Heil Sound ‘The Fin’
April 25, 2009 by Darren
I’ve reviewed a number of Heil Sound products in the past such as the Quiet Phones and the Heritage mic, with all products getting the unequivocal tick of approval! This next Heil product titled The Fin is no different and is sure to capture your imagination, just as it did mine when I was first introduced to it by a mate of mine (Sam the Ham) who likes to incorporate a little bit of ‘funk’ into his shack by way of some pretty groovy radio gear.
The Fin is a high quality, live sound, commercial broadcast desk microphone suited for the professional Freeband or Ham shack suite and draws on the technological developments designed into the PR20 dynamic microphone used by many eleven metre band enthusiasts.
Like the Heil PR20, The Fin uses a proprietary magnate structure with a large 1 1/8″ aluminum low mass voice coil assembly. With a frequency response of 60 to 18 kHz, output level at -55 dB @1000 Hz and its concise cardioid pickup pattern, The Fin is perfect for a wide variety of applications, including studio audio functions which appear to be the new ‘in-thing’ in Freeband communications.
Intriguingly, the Fin is outfitted with four blue L.E.D lamps mounted inside the art deco show chrome body of the microphone that can be activated from the phantom power supply of a mixer. We used the Xenyx 802 by Behringer which forms part of Sam’s audio rack. According to him, L.E.D lamps give the mic a ‘Star Wars’ type quality during periods of shack darkness more likely seen in an Empire Space Station than in the precinct of a Freeband radio buff!
A blue moulded internal foam windscreen inside the grill enhances the looks and combines with a specially tooled Sorbothane shock mount, which combines shock absorption, vibration isolation and vibration damping characteristics to protect the mic element. If the Sci-fi type L.E.D. lamps don’t appeal, a switch on the underside of the mic turns the lamps off (or on!).
Sam and I tested The Fin by transmitting into a dummy load and listening through the same TX bandwidth in a nearby receiver with my Sennheiser HD280 Headphones. To achieve maximum audio quality, we adjusted the DSP settings of Sam’s Yaesu FT 1000 transmitter to the following…
- Menu #4-4 (TREDSP) 3
- Menu #5-9 (TFIL) 6.0
- Menu #7-7 (SSBT) 100-3100
- Menu #8-9 (TLSB) -200
- (PROCLSB) .08 + .06
- (TUSB) -200
- (PROCUSB) .08 – .06
- 4 dB processing
Overall, we found the pattern control of the microphone to be outstanding. This reduced the proximity effect and delivered unbelievable rear rejection which removed unwanted sounds seeking entry via the off axis rear. Speech articulation was excellent also. According to the spec sheet, this exceptional performance is achieved by using the ideal combination of materials for the large low mass diaphragm and a special mixture of neodymium, iron, and boron that gives The Fin the strongest magnet structure available.
Special attention appears to have been paid to the phasing plug assembly also with equally placed ports that sense audio from behind, entering them out of phase.
Additionally, the standard microphone stand threads allow The Fin to be mounted on booms or floor stands. Note: Heil also sells a pretty impressive mic boom. An aluminum case and polishing cloth was also supplied with the mic which retailed at $196 US + postage.
In conclusion, we found Heil’s new Fin microphone to be first class. Not only is it consistent in performance quality with the company’s other studio mics and extremely well made, but it also adds a unique, visual element to the hobby.
More information on this product and others is available on the Heil site itself at http://www.heilsound.com/amateur/.
73 de Darren 43DA010Kenwood MC-90 Review
December 13, 2008 by Darren
Being somewhat of an audio religion extremist, I’ve used a number of tremendous desk microphones with my Kenwood TS-2000 in the last couple of years in search for that elusive ‘perfect’ combo (if there is such a thing of course)! Yaesu’s YD models and the Heil Heritage have been the front runners to this date and as such received favourable reviews on other forums, but this next microphone ranks alongside them and is perhaps even better – probably because it was designed specifically for DSP (Digital Signal Processing) rigs in the first place.
Manufactured in Japan (25 Division), the Kenwood MC-90 is a high quality DSP-compatible desk microphone which is not only great looking (a darker shade compared to the MC-60A) but also a perfect match to the DSP feature in the Kenwood TS-2000. On SSB, for instance, the wide response of the MC-90 works well with the audio settings of the 2000 and I have had a lot of fun interchanging between the transceiver’s Conventional, Bass and Hi audio menu options and testing the sounds via the radio’s monitor. With the MC-90 mic, the Hi audio selection is my favourite!
Weighing in at 1.1 kg, which is equivalent to about 2 stubbies of beer for some DXers, the MC-90 is supplied with two interchangeable heads that have different tonal characteristics. One has a flat frequency response for good overall performance when talking locally, while the other offers exceptional clarity and an output level characteristic that peaks at around 3 kHz, making it superb for DX work. (Note: These are not separate cartridges like with some mics, but 2 separate ‘shells’ that screw on the end).
Featuring PTT Lock, up/down controls, and measuring approximately 90 x 205 x 175mm, there is also a 3-position (M, V1 or V2) EQ switch on the base to tailor low-range cut-off frequency to suit the operator. Another option I suggest is using an EQ instead for a tailored response. I have found that the MC-90 works extremely well into my Behringer Ultragraph DEQ1024 EQ, for instance, with or without amplification.
Another positive is that the MC-90 has a Cannon XLR connector instead of the old 12 pin on the MC-60. This way you can use other mics on the base or use the MC-90 mic with a regular mic cable.
Most owners agree that the MC-90 is not appropriate for use on FM due to the deliberate lack of sensitivity by design. I had the idea of building a small amplifier which fitted internally giving about 20db boost without any noticeable degrading of quality. This actually worked well on all modes but was still too quiet for comfortable FM use having to close talk to stop stations with no volume control whinging about quiet audio.
Considering the basic specification and the fact that it’s only useful on SSB, it’s difficult to justify the expense for this microphone, but when you’ve got a TL-922 roaring away in the background (which I don’t) or a noisier XYL threatening divorce proceedings for excessive TITS (Time In The Shack) that’s where it pays dividends.
In my opinion, though, it truly compliments the DSP machine giving beautiful audio with the unwanted extraneous sounds drastically attenuated and completely removed when using an EQ noise gate.
73 de Darren
