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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
VE7ABC Rating: 2002-03-28
Fine piece Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this mike on the advise of Bob Heil to work with my IC765. No disappointments here. I get great reports on my audio. If you own one of ICOMS' older rigs, this is the mike to use.
KN7K Rating: 2002-03-02
Great Microphone! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've been using the Heil HM-i for about 8 months and I am thoroughly satisfied. I consistently get good audio reports and I feel that the value is excellent and the quality is very good. Prior to purching the HM-i I was using the Heil HM-10 with the HC-5 cartridge. I was very dissapointed with it because it just didn't have enough drive and it required the use of the processor. I would certainly recommend the HM-i for use with the IC-746.
KC5BJ Rating: 2002-01-27
Excellent Reports - Great product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought the HM-I for my ICOM 746. It is a very attractive microphone and was easy to setup, the instructions even tell you how to set the radio for the mic. My audio reports are fantastic. I have had many compliments on the voice quality etc. I did several direct comparisons with my ICOM SM-20 mic and the heil won hands down...... This is an absolutely excellent product.....
K3USC Rating: 2002-01-20
Great mic from a GREAT company Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Have used Heil products for about 20 years- Great people who stand behind their products. Consider them to be the LL Bean of ham gear.
The HM-1 is my latest purchase. It sounds as good as the Icom SM-20 for half the price. I've used it with several Icoms, currently with a 756 Pro. I use it with the W2IHY 8 band EQ (another GREAT product and company) and get lots of compliments. Have also had great results running it into the Pro without the outboard EQ. I have more expensive mics and audio boxes but keep coming back to this combo. 2 thumbs up !
KS9Y Rating: 2001-12-05
Excellent Product! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been using the HMi microphone with my 765Pro for about three months and I'm quite pleased with the performance. I receive many favorable comments about my audio. At first I was quite disappointed in it's performance because I was receiving reports of distortion of my audio. After extensive trial and error testing I traced the distortion to the connection with my RIGblaster. When I go directly to the 756Pro there is no distortion. Apparently RFI was entering the audio somewhere in the connection with the RIGblaster. If you want to improve your audio with Icom rigs this is a great way to go.
W4TTZ Rating: 2001-08-09
Outstanding Audio and Great Support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased this mike, to go on my new 746, when I got it home there was no way I could get it to work, dropped Heil a email and got instant response from Bob Heil himself. Mailed it out to him the next day, turned out it was a bad cable, they sent back a new cable and the mike express mail and wow what this mike did for my radio. Nothing but excellent Audio reports. actually was able to turn the mike gain down almost 50% over the stock hand mike. I highly recommend all of the Heil products. These people really know what they are talking about when it comes to Audio.
K1GD Rating: 2001-08-03
Very Good Audio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After buying a new 775DSP, I found that my Heil Goldline Microphone refused to work correctly with the new radio, after much experimenting and several calls to Heil Sound and talking to Bob Heil himself, who made several suggestions, which did not cure the problem, I gave up and bought the HM-i, which works like a champ. I get excellent audio reports. I just have not figgured out what the Narrow position is for, as the audio in that position is nothing but low frequency responce mush. The wide side works just great, but I would like performance better suited for DX chasing when I work the pileups. The Goldline will be used with the Collins KWM-2 where it seems to be right at home...

I have to give the HM-i a '5' as it does have great audio in the Wide position and the instructions do tell you to use that side only (But then why have the narrow side?), and Bob Heil and his company have been very responsive to my questions and requests for help.

Gene K1GD
KC8KBA Rating: 2001-07-30
Great Audio Reports Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
When I first received my 756Pro last year, I was extremely disappointed in the quality of the hand-mike that ICOM sent along with it. The mic I got with my 706 had better audio. No matter how much I played with the audio settings on the radio, I kept getting awful audio reports. Then I went on my quest to find a really good mic for my really nice radio. After shopping around for the better part of a month, I finally settled in on the HM-i. This was in no small part because of the recommendation I received when I called Heil to see if I should get their Goldline or the HM-i. To my surprise the woman I spoke with recommended the lower priced alternative.

Once I received the mic, I anxiously hooked it up to the rig and played with the audio adjustments until I liked the way my voice sounded on the voice keyer. Then I went on the air. My first QSO was with a person who said that he was just mobiling to the convenience store to get a gallon of milk and wasn't planning on operating, but when he heard my audio, he had to respond to my CQ and let me know how wonderful it sounded.

I have gotten nothing but good audio reports with this mic since I have installed it. I set the rig and mic up as our club's 20 meter station for field day this year and everyone that operated that station came away commenting on how many unsolicited great audio reports they had gotten.

I agree that the narrow mode is not very useful as it just seems to make the audio sound mushy, but in wide mode it is a heck of a performer.

I think that this mic is an extremely good performer for the money.
K2JJ Rating: 2001-07-26
Disappointing Performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After reading all the great reviews of this microphone I purchased one for use with my IC-756(not the pro). I was quite disappointed in the performance. I found that it has low output as compared to the SM-8 (audio gain set at about 2 O'Clock to obtain proper ALC action) and that on air reports complained of a harsh raspy sound "around the edges". Extensive testing with the internal EQ yielded no improvement. The only thing that has saved this mic from the hamfest pile is the 8 band EQ from W2IHY which transformed it into a real winner. Perhaps I got a lemon but as a stand alone mic without the external EQ it leaves a lot to be desired. Anyone else using it with the older 756?
KM5LO Rating: 2001-07-26
Continuous Positive Comments Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I broke the new Heil HM-i microphone in, during the special event for Museum Ships on the Air this past weekend. About half of the contacts I made, had made a comment about the audio quality, considering I was sitting in a un-airconditioned Submarine (USS CAVALLA), in Texas, in July, (95 + degrees inside) and very hoarse from constantly talking, I was pleasently suprised while during contest like conditions, operators would mention how nice the audio was.

I was using a Icom IC746. I would highly recomend this mic to anyone using a Icom Radio.

73 de John, KM5LO