Electro-Voice DS-35 (1975 – c. 1980s)

Name: Electro-Voice DS-35
Brand: Electro-Voice

The DS-35 was Electro-Voice's "Single-D Cardioid" performance microphone, introduced around 1975. It was aimed at the working entertainer - the vocalist doing remotes, road tours and one-nighters rather than studio work. E-V's own advertising of the period pitched it as "the performance mike that makes your job go a lot more smoothly, no matter how big a job you've got to handle." The copy leaned on three selling points: a rugged steel case, a pneumatic shock mount to absorb hand and cable noise, and an integral blast filter to tame plosives. The diaphragm was E-V's "Volumetric" laminated design. The company claimed it was developed with the aid of laser holography and gave a flat enough response to deliver greater gain before feedback than competitive mikes. Suggested resale net was $90.00, slightly higher in the western states.

Period coverage repeated the same themes. DB Magazine (March 1975, p.41) ran the launch copy describing the DS-35's cleaner highs and wider response. It credited the diaphragm design with linear motion for more accurate reproduction at the frequency extremes. The same ad appeared in Recording Engineer (June 1975, p.10) and again in DB Magazine (February 1976, p.43), which suggests E-V kept the campaign running for a couple of years. By the mid-1980s the mic had been renamed. A DB Magazine piece from March 1985 (p.28) lists a DS-35 on snare in a drum-miking setup. A Recording Engineer/Producer interview with engineer Paul David notes that the "Electro-Voice PL 95, which is the old DS 35," was favored for its good off-axis response. So the DS-35 lived on under the PL 95 badge.

Beyond the advertising and those scattered session mentions, the record on the DS-35 is thin. No published frequency response curve or full spec sheet surfaced in the material we could verify, so treat any numbers you see quoted elsewhere with caution. What's solid: