Your favorite ham microphone?

[W7TFO]

I am partial to the WECo 639, and the Turner 99

http://radiomagonline.com/media/2007/0607/706rad1502lg.jpg

http://www.k-bay106.com/turn_999.jpg

I suspect about half of you will say the D-104.  Nothing wrong with that!

So what say?

73DG

[Jim/WA2MER]

I suspect about half of you will say the D-104.

ALL of me says the D-104.

[W7POW]

I will say the D-104 as well.  But I have been looking for years for a nice old studio RCA ribbon or at least a Electro Voice ribbon to add to my shack.

[Blaine N1GTU]

RE20 or 27

[K5WLF]

I will say the D-104 as well.  But I have been looking for years for a nice old studio RCA ribbon or at least a Electro Voice ribbon to add to my shack.

Years ago, when I was in the sound and recording business, I had a pair of Shure 330 ribbons. Great sounding mics. Don't know what they're going for now, but they might be another ribbon to add to your list.

[steve_qix]

Behringer B1 - No doubt about it!  I have an RE-20 - it is very good, but the B1 is smoother, and definitely has better frequency response.

[K5UJ]

Vintage rig high Z any 10 meg xtal mic

Modern low Z gear most any dynamic can be made to sound good with processing (most low Z modern mics require processing).

Avoid:  Condensers, hand held mics (except in the car), ribbon mics.

[w1vtp]

RE20 or 27

Blain

I like my RE15.  It's the daddy of the rest of the RE series.  OK OK There is the RE 10, 11 But this is still my  fav..  It's what you hear from my station

http://www.coutant.org/contents.html#ev

Al

[K6JEK]

I like the Heil PR-40. It's even made in 'merica. 

However, just about anything old looks better than just about anything new.

[Opcom]

well, define 'ham' microphone.. whether specifically marketed to hams, or, meaning that hams use them.. In any case, for m the old desktop mike from an RCA or GE base station, I think it is an EV. Has a bar with a locking key as well.

[Blaine N1GTU]

Steve, I agree, the large diaphragm condenser mics sound awesome, I have a 20 year old AKG C3000 that blows away any of my RE20/27's and my sure SM7B
what I don't like about the condensers is the very large pickup pattern, the B1 and the Marshall MX990 hears everything in the room, too much noise for me.
the sharp cardioid pattern on the RE20's gives good if not great off axis rejection.
nothing worse than hearing blowers and fans or transformers humming on air.
now if I am recording someone singing, I use the condenser, but for on air, especially in a multi microphone setup, I'll take the re20 any day.

[W9GT]

D-104, EV 664, EV 636, EV 623, and Shure 55 in that order.  (Buzzard Microphones) 

73,  Jack, W9GT

[K1JJ]

For almost 30 years I've tried all kinds of mics. They were always cheap, "ham" mikes from flea markets. Eventually I settled on a $3 Radio Shark electret cartridge. It worked "OK" but had its problems.

Finally, about 10 years ago I found the mic that made all the difference... the ElectroVoice RE-20.    Mike/ W2ZE gave me a super deal on it with a boom. After EQing and some processing this mic put me into the hi-fi class with the E-rig and 4X1. Before this it was marginal. What a mic !!

As mentioned here, room noise is a BIG issue. I can rotate the RE-20 until I null out a lot of the blower noise from the various amps or AM rigs here. It's not always 180 degrees, but something less for the null.   This gives another -15db+ of noise reduction, especially on SSB where blower noise can get out of hand when running some RF speech processing for DX work.

I use the RE-20 for ALL modes of ham operation - and recording. A used one can be had for $250?  If a directional mike is not needed, then a Berhinger B1 for <$100 is a steal. (if you're lucky to get one that holds together for a few years)

The bottom line is it pays to find a good quality mike. It all starts there. For years I fooled myself into thinking I could cheap out there.  A hi-fi mike with good directional characteristics is a plus.  An RE-20 will hold its value too, just like a Collins radio.  The RE-20 and its later version, the RE-27, have been used for decades in many TV, radio and recording studios throughout the whirl.



T

[W2PFY]

I have had nothing but problems with my B-1. I'm thinking of going with an inexpensive ribbon mic since I never used one.

 

[Jeff W9GY]

Someone mentioned an AKG C-3000.  I use an AKG C-4000B condenser almost exclusively.  Have compared it to an MXl 990, Shure SM-7B, Shure 330 ribbon, Nady RSM-4 ribbon, several other Chinese 'cheapo' condensers (which have gone to hamfest heaven), even a RCA 77D.  I keep returning to the C-4000B set to the hypercardoid mode.  Well, anyway, for what its worth...a lot of this is 'what ever sounds good to you'.

[Ralph W3GL]

I've used many mikes in the past; D104, 10DA, Shure, Electrovoice, etc
but always come back to my 1950's American DR332 from Pasadena, CA.

Never heard of it?  Google it at "American DR332 Mike", there's an interesting
complete writeup on the DR mikes along with an audio clip. I also have a 50
ohm D8 that I use occasionally.  The specs for it are also included in the '332
writeup...

Does the job and I'm told and with the correct EQ, reproduces my vocal output
closely ...  

Too many guys try to sound like something their not by EQing that extra (muddy)
bass into their audio  ...   Either you have it naturally or you don't; live with it!

[k4kyv]

The unamplified D-104 is right at the top, if the crystal is working into the proper load, ≥ 5 megohms, preferably closer to 10 megs.

Mine works into 20 megohms, but it takes special circuitry to successfully do that.

Also, the D-104 mixed in with a dynamic that has good low frequency response.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I agree with Don, going by the 'ham' description. Works with pretty much anything, requires no outboard processing or equalizing to sound pretty damned good right out of the box. For quality, utility, and longevity, nothing comes close.

Been having fun with the RCA 77D for the last few months, love it and it gets excellent reports. Has switchable patterns as well as impedance. But it's a commercial broadcast/recording mic, and requires some "adjustments" for ham use. Plug it in straight, it sounds soft and mushy.

Don's 2 mic setup sounds great with his strapping carrier. Clean and smooth, easy on the ears.

[KM1H]

My favorite is a Heil boom setup with dual elements, a HC4 and 5. The 5 gets nice AM reports with the TS-950SD audio and IF BW opened as wide as it can go

My AM only rigs mikes are all unamplified D-104's. I dont like a bunch of different ones obviously.

Carl

[W1AEX]

RadioShack® PC-Mount Condenser Microphone Element
Model:  270-090
Catalog #: 270-090

$3.19

It's the only thing I use in all my microphones, using a little pre-emphasis circuit that Steve QIX shared with me back in the early '80s. It broke my heart to see the price go up from $2.79 which effectively moved it into the high priced class of microphones.

Rob W1AEX

[WD8BIL]

On the Drake I like the Marshall 990. On the Viking Bud it's an old Shure Prolog hi Z!

[KX5JT]

Love the Marshall 990 into the Behringer when using the DX-60 or the TS-570.

For the Viking II, my unamplified, plain stand (no PTT's on handle or base) two-wire D-104 is the hot ticket.

[N8LGU]

D-104 w/o the preamp in the base. Some are better than others as they do vary somewhat. They have a crisp articulation, which to my ears, is superior to dynamics. This, of course, is for vacuum tube transmitters requiring hi Z mics. Too bad they are not being made anymore, but they are still easily had at hamfests for about $30. Most of the half dozen or so I have came with the preamp in the base. I just bypass the preamp.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

EV 664 is my favorite:



Back in the early days, my favorite was a Lafayette PA-42:

[KB2WIG]

I like the full bodied, classic sound.


klc