The Electro Voice 642, is a dynamic directional microphone for distant sounds. It dates back to the early 1960s and received an Academy Award from the American film industry in 1963, for its contribution to better sound for film and television. The microphone operates on the ‘Variable D principle’; a system in which sound enters at different distances behind the element through holes in the housing. The result is that there is virtually no proximity effect (low tones are amplified when the sound source is closer). EV still uses this system in some of their microphones.