The ElectroVoice RE20 has been from it's introduction a favorite of broadcasters and announcers. Somewhere along the line, someone stuck it in front of a bass cabinet and discovered it rocks as a bass mic. Then someone else put it in a kick drum and found it works wonders there, too. In fact, the RE20 is great on a lot of things. And while it's not super-expensive (at least by premium microphone standards), at $400-ish, it's not a budget mic either.Heil PR22UT - pro audio's best kept secret
Quietly about a year ago, Heil Sound did something remarkable. Not so much in a technical way, but in a practical way.
The microphone business is tough. Certain models have dominated the music scene for years, and it's darn hard for people to change their habits. At the time, the Heil PR22 microphone was selling for $165, and was quickly increased to $182.
When the world's most popular microphones sell for $99.95 (and there are 3-4 good ones right at that price point), I had to admit that I was disappointed. $99.95 is a magic price point. Pastors and tech directors don't need approval to spend $99.95, $99.95 seems like the "right" price for a mic, and the list goes on. $99.95 just works in the same way that gasoline at $3.999 is somehow cheaper than gas at $4.00.
So what did Heil Sound do? The people there decided to package the PR22 without the fancy carrying case and without the extra black and extra gold windscreens and called it the PR22UT.
UT stands for utility. It has a nickel colored windscreen and comes in a simple vinyl bag with a mic clip. The price?
It has been about six years since Countryman turned the world on its ear with the revolutionary E6 earset microphone. To this day, it remains one of our best selling products. The E6 must rank right up there with the most imitated products of all time - at least in the realm of pro audio. The E6 is a fantastic microphone, and Countryman has continued to improve on it with new models and features. 
Finally! How I wish this product would have been available 10 years ago. Heck, even 6 months ago, this would have made a difference in how we designed certain systems. 
