Electro-Voice N/D767a & N/D967

These two mics are part of Electro-Voice’s N/DYM range of seven mics, which between them cover a range of live and recording vocal and instrumental applications. The N/D767a is a traditional-looking mic with a slim body and slightly elongated mesh basket. Its body is finished in matte black (always my favourite for live use, as it doesn’t reflect the stage lighting), and the surface has a slightly rubbery feel that EV call ‘Warm Grip’, which describes it very well. On closer examination and from what I could see without being too destructive, the grip surface appears to be a separate jacket or sleeve fitted over the metal body, which is a neat piece of design, as this mic won’t suffer from the awful flaky, peeling look that happens when thin rubberised coatings start to become worn.

The top half of the strong wire-mesh basket unscrews to reveal the capsule assembly, which is shockmounted but firmly anchored, and there is a thin layer of foam inside to protect from moisture and popping. Where the two parts of the basket mate together there is a thin yellow shock bumper, which provides an amount of cushioning if the mic is laid on a hard surface — a not infrequent occurrence in the hands of inexperienced announcers, especially those who have never purchased any gear of their own!

The N/D767a was the first mic we tested at our rehearsal, and it sounded very even and clear at modest volume. When we turned the system up, we were still pleased with the results and especially with its smooth character, particularly on the female vocals. On very loud passages the sound warmed up somewhat (Vicky is a bit of a powerhouse when she gets going, and she’s a good test for any vocal mic), but still cut through well. We were using the mic with no equalisation or effects of any kind — in fact, it was plugged directly into the mic input of an HK LUCAS active system — which I think was a good test, as the singers were encouraged to experiment with different mic distances to see what worked best for them.

The N/D967 is equipped with a small, flush-fitting response switch, which reduces mid-band response slightly and is intended to give more presence when the mic is being used in a very close-up position. The printed response curve again illustrates the proximity effect of close-up use, but with the N/D967 the spec sheet advises that ‘normal’ use is when the singer’s lips are touching the basket (what I’m always trying to persuade performers to do on the live stage).

Our female vocalist, Vicky Amies, was very comfortable with this mic and found that the basket design did work really well close up. In terms of the sound, the clarity and warmth were similar to what we’d heard with the N/D767a, but experimenting with the response switch gave us a few more possibilities — still without any EQ or anything — and in particular we felt that the N/D967 handled louder material better and retained absolute clarity throughout the whole dynamic range. There were one or two occasions when, if we had been using a mixer, I would have been tempted to roll off the top end a little, but what really impressed me was no matter how loud we went — and belting out power ballads over a 20-piece band in a fairly lively space needs to be more than a bit loud, believe me — the vocal sound remained focused and clean, and the N/D967 gave the impression that it was never going to run out of headroom no matter what we did. This is an excellent mic for getting the vocals across in a big way, and everyone in the room agreed that the sound had that exciting presence and character needed for the big show.

With our male vocalist, Jason Oakes, we were rehearsing smooth, swing-y numbers, and both mics sounded very nice indeed. I didn’t find much to choose between them, although Jason slightly preferred the physical balance of the shorter N/D967, and I tended to favour the fatter bottom-end sound of the N/D767a. The smooth and pleasing character of the vocal came across with plenty of body, and Jason’s big build-up at the end of ‘Mack The Knife’ remained clear and consistent in sound balance and quality. Using the two singers was interesting because Jason tends to sing more cabaret-style, holding the mic a few inches away (hence the fatter low end from the N/D767a, I guess), whereas Vicky left her mic on the stand and stood right up to it, which is exactly what the N/D967 is built for.

I’d definitely be happy to use a handful of these on a live horn section. The sound was what I call ‘centred’ and very crisp, with no noticeable softening or blurring on louder notes. And I’m sure this would cut through really well on stage, with the tight supercardioid pickup pattern helping to maintain decent separation between individual instruments, even when standing quite close to each other.