Electro-Voice 664
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- This week we're looking at the history of Electro Voice and one of their most popular mics from the 1950's, the 664. While this mic was never really intended for musical use, the look of the mic and it's versatility saw it land in the hands of musicians and recording engineers all over the world.
**LINK**
Download the STL file for the XLR insert: www.thingiverse.com/thing:590...
**CONTENTS**
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - EV History
3:36 - The 664
5:17 - Variable D Technology Primer
6:42 - The Dreaded 4 Pin Connector
8:22 - EV 664 on Voice
9:17 - EV 664 on Clean Guitar
9:30 - EV 664 on Overdriven Guitar
9:44 - EV 664 on Distorted Guitar
9:57 - EV 664 on Snare Drum
10:37 - Conclusion - Hudba
In my very first band I was the lead singer. We procured an EV664 and it became my vocal mic. I remember it had a nice sound and excellent output.
It could also double as band security. Could seriously knock someone out with one of these easily! I was actually surprised at the output of the mic considering its age. They're definitely memorable. Thanks for checking out the channel!
I have 2 EV 664s in my collection. When I got them from eBay, from 2 different people around 2020, they both came with the cable, so no problem. They both sound good to my old worn out ears.
Can probably sell the cables for what you got the mic for! lol. They're not terrible mics. Theyre definitely not "modern" sounding but i think that s the whole point. I've used my connection mod on a few mics now. The 664 a 630 and an old shure 535 omni mic. End of the day, as long as you can get the signal out of the mic into a pre, you're good to go! Thanks for watching!
Ham radio guy here. The EV 664 really was a pinnacle of high end ham radio microphones back in the day. Often pictured with the very high end Collins S-line as well as Drake and EF Johnson Viking on their much higher end equipment. I have a 664 that I use with my Collins S-line. They were so popular as a desk microphone with the optional desk stand. I had no clue the connectors were so expensive. Am I surprised? No. But it does remind us of a time where everything was still incredibly proprietary. As I do restorations on antique radio equipment I am no stranger to proprietary parts. Most of my equipment is very rare pieces. And of course, because so few were made, and the parts were so specific, there is little to absolutely no chance of one actually finding some of those replacement parts. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for checking it out!
I was studying for my exam during lockdown and never made it in to take the test. Im not sure i need another audio related hobby though i would love to learn how that stuff works. Most of the communities that ive silently stalked online seem to be very standoffish and gatekeeperish to some degree as well. I mean what hobby doesnt have those types lol. The funny thing about the connector for the mic is that at one point it was pretty much standard for these and other EV mics. I would have thought there would have been thousands of these things out there in any form of disrepair (its just the connector we need). Sadly, nope…. I had a heck of a time trying to find some weird caps for an amp rebuild a few tears ago. Finally found a HAM guy that was rolling his own. Worked great!
@@meistudiony hey, it’s never to late to follow through with the license! The Gatekeeping is a thing, however some good starter resources are videos by Bob Heil (Heil Audio). He does some very good explanations on mixer to transmitter interfacing and very good explanations on audio mixing and going into some good depth about audio response for ham use. You are right, it was a popular connector for Electro Voice. But just compare that today with XLR. Or a 4 pin XLR. Those have become the industry standard. In other words you don’t HAVE to have the manufacturers specific connector. I just can’t believe those EV ones for the 664 are that much money! True insanity! I don’t know a ton about audio, but I do enjoy a good microphone and a well balanced audio signal. I mean, who wouldn’t? In ham radio the audio quality can often lead to whether a contact can be established or not. The 664 was the right mic at the right time. I would love a Astatic K2 microphone element. Pretty rare and hard to find in original working condition. Or an astatic DK1. I really wanna know what one of those is supposed to sound like. Again both pretty rare in WORKING original condition. If you get a chance check out my channel. It covers quite a few of my pretty rare pieces of radio equipment. And some details that are just really unknown to many about them. There are a lot of ham resources out there just like the caps you expressed. Heck I have heard the same thing on the flip side with hams looking for some odd capacitor and found it through an audio guy. It’s kinda like an indirect friendship! Hahaha!
I subscribed specifically to learn more about the stay puff marshmallow man explosion clean up. 😂 Also, I too like rounded back sides. Thanks for making an informative and hilarious video. Dry goofiness is my jam
Lol. Thanks for leaving a comment about it. I should start adding those back in. Haha
I own three of these. Two original port design, one large port design. All of them in excellent condition. They are definitely spoken voice mics. That doesn't mean they can't be used on all sorts of stuff and EQ adjusted appropriately. They're certainly good enough for that.
Besides a lot of live sound engineering, I'm a licensed ham radio operator. These make an excellent communication mic. You don't want full range audio on SSB. It's counterproductive. You want all the power in about 200 Hz to 3 kHz for a 2.8 kHz max legal bandwidth with it sloped up in the 1 kHz to 3kHz and with moderate compression to level power average across vowels, dipthongs and plosives. You don't need or necessarily want full fidelity on FM for communication applications -- although it's cool to have a radio voice on FM ham radio -- it can compromise intelligibility in challenging environments.
I agree with an earlier commenter. If you have a working one, don't mod it. Buy a non-working parts-only or prop-only one and mod experiment with it. They're inexpensive and common enough for that.
Thanks for the great videos. They have helped me make some mic acquisition choices.
Thanks for the great comment. I was studying to take my exam during covid lockdown and never got around to actually taking it. I dont know that I need another money pit of a hobby though lol. I am really into building electronics and i'd be that guy thats got the giant lattice work antenna setup on a concrete slab that the neighbors complain about. lol. One day though... one day!
what a fantastic sounding microphone. thank you for doing this.
Thank you for checking it out! Appreciate it!
This is the 2nd 664 video I've watched. I love the way it sounds on electric guitar. BTW, I believe the 666 was the Buchanan Hammer.
Ive seen that in places too and others the 664. Surprised they didnt give the 666 a more deviant name… lol
Great video! It was filled with so much insight and appreciation for the mic and the community of mic enthusiasts. Great job. I’m definitely going to deep dive into your channel.
Thank you. Really appreciate it. Im a little long winded. Lol
@@meistudiony I actually love that.
You missed one of the reasons that the 664 was widely used by musicians in the 60's and 70's. It had the ability to be wired for "hi-z" by just moving one pin, which allowed it to be plugged into another channel of your guitar amp. The first time I saw one used in the mid '60's it was plugged into the reverb channel of a black face Fender Twin while the guitar was plugged into the normal channel. The cut sheet that came with the mic also had instructions on how to wire the mic for use with a guitar amp and mine [acquired in the mid 60's] came with a 1/4" phone plug on the end of the cable.
The most advanced portable PA speakers of the time were Shure Column speakers that were barely satisfactory for speech reproduction. The 664 was reasonably priced so that even a young musician could afford one. Since sound systems of the time focused on the speech range, low end reproduction was not that important. This mic was not used due to it's great sound reproduction but because it looked good, was a decent price, used for vocal the resulting sound would cut the mix with fairly decent gain before feedback and most musicians couldn't kill it.
I had a box of 664's after we switched to Shure Unidyne ball mics which could also be used "Hi-Z." I now have an extensive collection of mics, including M/S, Condenser and Dynamic and recently acquired a Soundfield mic for ambient capture in live concert events. I've never missed that box of 664's that was lost so many years ago. I've been a musician since the mid 60's and a broadcast/studio engineer since the mid 70's.
As a footnote, the matte grey version, which had no built in stand adapter or switch and reputedly better capsule, was the 666 [also called for some reason the "devil's mic" ;-) ] it had a Cannon D connector and was primarily marketed to broadcasters.
Yes! There was a 665 also (more rare). That had an xlr and i think was only low z. The hi lo-z change is just using pin 2 instead of 3/4 on the connector. Thanks for the great comment, and thanks for checking out the video!
Great Video. Thanks for doing this.
I remember those mic's years ago but I was not seasoned enough to know how good they were. I was always trying to get the most ball and least feedback.
Looking back and the years in-between, I worked as a service tech and repairing Recievers, PA systems, Power amp ( Tune to solid state ) Everything from Mackie, Mac, Tapco, Phase Linear, etc. Along the way a few mics needed internal repairs.
I remember that one and the customer boght it for 20 bucks. He just wanted it to work, did not care if it had an XLR. So we hard wired the ack to an10 ft XLR end to use on a PA.
I was surprised at the sound and also the customer.
I never held one ever again, but never forgot the one. My partner and I tested it like you did on guitar too. All said and done, I have to say the engineering back then had attention spent on Everything bout the product.
Kidsa miss that in most of the new stuff today. You either have a Nail hammer or a thousand dollar sounding mic you don't let anyone else handle.
Thanks for checking out the video! The mics can still be had for pretty cheap, the only question is if it still works properly. For a PA mic, youd be hard pressed to find something this rugged today.
Great 👍 content
Thank you. Appreciate you check it out!!
For the Ev history-I found the buttons you mentioned and they both work on my machine
Thanks for watching!
These are nice mics. I love the look! My first use of one was for a ham radio microphone, great on air sound in hi impedance mode. I used one with with Heathkit rigs I built. Then I used a bunch of these in low impedance modes for PA systems in an auditoriam. They also worked well there. But now I use them for podcast mics again with low impedance and they still sound good. They are best suited for voice work in stock condition. The are best suited for midrange (voice) tones and seem to roll off the very low bass and the really high treble ranges (a good thing for podcasting) with a cardioid pattern. I'm planning on swapping out the cartridge on one of them with a Heil HC-5 conversion kit (no longer available) for a test, maybe a condensor unit as well.
What amazes me more than anything is the fact that some of these mics are now over 60 years old and STILL working! Theres some truth to the statement “they dont build em like they used to”. That boggles my mind. We live in such a disposable world now, not much is built to last. Im interested in that heil conversion kit. Is it a dynamic replacement or a condenser? Would love to see/hear before and afters of it! Thanks for the great comment and for checking out the video!! Appreciate it!
The Like button works✅
Thanks! They’re a little iffy sometimes.
We had several of these at the church where I learned to run sound back in the '70's. They competed against AKG D200E1's, and in the mids, the EV's definitely won. The AKG's had more high end, though.
I have a pair of D160E1's in my hand right now. The D200E1 was the big brother (cardioid pattern and had a cool grille). Definitely some work horse mics. The 664 is a tank. With a little EQ they can sound quite nice.
Thanks for check out the video!
@@meistudiony I could always hear the crossover in those "two-way" mics. That's what bothered me. Later!
I bought one because it stared in the movie "that thing you do"
I used to work with a guy whose father was one of the original band members of The Fabulous Epics which the movie may (or may not) be based on. It's amazing that these mics are still functioning today. I'll ask my kids to see if one of those cheap Neewer or Tonor mics are still kickin after 70 years!
Great video!!! Really appreciate how you demonstrated the mic 90 and 180 degrees off axis as well as how the it works in a snare situation. Can you tell me how to change this mic from LoZ to Hi Z and the other way around? Thanks again.
Hey thanks for checking the video out. The change from hi to low z is just different pin outs on the output connector. If you have the original connector (4pin) you want to connect pin 1 to ground for either configuration. Then, if you connect pin 3 and 4 to pins 2 and 3 of the xlr, you get lo-z. If you connect pin 2 and 4 of the mic to pin 2 and 3 of the xlr you get high-z.
Essentially switching pins 2 and 3 changes the mics output impedance.
I LOVE Mics with the Art-Deco design. I have a number of old timers, and if they work, I keep them original. I would say DON'T modify yours.......but instead find a dead one to use as a project piece. I recently got a EV 636 Slimair, and hooking it up, I thought it sounded a bit thin for recording, but considering what it was intended for, I really like it. On stage, I WANT art-deco mics, so reproductions/current productions are my go-to. Heil, Shure, Astatic, MXL and others have some really sharp looking mics that mate easily to the modern boards.
The nice thing about the mod I came up with is that it doesn't permanently alter the mic. You can keep the original parts aside if you want to restore it to original later on. I don't generally mod anything that would permanently alter the original. Even my C1000s mod doesn't alter the metal work or circuit, unlike some others that do a similar mod. I'm with ya! Thanks for checkin out the video!
Great test and background informations. If you want to demonstrate the lack of proximity effect, adjusting the volume in post processing to a similar level is more meaningful. I did this with a PL10 which is a mini version (not produced since many years) of the monstrous RE20, but with a different frequency response. It works really well. Compared to modern mics, these old EVs sound not that great on voices (the RE20 is o.k., but not phenomenal in my opinion), but you can eq them of course in a way that they sound like a modern condenser (except of directivity of course, but for nearfiel vocal recordings it's not very relevant).
I did a video on refoaming the pl10 :). I always feel like adjusting things on a vocal test is kinda like cheating but i get your point.
Thanks for checking out the channel.
I was actually thinking this could be really cool as a snare bottom. It could do a really good job of rejecting the nearby kick, because it has no bass.
Probably would work well except its akward as all heck to position the mic.
Question: If I want to use one of these doing mobile live sound for bands, do I want to use with Lo Z or Hi Z? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Most professional systems will want to see a lo-z mic. High z is generally consumer grade stuff for very short cable runs. Lo-z will allow you to run longer cable runs and the signal strength at the mic pres will be better on modern equipment with lo-z. Only issue is the crazy connector thats expensive if the mic doesnt already have it.
@@meistudiony Thank you!
Is it Pag, Pax, or Tony? Anyway, back in the 70s my dad used to have lots of pro gear catalogs, and by the last 70s I ordered catalogs of AKG, Neumann, Shure, and EV. I always saw the those words in reference to the 666. Although I'm only listening to my laptop. the 664 sounds amazing on electric guitar and it does here too: czcams.com/video/CASnt-eD-_w/video.html
Cool thanks for the info. I recently started collecting spec sheets from the older mics ive done videos on.
Its pags btw 😉
Do you want to buy my 666?
I love your channel. But honestly, I could tell, that while testing for plosives, you really wanted to say "please bring pee-tza pronto".
LOL no. I also didn't want peter piper to pick pineapple pizza either hahahaa. Thanks for watching! :-D
I thought it sounded incredible on electric guitar
I was shocked with that too. Thanks for checking out the video!
Did I just hear you conflate the history of RME with EV? I think you are spectacularly wrong...
"After the War, RME merged with Electro-Voice, Buchanan, Michigan; Planck stayed with the company and supervised the design of a new series of shortwave receivers under the name of Radio Mfg. Engineers, Div. of Electro-Voice Inc."
I didn't find anything that disassociated this company from the present one. Perhaps you are correct, either way, I DID reach out to RME to get clarification and surprise surprise, no response. If they do respond to my email (that is probably almost a month old at this point) i'll be happy to post a correction in the description. If you have anything you can point me to for clarification would be appreciated. Thanks for watching!