcast stations in general, are not healthy financially because of left over germs polluting the stations. Just my opinion, yours may differ.         

[kc2ifr]

Terry,
How does that song go "and the microphone smells like a beer".....my mics smell like vodka, baloney sandwiches, and a distinct love for link coupled antenna tooners! 

[flintstone mop]

The RE20/27 are specifically designed for close work just as the Shure beta and SM mics we see on TV/radio, Church sound .
They will give very disappointing results if you use them any other way.

The opposite effect are the sensitive goosneck condenser mics you see on TV awards shows. All I hear is P's popping and breathing and audio overloads from performers grabbing them and close talking into a condenser. The soundguy cannot stop the overloads to the input of the console.

If your mic smells like beer take a wiff at some Heil mics. The gold handheld type.

Fred

[ka3zlr]

Sardines in mustard sauce, an beer...

73
Jack.

[W2PFY]

The RE20/27 are specifically designed for close work just as the Shure beta and SM mics we see on TV/radio, Church sound .
They will give very disappointing results if you use them any other way.

Me not no that   

[KB2WIG]

Health link for the close talker

http://www.dietfacts.com/html/nutrition-facts/moes-southwest-grill-close-talker-salad-with-steak-lettuce-steak-cucumbers-salsa-shredded-48026.htm


klc