Earthworks PM40 Piano Microphone System Reviews

Look, this mic system is the best investment I have ever made in my life! It made me fell in love with my grand piano again and again. Honestly, it is the biggest incentive I have to better my skills and produce high quality value for my YouTube channel and Spotify. I absolutely love the 3d stereo sound image that it creates; the balance is perfect, no need to EQ the recordings, it captures every single piano overtone (!!) and it does offer the most realistic, warm and detailed piano sound I've heard after spending more than 3 months+ researching. I'm still in awe that it virtually has no bleed. Earthworks couldn't do any better. I simply cannot imagine using any other mic system in the future, ever.

Here's a sound-demo video where I showcase my 10 reasons why this is the best mic system in 2022 and beyond. :)

I'm a registered piano technician and I tune pianos aurally. I'm also the lead sound engineer for a few bands and a house of worship. I have experience with virtually every size piano from every major manufacturer. I've used these mics for live reinforcement, recording, and live streaming piano performances. This mic system is best paired with a quality pre amp, so bare that in mind. Also, talk the time to really measure the heigh of both mic capsules from the soundboard. This can help with unwanted phase cancellation. The only small hiccup is that these mics have a slight dip in response when it comes to the high tenor and 1st treble sections of most pianos. In other words, gives you more from the treble and bass than tenor in most cases. Other wise perfect for most applications.

Have tried several different microphones and rigs since 1998 for our grand piano and this is truly the best. The installation was easy and fast. We are using the microphones in a live setting with drums, percussion, and guitars and the microphones are not picking up bleed over from other instruments. These microphones provide the best sound and clarity of your piano without having to overly EQ it or build a rig. If you have a piano and you are struggling to hear it or want something with more clarity this is what you need!

Incredible and detailed sound with a clarity you can't get from traditional mics. Got these a few weeks ago, already made one video and two recording with them and they sound phenomenal. Seriously just get them already they're worth it.

I'm a trained pianist at the doctoral level, teach at a university and work as a producer making ad/tv music. I recently got a 9 ft yamaha concert grand in my living room and these mics are better than anything I've used in the past (Neumann, Schoeps, etc). They are obviously a close mic sound so it won't be like hanging mics (which I never liked anyway). They do a good job of avoiding bleed and can really change depending on how far down you place them on the strings so there is some flexibility for sound. I might add a room mic to get natural reverb.

But the biggest thing for me is how they are always set up and ready to go with perfectly positioned mics, nothing kills me more than long setups I tended to use a vst just because it was easier.

I have owned this mic system for 9+ years and use it on my Yamaha C-5 grand. And it really IS as good as these reviews say. 98% of the time you get a perfectly EQ-ed piano sound right out of the box. This mic system will save you hours and hours of time EQ-ing your piano sound to get it right. This has been one of the best purchases I ever made from Sweetwater.

This system is better than advertised and what I expected. I have a 5' 6" baby grand in my living room (which has hardwood floors). This system makes my baby grand sound lke a concert grand. I have the Earthworks System plugged into a Focusrite iPad docking station which has 48v phantom power. I am not using any other mic preamps. The piano recordings sound great with the piano top open or closed. With that being it sounds best with the top closed. It creates a definite 'stereo' sound on a single track with the lows coming through in one ear smoothly transitioning to highs in the other ear. Tweaking the EQ makes it sound even better and, is needed. I have a studio in my home that unfortunately will not accommodate my baby grand. This system makes it extremely easy/convenient when inspiration strikes to just sit down and lay down a fresh idea in seconds on my iPad, then take the iPad to the studio to add guitars, drums, etc. to continue developing the song. This system is worth every dollar I spent on it.

I installed the Earthworks Piano Mic System on my 1983 Yamaha C7. Decades of experience with different mics of all configurations and setups; coupled with discrete mic-pres led me to try this system. It took ten minutes to install and get the first sounds. Immediately, my overly bright C7 calmed down with a warmer upper register and a fuller mid-range that in a typical stereo configuration was a bit ignored. My first choice of pre-amp was the Neve Portico Series 5015. I doubt I will even try any others. Thank you, Jeffrey Green for your years of advice and service. I couldn't be happier. ~ Gary Powell

Without question the most incredibly accurate piano microphones I've ever used. As a Blues and Boogie player I wasn't sure if any mics could capture both the fast pounding as well as the more heavy low grooving. These mic's capture everything lid up or lid down. Phenomenal, spectacular, unbelievable.

Ordered this mic to replace a pair of Shure SM-81's in a Yamaha Grand. The difference in audio quality was simply amazing, After using this mic in the piano, I simply cannot imagine using any other mic.

This really worked just as advertised. I keep this set up in the piano, so it's very easy to record at any time. The sound quality is excellent. With the case closed, the amount of isolation is extremely good. You need to fiddle around with fine-tuning the placement of the mics, but once you get the sweet spots, the results are terrific.

2 bad microphone sets in a row. Not a happy experience.
The Good: Great, natural sound, easiest setup imaginable, and a super professional package including waterproof case!
The Bad: The first mic set failed within 2 hours of plugging it in. I actually discovered that it had 2 separate intermittent failures, both on the same channel, that were somewhat predictable, but quite annoying- especially for the price.
The Ugly: The second mic set (a replacement sent by Sweetwater, which provided excellent support throughout) also failed within the first hour or so, but this time it was a different failure: It failed catastrophically on the opposite channel- and that channel was completely and permanently unusable after the failure.