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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
LU7BSE Rating: 2012-05-06
Excelente Time Owned: more than 12 months.
is the best mic I have, I am using it with my ts-590 and the result is excellent pass me my audio reports without asking always the configuration I use is from 100 to 2900 bandwidth and hb2 in eq.

recommend this microphone to all
I own mc mc-60a and-90 but the 781 is much better

Regards
LU7BSE
Buenos Aires
Argentina
W2TXB Rating: 2012-02-18
Good stuff! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have used a PR781 since last summer - bought it when I switched to the Flex 5000A - and it has been great. Audio reports are always good-excellent and the setup/mounting (using the Heil boom and shock mount) was quick and easy.

I should have bought one of these sooner... :)
KD5NDU Rating: 2012-02-17
Great mic Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got a 781 heil microphone hook up to a 718pretty icon and all ways got good report from it
VE7REN Rating: 2012-02-10
overpriced Time Owned: more than 12 months.
as with all heil mics. the quality is alright,but overpriced. your far better off going to a audio technica ,sue,or ev mic. within same specs,and better build for less money. ive ran heil for 10 years,and have now seen the light. heil makes good products most of the time,but there mic ptt and base ptt buttons are intermittent,and the headsets are cheap. look into other brands of mics before heil............you will be amazed...
W9BDN Rating: 2012-02-10
Awersome as I've been told Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received my new PR-781 yesterday along with the PT-2T boom. Nice combination and on the air audio reports have been excellant. I and very pleased with the performance. I set the VOX settings as recommended for my 756 Pro III and works great. Really never used VOX much but will now. I like the boom as well, cable covers provided and looks nice and un cluttered.

73's, Steve W9BDN
ON4VP Rating: 2012-01-19
Nice looking, sounds great Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Sometimes I prefer using headphones, other times I like a good sounding speaker and a studio mic for rag chew qso. Thanks to the dsp in modern radios it is now possible to tweak tx audio. The PR-781 benefits form this features. It is a studio mic with a wide range characteristic response so some equalizing is not a bad idea.

I get a lot of unconsolidated great audio reports. Thanks to dsp I can set the PR-781 to sound sharp for penetration of dx or sounding warm and natural for rag chew qso. I like the black finish, looks great with the FT-950. I use the balanced cable by Heil to connect the mic to the Yaesu FT-950.

Although not cheap I think this studio mic is good value for money and I can only repeat what other reviewers have said. It really does sound great once tailored to your voice characteristics. I'm using the mic on the standard Heil boom stand, I don't use the special anti vibration mount. I can't see me spending another 100 us$ only for that mount.

Bear in mind that this type of microphones benefit from equalizing and can sound bad if not taken care of. On the other hand, after proper set up the PR-781 sounds outstanding.

Great mic, great looks, great sound. You won't be disappointed.
WA4NUN Rating: 2011-12-25
Great Mic Great Service Time Owned: N.A.
Purchased the 781 and the PL2T "big boy" boom back in June, but due to antenna issues did not get to put into play until the end of the summer. Never asked for audio reports but sure got plenty of "leave it alone, audio is great" coming back at me with the Icom 7410 I picked up at hamfest, and this mic at another source. For those who have issues concern about rusting, I have not had that problem, the mic is still somewhat new, but have a suggestion. Get a windsock, no matter what mic you are using. Like it or not, we all spray saliva when we talk. I've always thought about it from the standpoint of not getting the element wet, but probably the same protecting this mic's frame from getting wet as well.
For my service comment....I keep my office a bit dark with minimal lighting, and when I installed the boom did not see that the C Clamp was twisted a bit, and noticed then that the mic was swinging a bit on it's own other than where I wanted it to. Sent an email to Heil and before I had a chance to send a promised followup with pic, which I did later, they already had a replacement in motion at no charge. Even so, did a follow thru with the pics for the benefit of their QC.
Also have a Heil ICM for a 718 that works quite well. To me, a company that back their products. With the Icom particular cable, gives me both stomp to talk with the foot switch, as well as the
VOX option at the same time.
PA1HR Rating: 2011-12-17
Nice MIC, but is it better than a much cheaper one? NO... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use the PR-781 for a couple of years now. It's a nice looking mic, but is it better than a much cheaper one? No, it is not. On the contrary...

The Behringer C-3 condenser microphone costs about 30% of the PR781, sounds better, and does'nt rust...



----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by PA1HR on 2009-09-10


In the meantime I did several on-the-air comparisons with different microphones on my Icom IC-7700.

The Heil PR 781 - without mixer or any other interface - is clearly the best in very different ways of communication and circumstances.

I cannot think of any cons why you should not buy the PR 781.

Many operators I know have the combination IC-7700 and PR 781 and they are all very satisfied.

Perhaps you have to 'tune up' the IC-7700 a little bit in the setup menu, because two voices are not the same. This is very easy to do, but do it on-the-air with a station nearby.

Enjoy your PR 781; you will not regret it!

BTW; I also have a Sennheiser MD-21 professional microphone and Sennheiser PR-350 headphone. Really very nice and with good audio, but the PR 781 is the best.

73, Hans PA1HR.

G2YC Rating: 2011-12-17
Fantastic mic but beware the rust Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Sound, styling and sheer beauty of this mic means I can only award it a 5/5. HOWEVER, if you have salty breath or live near the sea like me--then beware. Within three months of new, the front grill began to rust badly, especially the inner grill underneath the black outer grill. Why on earth would they use a rust-prone metal that is so close to the moisture of human breath? Service at Heil is great, and they agreed straightway to replace the front grill but will not guarantee that it won't happen again. Great mic but the rust will make me choosier next time.
AA6QQ Rating: 2011-10-01
Great Microphone Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased my PR-781 about five months ago and run it straight into my Mark V, It replaced my MD 100 that was working fine, I just wanted to get something more state of the art. Bob Heil did an excellent job on this studio quality mic for a reasonable price.

Heil customer support is second to none, that's what you get with an American company. I noticed that I was picking up a slight buzz on my signal when the chassis cooling fan on my Mark V kicked in, I called Heil and talked to Donna, she had me remove the shield ground from the unbalanced XLR cable, she explained to me that sometimes the mic cable works as an antenna and picks up rf. That fixed it for a time, then the buzz (whine) came back, I called Donna again and she sent me a new balanced XLR cable free of charge. Normally the Mark V's use the unbalanced however in some instances they prefer the balanced cable.

I picked up a boom lamp from a thrift store and a used foot pedal/switch from a sewing machine shop (ten bucks for both) rebuilt, repainted and repurposed them for my new mic

I continue to get unsolicited great audio reports on a regular basis, and it looks great!

73

Roy Westra
AA6QQ