Sennheiser e815S

Playing and recording on a personal (non-pro) status for about 15 years. I'm your average working-class musician playing every weekend as guitarist/singer who happens to also spend 1/2 my income to support my habit. I record with a Yamaha AW2816 digital recorder. Use a Yamaha digital mixer (01V) live with Yamaha Club Series speakers.

I'm not sure where these other guys come from ranking this mic at 9. Seriously, have you ever heard of the old saying, "you pay for what you get." Well if you pay $50 for a mic, you will get a $50 mic. For $50, sure it's a good little mic. But if you compare this to other industry work horses like the Shure 57's and especially Beta series, this mic doesn't come close. Let's be real....

20+ years as a performing musician, 18 years as a sound tech. I used this mic in professional corporate-type sound reinforcement, and bar-band audio.

I say just this:
I had a political roundtable discussion to engineer... 30 blow-hards blabbering on in a room famous for overhead distributed speakers that feed back instantly. I didn't have enough of any one mic, so I had to cobble together whatever I could find. N/D267's, SM-57's, SM-58's, a few old EV PL-80's, Beta 58's, a Crown CM-310, and some cheapie mics I got for beat-around stuff like paging at carnivals: Sennheiser e815S.
I set all the channels exactly the same, and A/B'ed them all. Okay, that's not exactly fair, so I set EQ's, trim pots and such for each mic individually. In both cases, the e815S's beat the others hands down. Better feedback rejection. Warm natural sound. Less proximity effect. Zero handling noise. Silent switch. Good looking and tough. Three for a hundred bucks.
I've since A/B'ed with the Sennheiser e835, which I also love... the differences are negligible, especially for the price.
I've used these on guitar cabs (okay don't get TOO loud), lead and backing vocals, mandolin and banjo (they work great on banjo), and while not an expensive condenser, obviously, they work well. These would really be a good purchase for a young band, or older guys who realize they need to actually make money in a band.

I've been making music for over four decades, as an artist, writer, arranger, engineer, producer and publisher. I've used every type of analog and digital gear available during those for decades. I own many types of analog and digital recorders, mixers, outboard gear, DAWs, software, preamps, dynamic and condenser mics, monitors, monitor amps, guitars, basses, instrument amps, drums, keyboards and more other recording and performance equipment than I care to list (or admit). I'm a member of AEA and ASCAP, "working on both sides of the glass".

The e815S is currently Sennheiser's least expensive hand-held (unidirectional) dynamic vocal mic, designed for live performance. It's shape is similar to a Shure SM-58, in that it has an integrated "ball top" wind screen, and a dark gray tapered body. It features an "off-on" switch and a male XLR (balanced, low impedance) output connector.

To compare this mic to another very well known and thought of mic, the e815S has a slightly brighter top end, a less pronounced midrange peak and less low end proximity effect than a Shure SM-58. It also provides a slightly hotter output than an SM-58, probably because of it's neodymium diaphragm design. The diaphragm appears to be mounted very well as it exhibits very little handling noise.

The brighter character of this mic helps a live vocal cut through the "mix" of live instruments. The lower proximity effect (bass boost when held close to the vocalist's mouth), which also contributes to a cleaner signal. The off-on switch is a nice bonus too. The cost for this German-made mic is pretty amazing... they can be had in "three packs" for $100, or around $50 for an individual mic.

If you are looking for a good-sounding, durable, low-cost live performance vocal mic, the e815S is definately worth trying out. This is not an inexpensive "knock-off" of another mic; this is a genuine German-made Sennheiser.