[Scott Dorsey]

mcp6453 wrote:
Based on several recommendations I read recently, I decided to buy an EV PL80c
supercardioid dynamic mic. The presence peak and the proximity effect seemed as
if they might be useful. First observations are that it is an interesting mic.
The presence peak is very apparent. The proximity effect is not nearly as
pronounced as I thought it would be.

The thing about proximity effect is that it is directly proportional to
the tightness of the microphone pattern. The closer to a figure-8 and the
farther from an omni, the more presence boost there will be.

I think the PL80c is lacking a lot of low-end boom because there is a
deliberate cut in there intended to compensate for the proximity boost...
which means it will sound very thin in the far field.

One thing is clear. It's not an RE20. When
compared side-by-side on spoken voice, it's silk person (RE20) versus sow's ear.
That being said, the mic could be very useful. Over the weekend, I'm going to
compare it with an SM57, if I can find one around here somewhere.

I think it's a step up from the SM-57.... but then I think the 664 is a
step up from the SM-57 in a lot of ways.

I'm not enough of a pro to talk about "air", "warmth", "pronounced midrange",
and such, but I can say the mic seems to be different enough that it might win
some shootouts for particular voices, particularly ones that require HF EQ. It
seems to want an extra windscreen.

"There's only two kinds of music: good and bad." -- Duke Ellington.
I think that probably applies to microphones too.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."