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mooseherman « Great tube mic for cheap! »
Published on 12/14/10 at 14:34This is a tube condenser microphone that I recently had the pleasure of using on a long session when a client brought it in to record vocals. Normally we insist upon our AKG tube mic but we humored him and let him try it out. Sure enough, it sounded phenomenal. It was as good or at least almost as good as our AKG Tube mic which is phenomenal. It's a tube condenser so that means it's really not for use outside of the studio. If you have a home studio with great mic pre's and have quite a budget you might consider this mic but keep in mind that it's sensitive so it needs an environment that'll keep the noise to a minimum.
OVERALL OPINION
The sound of this microphone is fantastic. It's warm, lush, and deep, which is exactly what you want out of a tube microphone. It's great for vocals, as are the majority of tube mics that I've used, but this one is especially great for female vocals. Male vocalists sound great too but this really captures the range of a female vocalist much better especially if she's in a lower alto range. I also really like this on acoustic guitars as it provides a warm and full tone to those. String instruments in general sound great, assuming it's an acoustic string instrument. I wouldn't use it as a distance or room mic as much, it doesn't really work as well in that capacity. Either way it's still a great microphone. There's really no reason any studio shouldn't get it as a nice supplement considering it's low price range. While it's certainly not the best tube mic out there it's far from the worst, and it can really compete with a lot of them. Home studio owners with really good gear should look into it too but keep in mind the fact that it's not really worth it unless you have a great mic preamp.
OVERALL OPINION
The sound of this microphone is fantastic. It's warm, lush, and deep, which is exactly what you want out of a tube microphone. It's great for vocals, as are the majority of tube mics that I've used, but this one is especially great for female vocals. Male vocalists sound great too but this really captures the range of a female vocalist much better especially if she's in a lower alto range. I also really like this on acoustic guitars as it provides a warm and full tone to those. String instruments in general sound great, assuming it's an acoustic string instrument. I wouldn't use it as a distance or room mic as much, it doesn't really work as well in that capacity. Either way it's still a great microphone. There's really no reason any studio shouldn't get it as a nice supplement considering it's low price range. While it's certainly not the best tube mic out there it's far from the worst, and it can really compete with a lot of them. Home studio owners with really good gear should look into it too but keep in mind the fact that it's not really worth it unless you have a great mic preamp.