Heil Sound The Fin Dynamic Microphone White Red

Great sound and attention getter as it lights up

After receiving my new Heil Fin I immediately put it up against a recently acquired Shure Super 55, a Shure SM58 and an ATM61HE. The Fin is a nice sounding mic. I would characterize it as warm, smooth -- almost silky. The signal is reasonably hot -- comparable to the ATM61HE and perhaps a little hotter than the SM58. As with any mic you have too watch your plosives, but I would describe the pickup pattern and proximity effect as reasonably forgiving. If you are trying to decide between the Fin and the Shure Super 55 I would say the following: both are good mics, sound good, look good, function well in small venue/crowded stage scenario (which is what I was able to simulate.) The Super 55 sounded brighter to my ears on both male and female vocals. If your primary concern is cutting through the mix I would lean toward the Super 55. If you are operating in lower decibel environments and performing lounge/torch song/jazz stuff the Fin might suit you better. Try both if you can. It's definitely a matter of personal taste. You will notice a clear difference between the two. All things considered, I'm glad I have the Fin. While my main vocalists are fighting over the Super 55 I'll just step up to the Fin to contribute my backing vocals. Oh, yes, as for the LEDs -- I worried they could make the chrome package look a little cheesy, but in fact it is a very handsome mic whether the lights are on or off. I've got blue, which is eye-catching without being annoying.

This is a great mic. Sounds awesome, looks even better. Only problem is lack of an On/Off and make sure you dont tilt the head ALL the way back, for some reason, the wires aren't long enough, and it will rip them off of the internal XLR connector. If you are handy, you can take it apart and resolder and fix it, but, I feel that shouldn't have to be done on something brand new, but I didn't feel like waiting 2 weeks for another. But all in all, it's an awesome Mic, just be kinda gentle with it.

Hey this mike brought our sound out from under water. I sing with less stress on my voice trying to overcome my old peavey 580TN dynamics limitations. Brought the boom back in our sound. Thanks for recommending the Heil "The Fin" microphone!

THE STRAIT-UP TRUTH: I am a professional work-for-hire musician (keyboardist and vocalist). I ordered this mic (since it is not in stock at GC)and hoped it would be what I expected. Simply put, I AM ABSOLUTELY AMAZED AND IMPRESSED! I didn't expect for the mic to sound better than it looked! HOW I USE THIS MIC: I run all my vocals through a TC Electronics Helicon VoiceLive 2. With the Phantom Power turned on, the LED's work wonderfully, adding a "cool factor" that everyone talks about. The Fin is now my main mic on stage for every gig (unless the band I'm hired for thinks I'm out-gunning the lead guy). SO HOW DOES IT REALLY SOUND??? The sound of this mic is truly awesome. Its presence, punch and clarity are remarkable. In my line of work, I have sang into almost every professional mic out there and can tell you that this mic is definitely one of the best sounding mics I've used. I am more than satisfied, and I highly recommend this tool for anyone serious about their vocals. WHY GET ONE??? There are certain tools that set you apart from the rest. This mic is one of those tools. All Heil mics are a smart choice for the professional, and the Fin just happens to be sexy as well! WHAT WOULD I CHANGE? I would change how the LED's illuminate the mic. You can see four "hot spots" where the LED's are located, and the light needs to be more diffused in order to equally illuminate the entire grill of the mic. My solution was to open the mic and install some wax paper around the sides of the grill on the inner side of the colored windscreen, thus diffusing the LED's and giving the mic a uniform look when lit. I would also make the windscreen opaque white and put multicolored LED's inside with a small button on the mount so that the LED's could be set to Red, Blue, Green, White, etc. I'm not about to buy three of these just for three colors, but I would willingly pay a little more for the multicolor addition.

I love my Fin. Great looks and great sound. The only problems I've had with it are; I had to get a quick release adapter to make it easier to mount and remove, I had to get an XLR cable with a small enough diameter at the plug end so that it would fit beside the adapter and when I tried to use it with my TC Helicon vocal harmonizer, I would get a very audible hum. I considered buying the Shure Super 55 because of the last problem, but, my soundman wants me to keep the Fin because of the vocal quality and clarity. I bought a DigiTech Vocalist Live 3 Vocal Harmony Processor Pedal, and that solved the hum problem. I'm glad I kept it because it's been a great mic and it's very rugged. I still give it 5 stars even with the few problems I've had, because I was able to solve them and it really cuts throgh the mix.