Electro-Voice ND46
Microphones that work equally well live and in the studio can be tall order to fill. Even tougher are ones that work across different instrument applications. EV’s ND46 has a unique, rugged design that works well, regardless of the sound source, both live and in the studio.
Electro-Voice ND46 microphone
With a large 2” diameter Mylar diaphragm, this super cardioid mic has an additional “humbucking” coil in the suspended internal capsule to shrug off hum and EM interference, making it hyper quiet. The mic’s head swivels on a strong beefy ratcheting design, for accurate placement, and locks into place with no tools or fuss. In fact we re-positioned the mic one-handed on a dark stage with no issues. It’s crazy how easy it is to lock it into position with just your thumb handy. Bonus: the metal casing and grille feels like it can take any amount of road abuse.
Getting this mic on a sound source is no problem here, even on a drum kit where mics and stands can be tough to find proper placement. Even better is that capsule’s placement picks up the sound source, and not other sounds around it. For snare drums, it proved amazing, not only in getting a great sound on its own, but without bleed from hi-hats and toms. There is plenty of clarity and response with no brittle high end or wooofy-ness on the low-end of the spectrum.
For guitar amps it does the same trick as well, capturing the sound of the amp, and not grabbing odd tone-robbing overtones from the room or latent soundwaves.
Street price comes in at $159, and for anyone looking for a mic that can do live and studio, for varying instrument applications, this is a one-stop-shop kind of deal. A couple of these in a mic locker would get plenty of use. Trust us.
Electro-Voice ND76
Coming in at just $129, the ND76 dynamic vocal mic still delivers a lot of high end features, such as a Neodymium Magnet in the capsule and a large diaphragm, which uses an additional humbucking coil to reduce EM noise. Internally, the capsule is shock mounted, meaning external physical noise, from stage vibrations, for example, are minimized. The Memraflex grille is also well designed, with a no flex, tight weave that provides plenty of protection. Overall it’s built like a tank, while not being unwieldy in the hand. Bottom line, the ND76 will survive your next string of dates, regardless of how many times you toss it around on stage or in the tour van.
Electro-Voice ND76 vocal microphone
It can handle up to 140dB, so even any extreme vocalist will have a tough time getting this to fail. The EQ is set to be optimized for vocals, and meant to not require a lot of EQ at the board. Getting right on it, the bass response is full, while pulling it away, there’s still plenty of lower end response that doesn’t get wafty. Hip-hop acts who love to hit that low bass with a percussive manner should like the fact the bass stays punchy, while singers should be more than happy with the dynamic response that can be manipulated easily the varying distances from their voice to shape the overall tone.
With the beefy feel and musical response, the ND76 was meant to be a live mic for pretty much any application. It’s nice to see a unit that has professional features, and sound, at a very reasonable price. Kudos to Electro-Voice for delivering on their promises with the new ND series.
PROS:
Excellent sound, great beefy design, plenty of applications, priced right.
CONS:
None.
PRICE:
$159 (ND46) & $129 (ND76)