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Reviews For: Heil PR40 Dynamic Microphone

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Heil PR40 Dynamic Microphone
Reviews: 69MSRP: 329/399 USD
Description:
Heil PR 40 microphone boasts the widest frequency range of any dynamic mic in the Heil PR series. The PR 40 incorporates Heil’s phasing plug technology, along with the use of a very large (1?), low mass diaphragm, and custom magnet metals housed in a specially designed microphone body.
The PR 40 is available in black, black with a gold grill, champagne, gold plate, or chrome plate.
  • Output Connection: 3 pin XLR
  • Element Type: Dynamic
  • Frequency Response: 28 Hz – 18 kHz
  • Polar Pattern: Cardioid
  • Rear Rejection @ 180 degrees off axis: -40 dB
  • Impedance: 600 ohms balanced
  • Output Level: -53.9 dB @ 1 kHz
  • Weight: 13.5 oz
Product is in production
More Info: https://heilhamradio.com/products/pr-40-2/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00694.9
NQ5T Rating: 2005-07-01
Excellent Mic, Excellent Value! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Perhaps the best sound/value for the price of any mic around. Sounds great, looks great.

Is it really better than the RE-20 as some reviewers have said?

Build quality -- the RE-20 wins out without a fight. There's NO comparison.

Audio quality -- the PR40 does exhibit a bit of low-end boost when you close talk it, although less than almost any other broadcast quality mic I've used. The RE-20 exhibits none. I prefer none, you may prefer some. Claims of "PR40 has more presence" may be true if the mics are not EQ'd. If both mics are properly EQ'd, there's hardly a whiff of difference between the two. I consider claims of any difference to be the result of the EQ setup and not the mic ... or just audio-phoolery :-)

Price -- about $200 for a new PR40, about $750 list (and maybe $400 selling) price for the RE-20. Even used, an RE-20 will set you back considerably more than the PR40.

My RE-20 is in temporary retirement, but it isn't going to hit eBay any time soon. If I had neither and were thinking of buying one or the other of these mics, the PR40 would be the clear and obvious choice.
NA5Q Rating: 2005-06-23
Great Microphone Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I never paid so much for a microphone before, but my previous microphones SM-20 and Heil Gold Pro Line never did justice for my voice pattern. Even using a W2IHY did not make my voice sound natural on the air. So, in Dayton I elected to purchase this microphone for my Pro III. What a difference it has made! I am using this microphone with the Wide setting, compression off and w/o the W2IHY. The only eq I use is a little bass on the Pro III equalizer. Everyone that knows my voice says I never sounded better and natural. BTW: My voice has highs that makes compression enhancement unnecessary for DX or Contesting.

This is the best purchase I ever made aside from my Pro III. Cost of microphone, beats buying $10M rig. Hi!
KW4CQ Rating: 2005-06-23
Oh, yeah baby...this is the one! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ahhh, Sweet Mystery of Life at Last I've Found Theeee!! What more can I say? I use the PR40 with my IC-7800 and some outboard audio processing gear (a Bellari RP533 and DEQ2496). Visit WZ5Q's web pages for an in-depth review of this mic and be sure to listen to his MP3 audio clips recorded under different bandwidth scenarios.
N0JSN Rating: 2005-06-22
DREAMY AUDIO Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
BEAUTIFUL MICROPHONE A VERY PROFESSIONAL LOOKING AND SOUNDING MIC.I USE IT ON MY TENTEC ORION WORKS FANTASTIC STRAIGHT INTO THE RADIO, A SMALL MOD ON BOB HEIL'S WEB SITE (UNDER ORION GROUNDING)SHOWS HOW TO MOD THE ORION FOR A BALANCED INPUT.THIS MICROPHONE IS GOING TO BE SHOWING UP IN THE RADIO BROADCAST STATIONS VERY QUICKLY I'M SURE. YOU GUYS DON'T HAVE TO SPEND $500.00 OR $1000.00 TO GET FANTASTIC SOUND ANY MORE!
AK4TC Rating: 2005-05-09
Top Performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had been listening for a few weeks to my friends with their PR40 mic's and they sounded excellent. Then one night Bob Heil joined us on Freq. and stayed to ragchew for an hour. Very good guy. I decided to order one the next week. When I called, they transferred me to Bob and we talked again. Mic was at my door 2 days later. great service and a fine product. My audio reports have been excellent. I run a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V Field, W2IHY EQplus & 8 Band Equalizer. Thanks Bob - Kevin
WA6IPD Rating: 2005-04-28
A new era in amateur radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I use my PR40 with an Icom 756PROII at 2.9kc, no other processing and the audio is outstanding. A local ham WF6L uses the same set up and comparing his Icom SM-20 with the PR40 the PR40 is notably better with wider range and overall sound. Art Bell has been on 3.840 giving one a try against his Yaesu MD-200 and there is no notable difference other than the MD-200 costs twice as much. I like good audio because I have a hearing problem and anyone using the PR40 makes for easy listening. I paid $189.95 delivered to my door.
KB4QLZ Rating: 2005-03-12
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As usual a fine product from Bob Heil. Mic is connected to a W2IHY 8 Band EQ, W2IHY EQplus, with a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark-V. If top notch audio is your goal, give this mic a try.
K3PZ Rating: 2005-03-04
NEW STANDARD IN HAM MICROPHONES Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had the Heil PR-40 on the air for a week now. All I can say is WOW! The clarity and articulation of this new mic are unbeleivable. No wonder recording studios and radio stations are now buying them. A dynamic microphone that sounds as good if not better than the RE-20 condenser mic at half the price, and needs no phantom power supply is definitely a winner. Even with MY EQplus & W2IHY equalizer off, this mic sounds fantastic but when used with Julius'gear, this combo is hard to beat. If you have not read Mikes' review (WZ5Q), then do yourself a favor and go to his website and listen to the audio clips. This mic will catch on very quickly with the ham community and I feel that this mic wil be the new standard in microphones in ham radio.

Paul
K3PZ
K4QKY Rating: 2004-11-17
Great new mic from Heil Sound Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Heil Sound is certainly well known to most all hams! Bob Heil has been producing superior quality amateur radio microphones for many years. Now with the introduction of the new PR 30 and 40 microphones, the company is poised to also compete in the commercial market place including broadcast, studio recording and live sound.

Like the PR30, the PR40 is a great looking microphone! Nothing about it is flimsy. This microphone is sturdily constructed and appears to be built to last. The PR40’s cylindrical body and grille basket boasts a satin-amber tone metallic finish reminiscent of the Electrovoice RE20.

For this review, the overall performance of the PR40 was evaluated with and without external audio processing as follows:

Scenario A (PR 40 with no external audio processing)
PR40 microphone output straight to the microphone input of a Kenwood TS870. Kenwood TS870 settings as follows:
> TX offset 100
> TX width 3000
> TX EQ “high boost”

Scenario B (PR40 with external audio processing)
PR40 microphone output to a Presonus tube microphone preamp; then to a Behringer DEQ2496 processor; through the W2IHY iBox interface to the microphone input of a Kenwood TS870. Kenwood TS870 settings as follows:
> TX offset 100
> TX width 3000
> TX EQ “off”

Note: The DEQ2496’s parametric equalizer and compressor settings were optimized for the PR40. Experience has taught me that certain microphone, external processor and voice combinations work well and others not so well. I typically try out various combinations of microphones and external processor settings until I find a signal chain that best complements my particular voice.

Fine craftsmanship aside, it was the sound of the PR40 that really impressed me. Clearly, the PR40 has been designed to produce a very pleasing and accurate sound. It exhibits a presence boost for low frequencies which opens up the sound at exactly the right places to complement the human voice. I believe that the PR40 exhibits greater low end pickup than the PR30 or any other Heil microphone for that matter.

I really like the PR40's personality. The microphone does not appear entirely linear in its response; rather, the tonal color blossoms in just the right places. That makes the PR40 sound great directly into the transceiver without the need for external processing. Like most microphones, it does require that the operator take greater care with microphone placement for correct tonal control. I found that speaking into the microphone from a distance of about two inches worked best. This distance creates a fuller and more aggressive sound than when you back away from the microphone where the tone becomes more neutral. An important added benefit from “close talking” the microphone in this fashion is reduction of ham shack ambient noise pick up since the transceiver’s microphone gain control is operated at lower levels.

During the evaluation I worked numerous hams on 17, 20, 40 and 160 meters. All praised the PR40’s overall performance. They were especially impressed that the microphone sounded so good directly into the transceiver. Most reported only marginal improvement when audio from the PR40 was routed through external audio processing equipment.

Transmitted audio from the Kenwood TS-870 (used in this test) and the TS-2000 usually sounds best when the TXEQ function is set to high boost. This is certainly the case with the PR40 and other Heil microphones except when external audio processing equipment is used in which case TXEQ is best kept turned off.

The PR40, like the PR30 is designed to accept the model 309A suspension shock mount used with the EletroVoice RE20 and RE 27 microphones. Although it wasn’t available for this review, Bob Heil indicates that a companion Model SM-3 will be packaged with the PR30, 40 and 780 microphones which most hams will prefer. The SM-2 shock mount will also work.

Heil Sound expects to also start tooling a special “desk stand” base by taking their existing beautiful Classic Base (an exact reproduction of the 91B 1935 RCA stainless steal trimmed base) with a PTT button on it and the SM 3 mount. This will allow the PR 780, the PR 30 and PR 40 to be used on this base as well as in the SM2 shock mount.

The PR40 with its expected 20Hz – 19KHz frequency response is intended for the more discerning operator. The PR40 routed directly into the transceiver is the best microphone I’ve ever used! It’s an especially great choice for the ham who wants great sounding audio but prefers to avoid purchasing and learning to use external audio processing equipment.

Sales of the PR30, PR40 and PR780 are expected to begin in late December, 2004. Heil Sound will keep everyone informed with all of their soon to released new products in a new section on their website www.heilsound.com called “New Announcements”...left side blue buttons.

About the Reviewer:
Don Snodgrass “K4QKY” has been a ham for over 30 years. He enjoys all aspects of Amateur Radio especially experimenting with ssb audio processing techniques.
You can visit his website at http://webpages.charter.net/donsno/wb4kr.htm