Sennheiser Mic e865

I've been a performing musician since 1970 and have used many mics on stage, including some of the old Sennheiser. I've had the e865 now for about 5 years and it's absolutely my favorite! Sturdy, clear sound, heck I even like the shape. I alwasys carry a SM58 with me as a backup, but so far I've never had to use it. Go Sennheiser!!!

Incredible stage mic with a powerful yet smooth sound!

I've used a lot of "excellent" dynamic microphones on the stage for vocals, such as those by Shure, Sennheiser, AKG, EV, and others, but when you step up and shell out a little more money for this condenser, it will send your voice into another realm. The e865 is a super stage microphone packed with power, presence, clarity, and smoothness. If you can afford a little more, buy this thing. You won't regret it.

Well made, easy to use, nice sounding mic

My vocal mics include an AE3300, Rode M1 and EV 767A. I was looking for an easy to use super or hyper cardioid condenser mic for solo vocal performances with an acoustic guitar. The AE3300 is a wonderful mic, but it picks up the guitar too much (which is a problem with processors like the VoiceLive).

The Sennheiser e865 is well built and it's easy to get a nice clear, rich sound without hassle. It's plossive protection is fair to good. It's proximity effect is less pronounced than some. Off axis rejection is just what the doctor ordered.

For me, doing two or three church services a month through a flying PA of Mackie, QSC and JBL quality, I can't see needing more.

Unimpressed

This mic sounded okay, but in it's search for warmth it sacrificed clarity. I had a vocalist that was almost more than my AKG C535EB could handle, so I tried this one. She noticed right away the lack of clarity compared to the 535, and so did I. The AKG is more expensive than this mic and picks up a bit more ambient sound, but unlike this mic it's actually worth the price.

I returned this mic, and went back to the 535.

The odd thing was that I have the wireless version of this mic and it seemed much clearer and more detailed. I highly recommend the wireless, which does indeed sound amazing for it's price.