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Reviews For: Heil HM-i for Icom

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Heil HM-i for Icom
Reviews: 38MSRP: 96 (Street)
Description:
Studio Condensor Microphone for Icom Radios.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.heilsound.com/HMinew.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00384.4
M0HDX Rating: 2004-01-28
HEIL hm-i / 765 ICOM Time Owned: N.A.
I tried the HM-I hooked up to my icom 765 and i was very unhappy at the audio reports i recieved with this combination and one station told me i sounded dreadful until i changed to the stock mic. i changed settings to the mic tone control on the 765 and also the compression but audio reports were awful (tinny)I took the HM-I off and put the standard stock microphone back on the 765 and this transformed my radio from a frog using the HM-I to a prince using the stock mic.
N8YV Rating: 2004-01-18
Top Performer! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned three Heil microphones, this is the best one of all. "Fits" my IC-746 like a hand to a glove. It is not a microphone for some newer ICOM rigs, but on my 718 and 746, it has proven unbeatable! I have had the best audio reports all round, using this mic. If your rig has a transmit tone control like the 746, set it fairly high.
Also, it is important NOT to operate the mic in the "narrow" switch position (this advice comes straight from Bob Heil during a phone conversation I had with him). I operate my 746 at a gain setting around "11 o'clock" on the control potentiometer, running just a bit of carefully adjusted audio compression. When used with my IC-718, I have excellent reports on that rig, as well.

I tried the Gold Line at first, but its performance on either rig was not up to par. ICOM's unique microphone circuitry on its older rigs, apparently doesn't get along well with the Gold Line. THIS microphone definitely DOES get the job done! My thanks to Bob for all his help back in 2001.
REEF2K Rating: 2003-03-17
dynamic & punchy Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
i had to pay the normal rip-off uk price,around 100 pounds with lead,but it performs very well with my ic 746pro & 756 pro with loads of gain and a good frequency range. i run the rigs mic gain at half way and bass at +2 and treble at +4/5.if your radio has no tx tone controls then it may be a disadvantage. i also have a goldline and im told the sound is rather mellow but the hmi is bright and strong but not harsh.
i would recommend this mike for the above radio's but don't know if they'd work as well with other icom's
KF4LVC Rating: 2003-01-23
Very good mic Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased my HM-i from Bob Hiel himself a year ago (very knowledgable and nice guy). I wanted something a little better than the SM-6 I was running on my '746. The workmanship of this mic is outstanding and the dual filters are very convienient. I must say that for regular ragchews, this is the mic to have! The audio freq response is top-notch studio quality. However, for DX and rough band conditions on HF, I still find my D104 a better choice, even if the audio is "flatter" and more "tinny".
The Heil HM-i IS worth the money and I would reccommend it. But keep a D104 on hand for DXing!
VK5NJ Rating: 2002-11-07
what a great product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
well i have to thank Bob Heil for his advise & emails about the mic Hm-i, the work manship is a-1,the reports so far are fantastic ,thats not knocking the trusty sm-8 i have used for many years with my Ic-756 the original model.Thanks to as well from R&L electronics for there super quick response to e-mail and to post it to vk area,6days is quicker than mail in vk itself.Must also mention,USE the proper connecting cable for the Hm-i as well the settings are spot on as well .cheers for now vk5nj john
KC2HHY Rating: 2002-10-29
Great mic, Great value Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I decided to go Heil and I am glad that I did. I have ICOM equipment (756pro and a pair of 820H's). I previously used an SM-20 and SM-8 on the rigs. (You'll soon see them posted for sale on a web site near you.) The mic's are fine, but all in all I found them too hot for my liking, and candidly, I like the convenience of a boom mount with a foot switch. So, I went to the HMi and started getting outstanding audio reports on both FM and SSB. I have had no complaints about audio punch quality v. the SM-20 or SM-8. Then again, I've never tried a D-104 on my radios. I guess like beauty, the Tx audio of a mic is in the eye of the beholder.

Now what I call the bad news. I called Heil to find out what's going on with all of the "blow out sales promotions" on the HMi. They told me that they are phasing out the HMi for the ICM. Granted, the ICM has a cable attached, but the ICM does not have as wide a frequency response. This is not a bad thing. Rather just a matter of taste. So, I picked up 2 more HMi's from a retailer selling them for $49.95.

I'm sorry to see Heil discontinue the mic.

73's
ed
kc2hhy
KD2E Rating: 2002-10-27
Also switched to D104 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got this mic with an IC736, and tried it out on my PRO. It worked, but everyone I checked with gave better on-air reports when using the D104.
I have a transistorized version that I got new a while back.
I used a D104 years ago with my HW101, again with my TS520 and 830.
You'd think I would have learned by now!!!
WD40 Rating: 2002-10-27
Switched to D-104 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After reading all the reviews on this mic, I thought it would be the right choice for my IC-718. After many days of trying this and trying that, I found that the stock hand mic had more punch then the Heil. My reports came back saying it sounded ok but I kept having to repeat everything when signals got weak. The crisp punch was just not there. Finally, I decided to hook up my old D-104 after adding a 33k resistor to the audio line. Big, big difference. Super audio reports and everybody agreed after tying all 3 mics, the D-104 won hands down. Maybe the Heil had problems, maybe I had a bad mic I don't know but the mic did work, just not as well as the Astatic.
VE2AKV Rating: 2002-07-26
No audio Punch! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well i try this mic and no thank you for me.
I got a 751-A Icom rig and a Astatic D-104.
On hf there no is no audio puch so i received a 5/5 on report ...change for the D-104...5/9...
But a least it`s a nice quality finish and well made for shure...and a great compagny for customer service.
K5ZP Rating: 2002-04-16
Best Value + Excellent Performance Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I'm using the HM-i on my IC-765. I picked up the rig this winter without a microphone and originally had an SM-20 in mind. After a call to Ron at HRO San Diego I experienced severe "sticker shock". Let's get a grip.....an electret microphone for $259 retail!!!

I had some experience with the SM-20 and know that it works well, has perfect reviews and is of high quality but........ I just couldn't shell out that much money for the mike. (Electronics manufacturers extensively use electrets because of their extremely low cost and ease of manufacture - typical electret elements cost less than $.25 each in bulk)

On to the HM-i. AMCOM sent me the mike and Icom cable for around $110. I consider this to be an excellent value because you are getting two mike elements to fit most normal applications (contest and casual). The fit and finish were above par. The matching cable is well built, shielded and is of high quality.

This mike must be equalized with any Icom transceiver using the transceiver's built in mike equalizer. Heil gives a chart depending on your particular transceiver. The recommended settings produced good results. I have my mike gain set so that I can fairly close talk the mike (2 inches) and have received many excellent audio reports.

Here's my only minor problem with the mike. Switching into the narrow position produced overly equalized audio. Additionally the gain characteristics were different than the wide condensor element. My speech processor went off the scale when I first switched the narrow element in.

After re-equalizing the mike and changing the gain the performance was excellent. This normally isn't a problem as I can reset the rig quickly especially if I know in advance that I'll be working a contest. The added performance negates the minor task of moving the settings a couple of notches. I was able to tell immediately that weak DX could hear me better on the narrow element.

Well there's my experiece with the mike on an IC-765. It should work in a similiar fashion on most Icom transceivers. Looking at the Heil transceiver equalization chart it is apparent that the frequency response of the microphone amps for the many ICOM transceivers that this mike will work with vary widely. Set it up per the instructions and play with it later. I can recommend it and saving over $100 is icing on the cake.

73 de Steve,
former studio engineer