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Reviews For: Heil PR 781 Microphone

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Heil PR 781 Microphone
Reviews: 100MSRP: 199.
Description:
Professional quality dynamic cardioid microphone for amateur radio that is specifically designed for use with most makes of Elite transceivers of Kenwood, Yaesu, Ten Tec and iCOM.
Product is in production
More Info: https://heilhamradio.com/products/pr-781-2/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001004.8
F5PBG Rating: 2014-06-19
The best microphone I've never had Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Whenever I hear this microphone, i find it great.

So I bought :
. Heil PR-781 : Microphone
. CC1-XLR-YBAL : Cable (for FT2000)
. HB-1 : Articulated arm
. FS-50 : foot PTT

Settings on FT2000 :
PROC : ON - 50%
MIC : 100%
085 : 2-28 (200 to 2800 Hz)
134 : 200 (PE1 FRQ)
135 : -8 (PE1 LVL)
136 : 1 (PE1 BW)
137 : 900 (PE2 FRQ)
138 : 4 (PE2 LVL)
139 : 2 (PE2 BW)
140 : 2100 (PE3 FRQ)
141 : 9 (PE3 LVL)
142 : 1 (PE3 BW)

See http://radioamateur.forumsactifs.com/t1689-ft2000-micro-heil-pr781
(use Google Translate for other language)

People who can not get good results may be set wrong settings on their tranceiver.

You need a microphone parametric preamp on the tranceiver (or outside) with this kind of microphone.

Excellent results on FT950, FT2000, FTdx5000 and FTdx9000 (probably also on FTdx1200 and FTdx3000).

This is only my opinion and the opinion of my correspondents... ;)

Best regards,
Ludovic Vuillermet - F5PBG
http://f5pbg.free.fr
AB4D Rating: 2014-05-06
Works FB Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi. I recently received a Heil PR 781G. I opted for the G version because I preferred the color scheme of black and gold. Prices for the microphone vary significantly from dealer to dealer, so shopping around for the best price is advisable.

The PR 781 is a studio type microphone with no PTT switching including. It integrated well into my station that uses a footswitch for the PTT. Audio reports have been favorable. When compared to an Electrovoice RE27 I use most of the time, the hams I work on a regular basis could not really tell a significant difference between the two. The PR 781 seems to be well built and is compact enough to be unobtrusive in the shack. I have no complaints about this microphone.

73
WA4FOM Rating: 2014-05-06
Underwhelmed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My experience with microphones is pretty much
like one man's meat is another's poison.
Translation: Just because you spend a barrel
of money on a particular mic doesn't necessarily
mean it's going to make you sound like Walter
Kronkite. That said, You just have to find
one that you like and you like how it makes
you sound.

The PR781 is pretty. It's large and honking.
It also has muddy bass and not much clearer
midrange. It also has in common with the
other Heil mics low output and crippled highs,
but most modern radios can compensate for the
least two, so I won't ding the PR781 for that.

Don't waste your money on this one. Instead,
try to locate a Goldline 5 on eBay. That's a
decent sounding mic, especially if you can get
it used at a discount. Even the El Cheapo
Behringer XM8500 sounds better and clocks in
at a petty $20.00.
AE7G Rating: 2014-05-06
Excellent equipment Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got the PR 781 to replace a 10 year old MD2 (Heil via Elecraft) that had gotten damaged from extensive Field Day use.

I work mostly with a boom and foot pedal. This mic was obviously designed for this use, it clamps in well, adjusts easily and holds its position. Professional studio quality.

Working on the K3 the mic setting needs to be configured high with bias off and it needs more gain than the previous mic, but it delivers strong audio once configured properly. It is front loaded, which again is ideal for a boom mic. You talk into it, not across.

I started by setting the K3's Tx EQ flat and, using the monitor feature, I was pretty quickly able to get a strong, clear, natural sounding and yet penetrating voice adjusting only compression and gain. It needs only about 10 to 15% compression. This is obviously a quality piece of audio equipment.

I tried it out and got great signal reports despite initially difficult conditions. I proved I could penetrate a pileup at a distance with only one or two calls.

With just about half an hour of fiddling I seem to be ready to go. I may use the K3's EQ to tune the unit to my voice but it does not need much.

There may be cheaper units out there that perform well, but the prices on this unit are now under $140 for the mic and clamp.

I am happy with the purchase.



KD6HUC Rating: 2014-04-28
Works for me Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the 4'th Heil Microphone I have owned and I've been happy with all of them. Mine is actually the PR 781G which is same mic.,but with the added bling of gold windscreen. I have mine connected to an IC-7100 and have gotten numerous positive responses to my audio. I've owned this unit for a little over a month now and have yet to find any issues. Mine is attached to the HB-1 boom,but I think it would look equally impressive on the desktop base Heil sells.
SV2BWM Rating: 2014-03-26
Superb audio!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A superb dynamic mic designed by Heil K9EID for the ESSB lovers of amateur radio! Thanks Bob...73's de SV2BWM
NT9E Rating: 2014-01-10
Superb Audio! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This past fall I found a new Behringer Euro Rack UB802 mixer for $30 in a pawn shop. I ordered a Heil PR-781 mic, 2 foot switches, and made some mic cables to go between the mixer and each of my radios(IC-9100 and an IC-2720). I used the Monitor function on the IC-9100 to listen to myself with headphones while I adjusted the EQ. Went on the air and the compliments on my audio poured in. This mic is a winner when paired with a mixer with EQ and a mic pre-amp. Highly recommended! 10 thumbs up!
W5ATK Rating: 2014-01-02
Outstanding! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This mic was designed for any 600 ohm mic radio requirements, but it was made for the Yaesu family, in my opinion. You can get this mic for between $120-$140, and it will out perform the PR-30/40s. Since I started using this mic with my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V and FT-920, I have had nothing but unsolicited compliments every time I transmit. Thanks to Bob Heil and the good folks at Heil Sound for recommending this microphone to me!
KE4QZW Rating: 2013-04-23
SUPER Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this mic for several weeks and I am very happy with it. Works as advertised and thanks to WA6DKN for helping me get the audio right.
N9GUU Rating: 2013-04-11
Great Microphone Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my PR-781 at Dayton last year from DX Engineering. DX Wnated $179 but I wanted to match $129 from the DXstore.com. With some "pursuading", DX finally agreeded to match the price. Anyway...I use my PR-781 on a boom with an ICOM IC-7410. At first I was told that the audio was weak, didn't work well on VOX and was initally disapointed. However after setting the radio to the settings suggested on the Heil website, it now works perfect and I get great audio reports. Others have said that they have rust problems with the front screen. After a year of use, I dont notice that. Bottom line...I would give it a solid 5 especially if you can get it for $129.