My thoughts on this review:
1. Large diaphragm condensers are NOT better at capturing/”handling” (whatever that means) low end, NOR do they capture MORE of it by default. From a technical standpoint, smaller diaphragms are actually superior in this regard.
2. What is “empathy” in proximity effect? What is “richness”? What is “depth”? These are typical words that (far too) many audio gear reviewers throw around, but it’s totally up to the reader to come up with some kind of interpretation.
3. I can confirm the e965 excellent side rejection with very little coloration at the same time.
4. For close micing vocals, I don’t think it’s that neutral sounding. Besides compensating for the proximity effect with a low cut and low shelf, I usually end up having to cut quite a bit at around 4-500 Hz and having to boost at roughly 11k. The high frequencies are definitely there; they just need a healthy boost to balance out the sound. Both the e865 as well as e965 seem to have a weird high end roll of that’s annoying to combat with EQ. When you do, though, they’ll both deliver fantastic results.