Sennheiser E815S

Perfect solution for the gigging musician. Not only are they inexpensive, but they can do just about anything. The e815S is also great for rehearsal space and as a backup emergency microphone.

Gigging musicians are a great breed of people.  They truly understand and appreciate the value of equipment.  Any gigging musician would be hard-pressed to find a better value than the Sennheiser e815S.  For its price and quality, the e815S outweighs its nearest competition by far.

What initially attracted me to the Sennheiser e815S was its price and packaging.  A three pack of these mics currently sells for under $110.  That expands your mic arsenal by three for the price of one.

Bar bands are savvy to buy this package for their vocals.  Even if you only have one or two singers, keep the extra mic as a backup or drop it in front of the guitar cabinet or other instruments.  It works fine in front of horns, woodwinds and percussion.

Who needs backup mics?  Every gigging musician in the world.  Why?  Because on a long enough timeline, your microphone will fail.  Ideally, the venue is across the street from Guitar Center, but realistically these things only happen in East Bumble****.

Another great reason to keep an extra mic around is for guest singers, invited or otherwise.  Sometimes the drunk girl comes up and reaches for my Sennheiser e835.  Before I slap her pudgy little paw, I gently suggest she takes my “special” e815S mic laying next to me.  It’s not plugged in, but who cares.

I own four e815S microphones.  I keep two in my rehearsal space, use one on stage for bongos and congas and keep one in my SKB gig rig for emergencies or for announcers and special guest singers.  When I work with three or more horn players, I’ll bust out the extra e815S and drop it right into the bell of the horn.

How does it sound?  Incredible.  Actually, for its price, it’s unbeatable.  I’ve used them on bari, tenor and alto sax, trumpet (at a safe distance), clarinet, trombone, bongos, congas, and even guitar cabinets.  It takes me a few moments to properly set the gain and EQ, but once it’s set it acts just as well as some of its bigger Sennheiser brothers.

The only problem I’ve ever had while working with the e815S is off-axis miking.  To grab guitar cabinets, I drop my mics in front and secure them by the cord to the cabinet handle.  Pretty standard.  I faithfully use an e835 for this application.  The e815S didn’t quite measure up to the e835’s pickup pattern.  Actually, I scrambled on stage thinking the mic was switched off.  It wasn’t. It just turned out that off-axis miking is not the e815S’s thing.

The “S” in the e815S means it has a switch.  This is perfect for certain applications, like when you need to address your band on stage and don’t need the whole audience to hear you scream, “Dear lord, look at the heifer in white!”  Just be careful when mounting the mic in its clip because you could unintentionally turn the mic off.

So the verdict is in: the Sennheiser e815S is the best bang for the buck if you need quantity.  It may not perform as well as the big boys, but it’s perfect for system redundancy, emergency scenarios or rehearsal space.