My primary mic is a Heil 781 but I feel compelled to point out that there are MANY alternatives. It is by no means a choice between Heil and a five buck electret.
Shop around. Guys who obsess over their audio quality might want a Neumann M-150. On Thu, Jan 9, 2014 at 3:26 PM, Bob Kay <wa2...@gmail.com> wrote: > Check out the details on w1aex web page about his cheap mic. I use a PR40 > and the mic that w1aex describes. As a cheap mic I get many good audio > reports from both. > > On Thursday, January 9, 2014, Jim Aspinwall wrote: > > > > > > > Observations: Heil vs. electret... > > > > If you work through the Heil site and a couple of his videos on > HamNation, > > etc. some things become compelling... > > > > - Electrets are VERY sensitive and will pick up a lot of background > noise, > > front, back, left, right, etc. (fannoise, kids, cats, dogs, lawn > > equipment...) > > > > - Heils are designed with acoustic shaping for front pickup of a local > > voice source and cancelling back and side background > > > > > > - Electrets have little or no native spectral response shaping, generally > > poor on the lo-end, extended high end (useless) spectral range so you'll > be > > into the equalizer settings a lot to get things sounding right, if at > all. > > OK for shotgun and 'bug' mics, not great for radio. > > - Heil's ham line are almost perfect un-equalized for ham voice use and > > much more tolerant avoiding pop, hiss, RF, etc. > > - Heil's pro line can be amazingly and easily well tailored for ham use > > from AM through DX > > > > > > - Electrets require DC bias - opportunities for RF, hum intrusion, > another > > complication > > - Heil - no bias > > > > > > I have the Heil HM-Pro, GM-5 and HM-10 and Yaesu and Kenwood cables - the > > Yaesu cable is a direct plug-in for the Flex. Out of the box default > Flex > > settings work good, properly setup for gain, EQ, ALC, DX, etc. even > better. > > > > Recently acquired a PR35, made an adapter cable to the Yaesu cable, > > external PTT 'dongle' - ran through the recommended audio level setups - > > WONDERFUL. > > > > Given the option - a LOT of reasons to use a Heil in your hand vs. all > the > > hassle and potential issues using $5 worth of "kiddie tape recorder" Mr > > Microphone element. > > > > (don't get a dime for this endorsement, just know what has worked very > > well under many rigs/conditions.) > > > > Message: 1 > > > > Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2014 13:22:55 -0500 > > From: <wa1...@gmail.com <javascript:;>> > > To: <flexradio@flex-radio.biz <javascript:;>> > > Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Mic recommendations > > Message-ID: <D9742F58408B473E870654DA406AF1BC@Vostro220> > > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > > reply-type=original > > > > Jim, > > > > I bought my Flex 3000 used and it came with a Heil HM-5 mic. It was just > > OK... > > > > I had an old fashioned Astatic D-104 with the $20 W2ENY replacement > > electret > > element that I used with my IC-756ProIII. This works great with my Flex > > 3000. It has a flat response unlike the speech peaked Heil HM-5. If you > > want to tailor the W2ENY element, use the 10 band graphic equalizer in > the > > Flex 3000. I would not waste your money on an expensive outboard speech > > processing unit. > > > > http://w2eny.com/D104Replacement/ > > http://w2eny.com/D104Replacement/instructions.pdf > > > > Roger > > WA1NVC > > > > Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2014 12:53:51 -0500 > > From: James Eastham <j...@centrelearn.com <javascript:;>> > > To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz <javascript:;> > > Subject: [Flexradio] Mic recommendations > > Message-ID: <c6238001d1e0dda3324453191fbe6...@mail.gmail.com > <javascript:;> > > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > > > I'm currently using a Heil HM-5 Mic with my Flex 3K. I'm thinking about > > upgrading and looking for recommendations on what has worked well for > > other 3K owners. I had a QSO the other day with someone who > recommended > > to just use a basic computer MIC as in $9.95 Electret. What I really > > want is to have great sounding audio and would consider a preamp box I've > > heard people use ...or would a high quality mic make that unnecessary? > > Thanks > > > > Jim > > NX3Z > > _______________________________________________ > > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz <javascript:;> > > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > > http://www.flexradio.com/ > > > > > -- > > > > *Best 73 de WA2SQQElmwood Park, NJ"The only dumb questions are those we > don't ask"* > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flexradio.com/ > -- I can explain it for you, but I can't comprehend it for you. _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
