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hey i'm thinking about picking one of these cheapo's up. has anyone used them? what did you think? thanks.

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moonbaby Sun, 06/24/2007 - 11:16

I guess this depends on what you use them on. I have a pair that I use at a church for "contemporary" choir (12-18 vocalists), as well as on horn sections for live Latino big-bands. and somethimes as OHs. I have alternated this pair against a pair of Rode NT5s, so this is what I can tell you:
(A) The E-100s have a better low end (duh) which helps pull up the male voices (fewer than the females) in a choir scenario. The NT5s seemed to have a bit more "sheen" on the top end.
(B) The E-100s do well as drum OHs IF you are not using individual tom mics, once again due to their LF response. Otherwise, it's the NT5s.
(C) The E-100s do well on horns and amp cabs. I mix them up with RE-20s, 421s, and ATM25s for the brass sections. Very clean, tight pattern.
This brings up (2) caveats:
(A) The E-100s are HYPER-cardioid which can help improve isolation over many "normal" LDC mics. This is a good thing. Also, mine don't have the shock suspensions, but with the HP filter switch, I've never missed having them.
(B) The E-100 uses an internal ni-cad battery in ADDITION to phantom power (!). I forget their reasoning, I believe that it has to do with 'boosting' the current to the internal electronics. Anyway, I've never had to replace the things. I have read that you should check them for potential battery leakage, so if these are older, you might do that.
Overall, I'd say that they are a pretty good bargain...