Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Stan: There have been many classic broadcast microphones over the years. I would be interested in your favourite.

Peter, I worked with three mic’s predominantly. The most recent, and a standard at most stations, is the Electro Voice RE 20. A good mic, very directional, and sturdy. During the mid to late ‘70’s a number of stations used Sennheiser mics, the MD 421. Everything was Sennheiser, mics, headphones. I really never warmed up to them. A good mic but not suited for broadcasting.
My all time favorite was an old RCA ribbon mic . The RCA BK5 I think it was called. It came out in the late 60‘s. A real boomer, with a large blast filter on it. It was best used on AM signals. Great mic though.

Thanks Stan. I am sure that microphones continue to improve with advances in technology. Believe itor not, I still use an Electrovoice 664 which I love. Perhaps not suited to the broadcast booth but it has great clarity. Thanks for your comments.

What qualities make a microphone unsuitable for broadcast use?

jps wrote:What qualities make a microphone unsuitable for broadcast use?

Any mic which sounds bad EV has some mics which stations used that were really hand held mics or podium mics. We used to call them 'door stops'. They could double for a ball pein hammer. Durable but sounded awful. Also, cheap. Sennheiser I found to be far too sensitive for everyday broadcast use. The dynamics just weren't right, but that was my ear.

Double as a ball peen hammer...

Sounds like you're referring to the venerable EV 635A. I'm not sure you can actually destroy one of these. I've got one that's been bounced around, dropped, kicked, stepped on, etc. since somewhere around 1974 and it's still going strong... Oh, mine doesn't look quite that nice anymore...

cjj wrote:Double as a ball peen hammer...

Sounds like you're referring to the venerable EV 635A. I'm not sure you can actually destroy one of these. I've got one that's been bounced around, dropped, kicked, stepped on, etc. since somewhere around 1974 and it's still going strong.

Oh, mine doesn't look quite that nice anymore...

Dat would be the one allright.

What is the make and model of the microphone (I assume for show only) used by Larry King.

IIRC, it's this one. The RCA ribbon 77. (My first guess was the 44. Wrong)