Handheld Vocal Mics

[CAMGRec]

For rider friendly mics, Shure, Sennheiser, and Audix are always good go-to choices. Shure is probably the more rider friendly of the 3, but I prefer the Audix stuff these days. That's not to knock Sennheiser since I really like the 945.

For the "wow" factor, you can't beat a Neumann. Plus, they come with the kind of "snob" factor that means you generally won't get the knee-jerk bad reaction from the lead singer that you might get if you pull out a lesser known, but high quality mic like a Heil Sound PR35 or an M80.

Of course, then you've got that guy spitting into your Neumann all night

[john caldwell]

I missed the pricepoint on the Telefunken M80. What does the M80 sell for? Thanks.

[fifthcircle]

Originally Posted by john caldwell

I missed the pricepoint on the Telefunken M80. What does the M80 sell for? Thanks.

About $250...

--Ben

[Blast9]

Originally Posted by CAMGRec

Of course, then you've got that guy spitting into your Neumann all night

or girl

[Remoteness]

Yes, gals or guys; ladies or gentlemen; women or men...

I wish more folks addressed it that way.

We "guys" are nothing without the "gals."

[7rojo7]

AE5400 here for me, despite needing phantom power...

Try bypassing the transformer on a 58...

try simple hi gain RCA style tube pres with that...

Audio Technica has a bunch of lo priced sleeper mic
the AE5400 and the AE3000.
I have 1 of each but on my list I have 3 more of each.

It's not handheld but the Stedman N90 handles speech like no other.

I have a mic from RCF that has a diaphragm from a D12 (reject) and looks like a RE20, I bought it for 25 euro, I bypassed the transformer (simple) and put it on the kik or the floortom,

ears rule
riders are a bitch

[Jim vanBergen]

I've been doing a new set of Sirius broadcasts lately. The only 'inexpensive' mic on it is the M80, which the Sirius guys love! it matches great with the Sennheiser 5000 series handheld capsules, and the radio show host loves it.

Got six of them outbound for a recording next week. Every time I use them, I realize I love having a dynamic mic with a condenser sound, for people used to working with a Beyer or Shure, it's no change to mic technique. It's a lot easier than the Neumann or classic AKG 535 HH condensers for both artist and engineer.

[theDBC]

Originally Posted by Blast9

Can anyone chime in about the EV N/D??? mics - I've read great reports about those

I was planning on picking up 2 of the N/D967 and 2 or the N/D767, but decided to hold off on the 767 until I was able to A-B it to an Audix OM5.

If you are working with a LOUD band, the 967 is the holy grail. Super tight pattern, you have to stay in-line on axis. It's great for drum vocals.

[dejacky]

Have any of you compared the Sennheiser e835 to the e845? In a recent live venue, the e835 was superior in terms of feedback rejection compared to the Shure beta 58..I was able to achieve ~35% more volume gain on the e835 mic before feedback when compared to the 58.

[Walling1]

I've been pretty blown away by my M80 as well, and I'll be ordering a few more...

[Blast9]

Originally Posted by theDBC

I was planning on picking up 2 of the N/D967 and 2 or the N/D767, but decided to hold off on the 767 until I was able to A-B it to an Audix OM5.

If you are working with a LOUD band, the 967 is the holy grail. Super tight pattern, you have to stay in-line on axis. It's great for drum vocals.

Thanks for that...

Tone-wise and pick-up pattern: how do the EV mics compare to the Audix OM5?

[theDBC]

Originally Posted by Blast9

Tone-wise and pick-up pattern: how do the EV mics compare to the Audix OM5?

I have used the OM5 more than the 967, so I can't give the best comparison.

Guitar Center sells both, see if you can A-B them in store.

[Samc]

I just got back off the road and I had 3 of my MBHO 219's with me, we were able to shoot these out with against a bunch of other mics in the same category including some of those you guys have mentioned here and it didn't disappoint.

Didn't see the M80 though and would love to give it a go based on all the excitement. Does anyone know if it's available in Europe or how I could get hooked up with one?

[Jungle Jazz]

I'm going to give this thread a bump to see if there are any more thoughts on the Telefunken M80. My local independent music retailer has them, but they've got one of those no returns on mics policies, so I don't want to be stuck with it if it doesn't work out. I've been through several vocal mics, including Shure KSM9, AT AE5400, Heil PR20 (got returned for too much handling noise), and I am wondering how the M80 compares to any of those.

[Track 7]

Originally Posted by jasonraboin

Heil PR-35.
Get's louder in monitors than any condenser.
Sounds better than any dynamic (that I have tried).
I can elaborate if you would like. I have been using them for over a year.

+1 Heil PR-35

[Remoteness]

There are key people in this thread that like the M80 -- Based on their reputation alone is good enough for me.

I wouldn't mind grabbing eight of these puppies for myself sometime soon, but I have other priority items to get first.

[fifthcircle]

so to continue the thread...

I've had a couple issues with handling noise on the M80. Anybody else ever have issues with this or am I just in situations with crappy sound systems.

I know one of the rooms where I've used it has major grounding issues, but the condensers usually handle fine (ie KMS 104/105/etc...). The dynamic mics have been known to have problems. But in another room where I've worked without issue in the past had some similar problems.

Is this mic just sensitive to the system it is being run on?

--Ben

[Remoteness]

..Or, how about transformer or non-transformer inputs or the type of input circuit design used?

[Jim vanBergen]

I've not had the same issues with handling noise- I find the body, while heavy, is not as susceptible as some other mics (Audix OM HH's, KMS104s) are to much handling noise. I've had problems with several other mics when a diva singer is wearing huge rings. I've had several people using the M80s as HHs and pulling them in and out of mic stands during live broadcasts for Sirius and no issues. I'm pulling the six I have off NBC's Today show so I can use them for the wired singers & anchors on CBS's tree lighting show next week, I'll let you if I have issues.

[noamraz]

Had a good chance of comparing the 835&845 on a show last year - While doing foh (&monitors from FOH half of the shows) more than 50 times that year (2007) i can say that while comparing the 845&835 against the majority of the "competitors" (Shure's 58/Beta58/Audix/AKG).
I liked the 845 more than anything else for this show.

When was applicable - nothing but sucess with them:
1. This was female vocalist and it was an electro act, she had allways sang on-axis like a tiger maintaining a high input all the time.
3. Due to high SPL levels on-stage and the demand for wedges and not IE i had to find a better solution than the SM58 in terms of gain-before-feedback - I will use the 58&Beta 57 everyday when applicable.
4. The sennheisers had been a perfect solution for this case, almost no EQing was needed besides HPF.

Since i was working for a rental company i always asked the SR rental's staff about reliability - Seems like happy costumers all the way with those mics.

[Jim vanBergen]

I heard no handling noise with three TV anchors moving their mics pretty consistently for a live TV broadcast on CBS last night for the Holiday in Bryant Park. I like the mic better for music applications, but I was quite happy with the service they provided on male and female vox. I had to really tweak heck out of the EQ for the commentator who used a Shure Beta87 to sound as good as the M80s. I did find that network bandlimited my mix very hard for the embedded HD mix though, and the LF was chopped off much to my dismay, but in the truck and on my truck records my low end was superb, and the HD audio has nothing under 250 Hz.

Originally Posted by Jungle Jazz

I'm going to give this thread a bump to see if there are any more thoughts on the Telefunken M80. My local independent music retailer has them, but they've got one of those no returns on mics policies, so I don't want to be stuck with it if it doesn't work out. I've been through several vocal mics, including Shure KSM9, AT AE5400, Heil PR20 (got returned for too much handling noise), and I am wondering how the M80 compares to any of those.

[bishopthomas]

So I had a chance to try out the M80 this week. It was a rock band setting and I was mixing monitors. The PA company I was working for had four of them on demo and I was very happily surprised to be able to try them out. First let's get the negatives out of the way: The grill is too shiny. That's all. Everything else is fantastic. I immediately swapped out the 58 I had as a talkback mic with the M80 and cued it. Now THAT's what I actually sound like! It wasn't dull and lifeless like the used (and probably worn out) 58. It had amazing clarity but without the harsh upper mids that Shure is so good at.

But being a monitor engineer I'm more concerned with gain before feedback than with sound quality. Don't get me wrong, quality is a close second, but there are so many decent microphones out there that FOH can be happy with. Let me say, I've been a monitor engineer almost exclusively for the last 3 years and I have never had such an easy time getting a mic as SCREAMINGLY loud as I did with these. I was using JBL VRX 15" monitors so the obvious dip at 1k, some 2.5k, and 630 (that's my least favorite frequency so it's always the first to go) and I was pretty much set.

I wish I needed vocal microphones right now. These are definitely going on my short list of favorite vocal mics. Excellent sound quality, superb gain before feedback, and some bling on the grill. If you're looking for a vocal microphone, buy one!

[trompetfreak]

Hi,
Thanks for the short review!
You got me interested now...