It didn’t start with the microphone…
As with many business success stories Heil Sound began with one person, Bob Heil, who had a vision and an unrelenting drive to innovate and contribute to the concert sound world. Bob’s impressive sound career began at an early age. By 15, he was performing concerts as the house player on the Wurlitzer theater organ at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. He was also deeply involved in ham radio and began tinkering with electronics and electronic design.
In the early 1960s Bob opened “Ye Olde Music Shoppe” in Marissa, Illinois. The music store built a reputation among the professional bands who were touring because it carried stock of guitars and amplifiers that was unmatched at the time.
In 1966, Heil Sound was formed with the goal to provide pro touring gear and systems. Heil Sound also provided system design and equipment for the emerging music festival scene.
National accounts quickly grew and tours with Humble Pie, The Who, Grateful Dead, the James Gang and many others followed. To accommodate demand, Heil Sound had multiple sound crews out on the road simultaneously.
It was during this time that Bob developed a number of significant pro sound innovations including the famed Talk Box for Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton, the quadrophonic mixer for the Who, and modular mixing consoles.
In the early 1980s, Heil exited the pro sound market to focus on the amateur radio market.
In the late 1990s, at the suggestion of Joe Walsh, a fellow ham radio enthusiast and friend, Bob set out to design a vocal microphone for live sound use. Heil Sound reentered the pro sound market and pro microphone manufacturing industry with the PR 20 microphone, and quickly earned a reputation for mic innovation. Eschewing any small diaphragm or powered design, the Heil mics featured large-diaphragm dynamic components that offered a high degree of sonic clarity and rear rejection.
Subsequent microphone models, including the popular PR 40 and PR 30 followed quickly. The PR 35 vocal mic was introduced and found favor with high profile artists such as Stevie Wonder, Beck, Alice in Chains, Charlie Daniels, Joan Baez and others.
In 2007 Heil Sound received a cherished accolade when the company was invited to supply historically significant and innovative items for a permanent exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Realizing that what got Heil Sound here isn’t going to get them there, the company embarked on a series of moves that would expand Heil Sound’s reach into new markets and territories. A worldwide distribution network was established and several new models of mics were introduced. Heil mics are now mainstays in satellite radio broadcast stations, recording studios, and podcast and streaming rigs. In 2018, Heil Sound celebrated 50 years in business, or as they put it, “50 Years of Maximum Rock and Roll.”
Today Heil Sound continues with their long tradition of working with artists – from Grammy Award winners to club musicians – as well as sound mixers and other professionals, who provide invaluable insight, to create products that make them sound their best. As one top sound engineer said, “these Heil Sound folks just love music and it shows.”
