Electro-Voice 635A Handheld Interview Microphone, Beige

Choosing a microphone is a difficult process. There are a variety of low quality and high quality mics on the internet. But how to know the difference, and how to narrow the choice down.First of all, stick with a name brand if you are doing anything at all that requires a good tone quality. I've been using a Radio Shack-branded mic I bought to do some interviews of WWII vets (a great project - a real learning experience for me). It's a lapel mic (lavalier mic if you want to be fancy). The tone quality is OK, especially if you pin it to the, well, lapel or shirt of your subject.I wanted something better for new projects. I like shooting animals and interviewing folks. I can't be handing over a microphone that is 3/4 of an inch long!The more research I did, the more I ran into descriptions of the ElectroVoice microphones. They have a nice line of mics, mainly in this price range or higher. For interview purposes, the 635 seemed to fit the bill. I ran into comments that the mic was a 'workhorse', 'never failed', and is 'the standard for ENG.' (ENG=Electronic news gathering)The mic is smaller than I thought it would be, but very high quality in appearance and manufacture. I chose the black color, since I thought it would look more professional.The sound is very good. I can't tell you Signal-to-noise or anything like that. I just know that when I hit the P's and B's (hard consonants) I don't get the 'explosion' of sound from this mic like I do with the cheapie.Highly recommended. You will enjoy holding and using this mic. Sometimes, you can just feel quality, and this is one of those products.

I’m a gospel singer, and after seeing various artists use this mic. I figured I’d pick one up for myself. And I am so happy with it. Even without a pop protector, the plosive words don’t even effect it! No need for an ugly foam cover

Short version: This is a classic must-own microphone with an unusually flat frequency response that is great for voice recording and vocal recording for music. Take note that it is omni directional so it does pick up more room sounds. I marked it 4 stars instead of 5, though, because the mic doesn't have good rejection of handling noise. The vibrations and cord movement are captured in your recording due to the small, lightweight design of this little microphone.Long version: This mic is a little pricey for the quality you get. The SM57 and SM58, for example, are much heavier and "dense." As a result, those mics have much better rejection of handling noise.This mic is also unusually small, but it comes with a clip for small mics so that's okay.Where this mic shines is its sound quality. It doesn't have the frequency range of some other mics - but it has flatter EQ response than most, and the frequencies it does have is plenty to capture a great vocal or voice recording.Gregory Scott from Kush Audio recommended this mic as a sort of secret weapon for vocal recording and he's right. It's a permanent in my collection. It actually pairs really well with an SM58 if you want to do lead vocals on one and backing vocals on the other...But whereas the SM58 works well as a handheld mic -- I definitely recommend a mic stand for the 635A since it picks up more handling noise and noise from cord movement.By the way, I know it's an omni directional mic but the noise I'm referring to is specific to the vibrations of the body -- not the polar pattern...But the response is unusually good, and smooth, so it has no significant peaks or valleys. That means you don't need to do a lot of EQ to it once recorded.It's almost a 5 stars. I'd say 4.4 but that means I round down to 4... And price is factored into it. If it was under $100, like an SM58, that would push it up to 5 stars but for the price I would have expected better rejection of handling noise --- particularly since it's officially "an interview mic" where it would expect to be handled.But I still recommend it - both for people with a large microphone and someone who just wants to own a few. I love and adore this mic -- I just can't rate it 5 stars because the design decisions resulted in poor rejection of handling noise.In my case, I have one large diaphragm condenser mic, an SM58 cardioid, and this 635a omni. A perfect trio for a home studio setup.

You want a handheld microphone that always makes you sound sexy, go for this Sure microphone. Can’t keep the women off of me when I crooning to my favorite tunes.

EV has been around forever, producing cutting-edge audio gear. ^#%A is a standard. Looking for an omni? This is it...

Purchased this hoping it was at least as good as a Shure 57. Well, that was overly optimistic. This old standard is 'just ok' and nothing to waste more time on.

Love this mic! Great on just about everything. Classic omni-tone.

This mic was a lot smaller than I thought it was, but it sounds really clear and natural and that's all that I wanted, so it's a beauty.