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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
K0MD Rating: 2007-11-07
Best Sound/$ Value for Icom rigs Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this microphone for many years with my Icom rigs - 775, 751, 756 Pro 2 and 756 Pro 3. It works well with my two current Icom rigs and drove the other rigs equally well when I had them. I always receive excellent audio quality reports on the air with this microphone and I enjoy the occasional question - "what mike are you using, it sounds great!"

It is easy to use when you need to adjust the gain and tone settings and I think the audio I hear (via the monitor function) sounds very natural.

It has been one of the most durable micrphones I have owned and for the dollars invested the best value of a microphone I have owned. I like all of my Heil mikes - 781, Pro Set Plus IC and ICM. For the older Icom rigs like my 775dsp, the ICM is the one mike I could not do without.
K6SDW Rating: 2007-09-17
Good, not great.... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Read the reviews and made me own decision to buy one. Comparing it to the stock ICOM SM6, not much difference according to my 75-mtr phone group which includes to broadcast engineers.... all agreed it sounded better than the stock hand mic, but could hardly tell the difference between it and the SM6

You decide.........Cheers all
KN4LF Rating: 2007-06-06
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm mostly a QRP CW and digital modes operator with an Icom IC-718. On occassion when I operated phone in rag chews with friends the SM-6 desk mic always got reports of to many high's.

I took a look at the Icom SM-20 desk mic and didn't like the spec's or appearance and especially not the price! I had purchased HC-5 and HC-4 microphone elements around 11 years ago and was happy with their performance. So I decided to check out the Heil website and stumbled across the Icom iCM desk microphone. I emailed Chip Margelli, K7JA with some questions and he responded very quickly and politely.

I went ahead and placed an order for the iCM through HRO in Atlanta and darned if they didn't get it in the UPS system on the same day. When the microphone arrived I was pleased to see that Heil included the mic clip and wind sock.

The mic looks good and appears to be well built.
I immediately made some local 80 and 160 meter QSO's with friends and received much better audio reports than with the SM-6.

Fairly recently I pulled the IC-718 stock 2.1 kc SSB ceramic filter and replaced it with a Collins 2.4 kc SSB mechanical filter from W4RT and I'm sure that that also assisted in improving transmitted audio response.

Bottom line is that I'm very happy with the product and customer service and will do business with Bob Heil again! By the way I was also impressed with the service I received from HRO in Atlanta.
W5KAM Rating: 2007-05-31
Great Audio/Great Support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have purchased a Heil ICM microphone and have good audio reports from it. I have it connected to an Icom 756 pro III. You can go out to Heil web site and they have a starting setting that you can use for your radio and mic. I followed these setting and found they did a good job. With a little tweaking the ICM has preformed well for me.

When I purchased my base for the ICM,it was missing the jumper cable. I contacted Heil by e-mail and with in two days I had the cable in the mail. (GREAT SUPPORT)
KI4LHA Rating: 2007-05-31
Is there any thing else for a IC718 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this mike on reading some reviews, wanting the dual element HM-10 but people said this was the one I needed. Well they were right. Great audio reports, I have been acussed of running commerical equipment, all from my little 718. Thanks Bob.
K5VY Rating: 2007-04-30
Great Tx audio for the Icom IC-910H Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
What an improvement over the Icom desk mic! Great reports on both the FM and SSB audio on 2 meters!! Really worth the money.
WX1F Rating: 2007-03-21
iCM on a 746Pro Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've owned my Icom 746Pro for a year and in all that time, have been using Icom's SM-20 desk mic to drive it. I bought a new Heil iCM mic last week and all I can say is WOW. What a great mic! It looks good in the new scissor boom, too. The highs are crisp and the lows are so much cleaner. Studio quality is a catch phrase but it describes this mic to a tea! The response from Chip when I wrote into Heil with questions, was great. He answered back within minutes after I sent the email...so customer service is number one, too. If you want a great product and standup service, buy from Heil. I'm glad I did!
KI4MYD Rating: 2007-03-15
Perfect Match Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Since I've had the icm for use with my 718, I've never gotten a bad audio report. I've done on air comparisons and have found it to (of course) sound much better than the hand mic with a much more full, rich audio whereas most told me the hand mic sounded tinny. So if you're getting good SSB audio reports with the hand mic, imagine what you would get with this. Nearly every time I'm in a QSO with someone they always give me a good audio report. I did also notice an increase in response when working pile-ups, especially with the compressor (and I most often use 70w). Audio sounds better to about 98% of the people I've talked with with the compressor off, but with it on, it gives you the highs needed to help in pile ups.

I'd definitely recommend this mic to anyone with a applicable Icom rig, because you can't beat the value for the quality (mic and the cable with 8-pin for under $100). Plus the thing is a real beauty. If you're looking to start upgrading your station from the basics, this would be the first upgrade I'd go with if you want to sound good on the air.
KF0X Rating: 2006-12-03
ICOM 718 Miracle Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After you read this, you will think Bob Heil is paying me off. He is not, I am just being truthful. I have an ICOM 718 and have been using my old ICOM SM-8 desk mic. I bought it back in 1992 for my former rig, the ICOM 728. It has always been a good, solid mic. After reading reviews here and on a couple other sites, I decided to purchase the Heil ICM. Several reviewers were using the mic with my same rig, the 718. So, I felt pretty good about buying it. Ham Radio Outlet in Phoenix send one down to me and WOW!!!! What a MONSTER DIFFERENCE! I am "punching" through the noise much better. I have received unsolicited reports of my "great audio." In all the time I used the SM-8, I never had anyone compliment my audio like that. It never had bad audio, but it was nothing special. Seriously, my FIRST contact on the new Heil ICM got me that wonderful audio report. I had a fellow ham from across town record me on 75, 40 and 10 (10 was a bit rough copy) and he emailed mp3's to me. When I listen to them, I was blown away! It is full, rich and pleasing. Well, let's just say my SM-8 just sold on eBay for $147.00. Not bad for a 15+ year old mic. My new Heil was under $95. I'd say that was a nice transaction.

Way to go Bob Heil!
N4KR Rating: 2006-08-26
"What a Great Product". Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Most Hams don't give a thought about their Audio and that's why there are so many terrible sounding signals out there. Having spent most of my life in Broadcasting, I am very critical of Audio, especially my own. Owning ICOM equipment, I decided to improve the Audio for my IC-718. The Heil-ICM Mic was my choice, and What an improvement! This Special Mic (designed for Icom Radios) can make your Icom sound like a Broadcasting Station, no kidding. It's Full, Rich sound in absolutely Great. If you own Icom Radios, the ICM should be your First choice. Yes, there are cheaper mics, but you will also sound cheap on the air. And by the way, the ICM is a far better Mic than the more expensive Icom Desk mic. This one stays.