MICROPHONE OF THE MONTH APRIL 2021

The Philips EL 6030 dynamic hyper carioid microphone has one of the most remarkable designs ever in the microphone field.

It was released in 1952 and was one of Philips' top models, with a hefty price of 380 DM. For that price, people got a microphone that could be placed twice as far from a speaker, compared to other microphones, and it had a broad and balanced frequency response. The wide pick-up angle was another advantage, as was the possibility to use this model in the (Dutch) colonies, at temperatures up to 75 degrees Celsius.

The housing of the microphone consisted of die-cast aluminum covered with a robust coat of hammer-blow paint, which was mistakenly called "Haemmeroid paint" in the English ad text :-)

The interior was covered with an ultra-thin plastic film to protect against tropical moisture. This made the microphone practically indestructible, according to Philips, which also insisted that all 6030's were subjected to auditivelistening tests by experts, before the mics left the factory.

The EL 6030 had an enormous aluminum diaphragm, mounted on a magnet construction that was probably derived from the Philips 9528, mic of the month November 2018, the extra directivity effect was achieved by sealing the back of the membrane with an acoustic filter. The built-in output transformer provided three different impedances; 50, 500 and 10,000 Ohm, which could be selected by the position of the four-pin connector. This allowed the microphone to be connected to almost all common equipment.

The Philips factory, from the very Catholic Eindhoven, North Brabant, in the south of Holland, almost had a monopoly in providing sound equipment for churches, both in the Netherlands and its colonies. This model was often supplied because of the freedom of movement it gave to the speakers in the pulpit.

Although EL 6030's were sometimes used in Dutch recording studios, they were not really suitable for that purpose, due to the somewhat hollow sound.

For P.A. use they were much better suited. Today the sound is considered "vintage", but the visual impression of the microphone is still very strong and much more elegant than its unflattering nickname of the time: "the cauliflower".

These and many more types feature in my book Witnesses of Words. More information about that can be found at www.witnessesofwords.com