EV 664 Mic on DX-100

[WV9R]

I'm running a EV 664 mic on my DX-100 but I have not changed the resistor on the mic input. My question is what value would be a good starting point?  The original is a 470K. I know that I'd want to go up to a 4.7meg or so for a D-104, but I'm not sure where to go with the 664. I'm not having any luck finding the Hi-Z impedance on the net, so i hope someone other here has used a 664 and can offer some guidance. Thanks in advance.

[KB2WIG]

Check this out -

http://www.coutant.org/ev664/


klc

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I've used an EV 664 in Hi-Z for years on my Apache. Never changed any of the resistors in the mike circuit input section. I remember reading somewhere long time ago that the 664 Hi-Z was about 18K (but I never measured mine). The 664 is a dynamic mike. If you were using a Hi-Z (somewhere around 50K or more) crystal or a ceramic mike, changing the resistor(s) in the mike circuit might make some "improvement". I would consider the 664 to be a "mellow" mike without a lot of punch or grittiness that you would typically find in a crystal mike. The mike also sounds quite good on SSB and is pictured in a number of Collins ads. I guess a lot depends on what you want to achieve or think you can achieve with the 664.

[KA2DZT]

I'm running a EV 664 mic on my DX-100 but I have not changed the resistor on the mic input. My question is what value would be a good starting point?  The original is a 470K. I know that I'd want to go up to a 4.7meg or so for a D-104, but I'm not sure where to go with the 664. I'm not having any luck finding the Hi-Z impedance on the net, so i hope someone other here has used a 664 and can offer some guidance. Thanks in advance.

For Hi-Z just connect the mike to the DX-100 as is.  The 470K grid resistor is designed to be used with any Hi-Z mike.  The grid resistor could be as low as 100K or anything in between.  Just leave the 470K in.

For low-Z 150ohm balanced mikes things get more difficult.  First, you would need a good mike input xfmr.  These type xfmrs are expensive and difficult to find.  A UTC A-10 is one to use but they get big bucks for one.  I have 7 UTC high quality mike input xfmrs that I removed from an old RCA studio mixer. I use one in my HB xmtr to match an Electro-Voice 636 mike using 150ohm balanced input. I've seen these UTC/RCA xfmrs selling for more than $100 years ago.

Probably the highest selling mike input xfmrs are the Western Electric (i forgot the number or maybe it was 610B can't remember exactly) that would usually sell for between $1200 to over $2000.

Keep it simple,  connect the EV-664 on Hi-Z directly to the DX-100, make some contacts.

Fred 

[WO4K]

Yup, what they said.

I have a collection of Hi-Z mics for my DX-100B and the EV-664 is the one that consistently gets the best comments. The "Buchanan Hammer" provides the best low-end bass frequency response of any of the "of the era" mics I use. That's due to the mic's design: it was EV's first mic to incorporate the company’s patented Variable-D (Variable Distance) technology. It uses ports to dampen sound from the rear and side ports that are coupled back to the diaphragm to help cancel highs and bring out lows. The design is still found in several EV mics to this day, including the RE20 and RE320.

The mic can be wired for Hi-Z or 150 ohms, so be sure its wired for Hi-Z. Impedance changes are made on the the mic cable plug. Plug shell and #1 contact are grounded. Contact #2 is Hi-Z. Contacts 3 and 4 are 150 ohms.

Try it, you'll like it!

Frank, WO4K

[K4RT]

A good friend uses the EV-664 with his DX-100 and the audio is quite good.  I may pick one up some day.

I worked in broadcast radio for years as a reporter & anchor.  My understanding at that time was that "Buchanan Hammer" was a nickname earned by EV's model 635 field mic because the 635 could take an incredible amount of abuse and still worked.  Don't know if EV still makes the 635, but I would guess that there are plenty of beat up 635's around that still work as well as new.  Some radio stations even used them as studio mics.  In my opinion, the best studio mic ever made is the RE-20.

[WO4K]

Yes, I have heard the 635 called the Buchanan Hammer.  But, according to the Audio Engineering Society's 1986 memoriam of EV founder Lou Burroughs:

"Lou's lectures were often hard to forget, as anyone who attended a demonstration of the E-V 664, the Buchanan Hammer, can testify. Lou would show up with a few mics, a piece of wood, and a nail. When the talk got around to the matter of durability, he'd unplug the 664, use it to pound the nail home, and then get on with the talk, having more than made his point."

See:
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/jaes.obit/JAES_V34_3_PG222.pdf

[W3GMS]

The EV 635 sounds good on the Ham bands because it does not have an extended low end response.  Since the bottom is not real heavy, it generally does not require as much mid range boosting. 

If you take a very flat extended response mic and put it into a flat wide range audio response system, it will not sound all the great on the air unless its EQ'ed.  If you take a flat mic and run it into some stock audio systems that really do not have an extended low end response they can sound pretty good considering due to the stock shaping of the audio. 

You can always run a LO Z mic into a high impedance input as others have said, but you can't take a high impedance mic and run it into a low Z input. 

Joe-W3GMS           

[K4RT]

See:
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/jaes.obit/JAES_V34_3_PG222.pdf

I believe that the author of the memoriam was mistaken.  See:

http://www.electrovoice.com/product.php?id=100

[Pete, WA2CWA]

http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/microfiles_the_legendary_buchanan_hammer/
paragraph 5 and 6

and
https://www.nytimes.com/store/electro-voice-buchanan-hammer-664-vintage-microphone-1962.html

and
https://martinmitchellsmicrophones.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/electrovoice-ev664-1958-64-the-most-rocknroll-mic-anyone-ever-made/

and who could forget  
https://groovierecords.bandcamp.com/track/buchanan-hammer

And the bottom line, does anyone really care.
If it's on the Internet, it must be true.

If I want to pound nails, I use this:



Then there's this version of a hammer:

[K4RT]

I certainly won't lose any sleep over it.  You can Google Buchanan Hammer until the cows come home, Pete, but none of those pages you link to provide any authoritative sources, just conjecture.  The EV data is on EV's web site.  In my years as a broadcaster, including working for CNN & ABC, the 635 was commonly called the Buchanan Hammer, not the 664.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Obviously the 635 has a better grip handle then the 664 if one was to pound nails with it. 

I've been using 664's since the mid 60's on my Apache/SB-10, Valiant, TS-830S, and even on my Flex 5000. Have one gold and two silver ones. Always got great AM/SSB audio reports with them. I had one used 635 which I picked up years ago that I used on the Valiant. I found out if you drop it on a concrete floor, it will stop working. 

[DMOD]

 Not trying to detract anyone from using the 664, but another great mike is the Shure 450 Series II which has a hi-Low impedance switch and high end frequency rise.

Phil - AC0OB

[WV9R]

Thanks for all of the great replies, I've decided to just go with it for a while, so far I've received great audio reports! So as hard as it is, it's not broke so I'm not going to try to fix it!

[W4DNR]

I believe that the author of the memoriam was mistaken.  See:

http://www.electrovoice.com/product.php?id=100

The EV ads in Broadcast Engineering magazines of the 70's always showed
an EV 635 pounding that nail.  The 664 was too pretty ... being all chrome and such.  Newsmen and cameramen were tough on equipment.... They could proverbially break a ball bearing in a padded room. 

Don W4DNR