ELECTRO-VOICE RE320 vs THE RE20 - WHICH SHOULD YOU BUY?

Which one should you buy? I hope this video can help make your decision for you!

Buy the Electrovoice RE20 -

Buy the Electrovoice RE320 -

My Instagram - @darkcornerstudios
My Twitter - @DarkCornerYT

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My Gear -

[QuickQuips]

Re20s are regularly available secondhand given the sheer number of studios that use them. They hold their value well. That with the magic they give to the talking voice and durability is what tips them to me.

[paulk.dicostanzo]

I own both of these gems, and in my experience your observations are dead on. The 320 is largely ready to rock right out of the box, and its sound is quite bright in general. Whereas the RE20 does need a touch of nicely tuned compression to really see it transition into its legendary higher gear.

When it comes to the 320 given its brightness on its neutral setting, I’ve gotten tremendous results when pairing it with deeper and dark voices. Turns out very well.

The RE20 has one very interesting and lesser discussed foibles: on some voices - including my own - it has a stray roving sibilant frequency between 8-10k. Yet when using a foam windscreen, it dampens that sibilance to the point where there is no need to notch it out in post. Very tedious work indeed.

Long story short: I would recommend either. Seldom can one go wrong with Electro-Voice, especially if you come to the rodeo knowing what you want and what works for your voice.

[artjohnson]

Good review, . I own the RE320, and I have used the RE20. I think your review was spot on. Both are great microphones, and there is a place for each of them.
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[_sonicfive]

00:02 Comparison between Electro-Voice RE320 and RE20

00:44 The RE320 is priced at $300, while the RE20 is priced at over $600.

01:30 The RE320 emphasizes the upper registers of the microphone and rolls off the airiness.

02:20 The RE320 is a more out-of-the-box solution for minimal processing, while the RE20 has more advanced features to unlock.

03:05 Comparison of rejection and proximity effect between RE320 and RE20.

03:46 The Electro-Voice RE320 has proximity effect and a roll-off feature.

04:31 Both the RE320 and RE20 are great mics, but the choice depends on personal preference.

05:16 The RE320 is a great mic for its price, while the RE20 is recommended if you can afford it and prioritize high-quality audio.

[benharban]

Definitely agree with this review! I feel the same way about the voicing switch in the RE320 as well. The dip is great on Kick and toms, But at this point I definitely prefer the mic in it's flat setting when on vocals or an amp of some sort. Not to say I won't ever come across a scenario where I might find the dip useful on a vocal or guitar amp.

[siriusfun]

Nice comparison/review.
The main difference to my ears (I own an RE20) is the lack of weight and definition in the 320. The 20 was designed originally to compete with LDC mics, whereas the 320 appears to be a budget podcast solution.
As some have mentioned, the extra love offered in the RE20 might get lost depending on the playback device, anyway. Cheers.

[BradMillsXRP]

None of the mics remove the proximity effect. They just reduce it. But back in the day when Disc Jockys had to do their own technical changes, MID broadcast leaning over or turning around and facing the opposite direction to grab a "Cart"out of the rack while still talking the physical movement and position changes while talking were evident

[Leo_Vulkan]

I bought the RE320 a few months ago and I had to return it. Very aggressive in the mid highs by design I think, because it wasn't possible to reduce it with eq. I used it with a Presonus Revelator io24. Shre SM7b, MV7 and Donner PO-8 where far betther.

[brokenhero]

I can’t help but notice that magical warmth of the RE20. In a perfect world I want both an RE20 and a SM7B

[mnicholson]

I have both in my studio...love them!! Either one certainly rocks! Great clip!

[enriquekahn]

RE20 wins hands down for spoken word, whether it's "broadcast" or "podcast" IMO. I may be biased as the RE20 is my favorite dynamic, bar none.

Of course the price difference is hard to ignore, but if that's a deciding factor for you there's other options in the price range.

[stevefaul]

I've been using the RE20 off and on since the 1980's. There's one in our announce booth at the TV station. It's built like a brick... house, originally designed for AM radio announcers in noisy, cramped control rooms with lots of vibration. Hence the rather high frequency in the rolloff filter. I love the sound of this mic in the flat setting. There is a custom pop filter available, but they ain't cheap. Break open the piggy bank and pay for the shock mount. The REs are designed to mount on a standard mic clip, and it works, but now you have a baseball bat on there acting like a lever. I have broken a clip with this thing and done an entire radio show holding it. Not fun. The RE20 sounds great without processing. I have no experience talking to the RE320, but I'm sure the build quality is on par, although they probably cut some filtering and refinements in order to bring the price down. The RE20 works perfectly with a high-power broadcast transmitter in the next room, while someone purchasing the 320 probably doesn't have to worry about such things.

Looking forward to the ND27 review. You WILL notice a difference.

[mikebauer]

Love my Re20. Prefer it to my SM7b, if I have the option to DSP the signal. Otherwise, the SM7b for my voice. Interested if the Re320 would be an option for me for the no-DSP situations...

[ChrisSchaffer]

As a 27N/D owner I am waiting with baited breath for that future content ;)
the RE20s are truly excellent mics, great to see both of these getting more love!

[paulparrellaartist]

El RE20 es sin lugar a dudas un objeto de deseo. El micrófono es un juguete muy valioso que me gustaría adquirir, sin embargo, el argumento que aportas en la sección "Broadcast" de este video fué revelador. En ocasiones se nos olvida que un entorno de "Broadcast" ocurre acompañado de una serie de equipos profesionales a diferencia de un podcast que suele ser más "Hazlo tu mismo" con menos equipos. El RE320 suena un poco brillante para mi gusto, pero me voy de aquí convencido de que entre ambos, el RE320 es la mejor opción en mi caso. Gracias por tus videos Dark Corner! Los disfruto y aprendo mucho de ellos. Por favor, permíteme una pregunta. Si tuvieras que elegir entre el RE320 y el SE Dynacaster para un espacio no tratado acústicamente ¿Con cuál te quedarías?

[nielsott]

I decided to get myself 2x the RE320. I almost never use it for voice, though. Usually in live sound reinforcement on kick drum and saxophone. It's not the perfect sax mic, and the RE20 is neither, but sax players won't ask me stupid questions once they've seen this mic in their spot on stage. They just believe in it. Me and myself, I'm more of a parametric EQ believer. ;-) Actually I must say while both mics are quite good, I prefer the Neumann TLM102 a lot over both for speech. Or the Audio Technica AT4051b if you want less sibilance.

For YouTubers, funnily enough it's also important what the mic looks like. While in TV-style production, you'd try to hide the mic as best as you can, either using shotgun mics or lavaliers. It's however probably a lot easier to get good speech sound from a RE320 than from a Senheiser MKE 02 Lavalier om terms of post production.

[guitfidle]

Sooo... what if you have a Valley 400 mic processor? I got 2 surplus from a TV studio when they went all digital, and they were a pretty popular choice for mic processing in broadcasting. Quite frequently paired with an RE20, and really one of the few units designed from the ground up for this application. Built-in compressor/limiter, de-esser, eq, etc.

[davidsillars]

I looked into the RE20, definitely a great mic, I think in these modern times we're looking for mics that will sound good on weird little phone or laptop speakers at mp3 quality. So how "good" does a mic have to be these days? When we were listening on valve radios, yes I am a pre transistor generation, the mic quality really mattered. Though must say that Roswell k67 I heard sounded valve like even on my phone. I think we need an antidigital revolution, back to tape, back to mono! (Sillars continues shout analogue slogans as nursey wheels him back to the ward.)

[annekedebruyn]

The RE320 seems almost like a direct competitor to the Heil PR30/40.
Things such as the steep boost at the high-mids to highs, the almost U-curve when the kick EQ is enabled on the 320.
Kind of liked it but prefer the RE20 knowing its flexibility.

[TheHypeCom]

Huh they sound closer than I remember, maybe I don’t need to upgrade from my 320 after all…