Electro-VoiceND86
microphone
New retail price (MSRP)
$139
Used market: $110*
Specifications
5 of 8 values have a recorded sourceExpert Audio Engineering Commentary
Tonal profile
The supercardioid member of the same ND handheld family as the ND76: identical capsule construction and humbucking coil, narrower pattern, deeper rear rejection at the cost of a rear lobe.
Gain staging
-52.4 dBV/Pa, the same figure Electro-Voice publishes for the cardioid ND76 - see the published-specification note. In practice a supercardioid at the same sensitivity gives you more gain before feedback on a wedge-heavy stage, not more level at the preamp.
What the datasheet actually says
Quoted verbatim from the manufacturer’s own page, with the date we checked it. We state what is printed, not what anyone intended by it.
«Sensitivity, Open Circuit Voltage @ 1 kHz: 2.4 mV/Pascal ... Impedance: 350 ohms balanced (low-z)»
Electro-Voice prints the same open-circuit voltage of 2.4 mV/Pascal and the same 350 ohm balanced impedance on the engineering data sheets of three ND-series microphones with three different polar patterns: ND76 (cardioid), ND86 (supercardioid) and ND44 (tight cardioid). One number covering three capsules may be correct, but it cannot be used to tell the three apart.
checked 8/5/2026* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~79% retained value).