Electro-Voice PL5

This is a dynamic microphone. As such, it has a variety of uses, including studio use as well as for live sound. I would say that mostly this microphone is better for loud instruments. It has a onmidirectional cardioid pickup pattern which makes it a bit different than an SM57 (which is a standard dynamic mic). The microphone has a variety of applications, but I tend to prefer it for some instruments over others. In the studio, I tried it with snare drums and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It is a bit brighter than the SM57, and has a little bit more clarity and character than those mics generally do. It definitely highlighted the crisp high end of the snare. I also used it on a guitar amp, and preferred that to both the SM57 and the Sennheiser 421. Because of the unique characteristics of this microphone, it might seem to have a strange character at first, but if you mix it the right way it can be a really interesting color in your pallette.

OVERALL OPINION

This mic is a great investment for those looking to diversify their lineup of dynamic microphones, as it has characteristics that I find lacking in other dynamic mics. It sometimes comes in a drum mic package from Electrovoice which is pretty decent for a low end drum kit package. I don't recommend every mic in that package to the extent that I do this one, though. I think that for the price, this is a pretty reasonable buy, especially considering that you can probably find a used one at a great price. The frequency response is on the higher side of things but it's overall pretty balanced. Certainly there are many uses for this mic.