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Reviews For: Heil ICM

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Heil ICM
Reviews: 85MSRP: 89.99
Description:
New high performance electret mike for ICOM older transceivers
Product is in production
More Info: http://info@heilsound.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
34.7854.6
K1RI Rating: 2019-03-05
GREAT w/7610 & K3 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Great mic with both my K3 & IC-7610. I use the suggested settings from HEIL and get great reports from both rigs. KIck into DX settings and no worries.
K7JQ Rating: 2019-02-18
Ideal for Icom IC-7300 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this mic to replace a PR-781, which I used with the IC-7300 and (now sold) IC-7600. I received good audio reports with both radios, but found that a dynamic element mic just doesn't provide enough gain to properly drive the 7300. With mic gain at 70% and compression at 2 on the 7300, the PR-781 was OK. But with compression off, it barely moved the ALC meter, even with gain at 100%. I also had problems properly adjusting the VOX gain...almost all the way up, and still couldn't get a smooth activation from receive to transmit when normally speaking.

Enter the ICM, with the electret condenser Heil iC element. Still getting stellar audio reports...crisp and clear. I mostly contest, so I have the treble set at +5, and bass at -4 to punch through the QRM. Your preference might vary. But the main thing is its' output. With gain at 40% and no compression, it drives the ALC meter easily to 50% of scale. With compression at 1, a little higher ALC action. The VOX gain is now at 45%, and voice activation is smooth and responsive. Overall, a much better fit for the 7300.

Why mess around with lower output dynamic element mics when the radio was designed for an electret, as is the supplied hand mic. I hope this comparison helps. BTW, build quality seems good, and it also looks great in the black and gold combination. Makes you want to leave off the supplied wind screen. Highly recommended.
W4KVW Rating: 2019-02-01
Works great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Works great on my ICOM 746 as I knew that it would. It does just what HEIL says it will on the Pre-Pro 746 so I am Pleased with it. Love my HEIL microphones & other products.
WD9IQN Rating: 2019-01-12
Works great !! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I am using the Heil ICM with my IC-7600. It works great with that radio. You will be pleased.
WA6PBJ Rating: 2018-11-05
it doesn't get better guys Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Ok...this was built for the ICOM older rigs. Get it!!! OLDER. and if you have one of these older rigs, this mic will work like there is no tomorrow. Enough said.
KP4F Rating: 2018-08-23
Super Audio with my IC 7300 and 7610 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Super audio with my Icom IC 7300 and 7610. Believe me, just do the test.
N7LRA Rating: 2018-04-01
Perfect with my IC-7610 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I could not get my favorite microphone – a Heil PR781 dynamic that works great with my 756PROIII and IC-9100 – to sound quite right with my new Icom 7610. Since the 7610 comes from the factory with a condenser hand mic, I thought I’d try a Heil ICM condenser mic with this radio. After extensive audio adjustments using online SDR receivers and input from other hams, I determined the bass, treble, and mic gain settings (no compression) that work best with my voice. Now, I receive unsolicited complements regarding my transmit audio nearly every day. I am very pleased with the Heil ICM!
W3ON Rating: 2017-10-28
Hum Problem Fixed I Think Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hmm. I have been experiencing a Hum on my transmit signal for quite awhile. I have tried several suggestions made here in the review section, including trying to move the mic shield connection from pin 7 (mic ground) to pin 6 (ptt ground). That did not help. My problem was intermittent. Many times their was little to no hum. Other times it would all of a sudden appear and be very loud. So, at a friends suggestion, I tried scraping the connection between the mic element leads at the mic element. Since then, I have not noticed any hum, although I can hear a tiny hum using my IC756 III Monitor function. So, I am hoping that took care of this problem. I have read, here in the review section that many others have had problems with the ICM mic wiring at times. Personally I like the ICM microphone.
73
KC4BW Rating: 2016-09-25
Not Impressed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the ICM mike for my ICOM 7200. I had to set the mic gain at no more than 5 or 6%, and the compression at 3. The audio sounded decent and I could keep the ALC from going overboard at these levels. If I set the mic and compression levels at the factory default settings everyone I talked to said my transmit audio was distorted. I figured I would have to back the levels off since this radio is a newer model and doesn't have the low audio problems as the older model ICOMs.
The main problem I have had is when I use my headphones and I transmit I hear a hum in my headphones. If I use the hand mic that came with the radio or the SM-30 ICOM desk mic there is no hum when I transmit. I sent an email to Heil Customer Service and to date I never got a response. I then decided to look into the issue myself and checked the manual to see which pin on the 8 pin mic jack on the radio is ground. Pin 6 is ground and taking the mic plug apart on the original hand mic showed that the shield of the mic cable was connected to pin 6. That made perfect sense. However, on the ICM mic the shield is connected to pin 7. So I unsoldered the shield from pin 7 and resoldered it to pin 6 and that solved the problem, no hum during TX. I did have to increase the mic gain from 5 up to 15% as a result to keep the ALC meter up to just below max. I did not have to increase the processor level.
I have received good reports concerning my audio since the modification of the microphone. And now since the SHIELD IS GROUNDED LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE, I am pleased with the outcome.
If I were to rate Heil's Customer Service I would put it at "0." And workmanship at 2, that's why I gave it an overall 1.
W9JTC Rating: 2016-08-10
Wow Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Coming from an HM 12 to the ICM on my IC-718 all I can say is it was worth it. The audio reports are great and not having to use the compression and have the gain at 90% is nice. Now I can keep the ALC in the sweet zone easily. Very well made and looks nice too. My only complaint would be that the cord is part of the mic so if you have an issue with the mic cord it is not as easy to just switch cords.