MXL 990 - What do you think?

on a kick!

I dont hate my humble little condensers enough to put them through the ordeal of sticking them on a kick!

In fact I used a Beyer TXG-50 (i think - looks similar to the opus 65) on a kick mic for an unsigned British band at a local gig. To my suprise the diapraghm was blown by the sheer power of the drummer (and this was a reccomended kick mic!) so I would never risk putting a condenser on a kick again - cheap chinese mic or not.

Personally - (probably gonna get slated for using buget mics - no names mentioned) I use the brilliant RVK7 mic set from Red 5 Audio - a new Scottish company that is doing good mics at crazy prices. Got a 7 piece set for just over £200. I use the dynamic kick mic included with that!

Why would you want to use a condensor on the kick anyway? - to pick up the subtle nuances of the 16 stone drummer thumping out a chest bursting kick sound. Hmmmm! Or do you think that one mic should be multi purpose and adaptable to anything?

tntkemp I agree with your views on the 990's sensitivity - very effective if used as a stereo pair at the back of a theatre to capture a live performance.
 
toorglick said:
Up against the MCA SP1, the MXL 990 sounded identical on my voice. The only difference I could detect was that the MXL 990 seemed to be slightly more bass-heavy.
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:rolleyes: Then how in the heck can you say the two mics sounded identical on your voice? They were either identical or different... can't be both... lol.

EDIT: After re-reading your above MXL990 review again... I must ask, why don't you just come out and say it... the MXL990 sucks eggs.
 
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shevsound said:
Why would you want to use a condensor on the kick anyway?
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I don't know why toorglick would want to use a MXL990 on a kick... maybe toorglick doesn't have any better mics that could be used for kick.
 
Maybe he's just a beginner, as we all were once, and doesn't yet know the uses by design of the various types of mics available. That makes it our job to steer him in the right direction.

In my opinion, the mic should be a Dynamic mic, as they will hold up much better to the sudden high-velocity bursts of air from percussive instruments....plus dynamic mics are more directional and focused. I tend to use the old standard, SM57.

In contrast, Condenser mics tend to be more sensitive to the point that they could possible even pickup the sound of a pin dropped to the floor. They are used more to handle ambient-type sounds, such as a room mic, or micing a guitar, chello, etc....and vocals.

Either type is great for vocals, but in a live band setup the only place that I'd use a Condenser is for overheads over the drums.....

Now, relatively speaking, I'm a rookie when it comes to Mics, Mixers and PA's. I've been using these more in the past 4 years than the total of the rest of my life...and I'm 40 years old....but I've learned alot from sites like this one....thanks to the many here that are in the know :p
 
I got one MXL990 and it sucks!!, I´ve tried on different voices and I have to admit that it worked fine, but it sucks for me. I don´t have another mic for vocals besides the SM57, I need a decent vocal mic, maybe a B1 or a V67.
 
Good information there...thanks for sharing.

One other note..as was hinted at in that link from Grahamware... When it comes to mics, and especially Condensers, the conditions of the room that you use the mic in greatly effect the results. A room with poor acoustics will give you a poor result on any condenser. That's why sometimes it's better to stick with Dynamics...they aren't as sensitive to surroundings.
 
How many times do I have to tell you guys..........

NOT to use a condenser mic for kick, unless you don't have any problems with getting it a new capsule twice or three times in a year and don't ever put a mic in the hole of the front head, for you will kill it.

Read the opinion of a real mic pro: http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/196/1221/?SQ=94dae1029e2181f9db00a89cfffaecbb

BTW, DJL is a girl and her name is Brittney :D

And FWIW, Neumann, Brauner, Telefunken, RCA, Schoeps, DPA, Microtech Gefell, Josephson, Sanken and many other hi end mics, are perfectly fit for homerecording, or is homerecording limited to inexpensive gear?
 
Ok, you guys have me totally disgusted on this so I will respond.

Repeat after me

This is not a ballad mic
This is a loud source mic
It is not subtly responsive
It is not wide ranged
I will only use this for screaming vocals, loud amplifiers, and high transient sources.

Once you understand where it works, you will not be disappointed. Think alternative to SM57 for a slightly less compressed sound. I think it has a nice punchy sound for midrange instruments and I would never consider this a vocal mic which, because it looks like one, a lot of first timers try it on. Oh, and for background vocals that need to be bland behind the main vocal, it can work there too. For a screamer it may also have some use. I would not rap into this either.

I have two, I use them on amplifiers and drums and the occasional acoustic bass. If you think this is good for acoustic guitars and vocals think again, get something else; there are better choices in this price range.

There are no bad mics just bad people that use them where they don't belong. All mics are good for what they are good for.
 
Do try one about 5' in front of the drum kit if your drums are in one channel...your results will be ok for this...not the best but OK.
 
BTW, DJL is a girl and her name is Brittney
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Nothing against DJL, I just always thought DJL=he, maybe I thought I saw DJL refered to as "him". You know what happens when we assume.

What about putting a LDC (Fet47) about 12" ouside of the kick with the diaphragm slightly off axis and a D112 inside and blend? I thought this was favored by some. Its funny because when I got my U195, it has a section describing micing a kick. I haven't tried it, but this thread makes me not really want to, since I am a poor Nashvillian, and can't afford another U195.
 
Well, actually it's spelt Y-U-M-I

yumi.jpg
 
I have a pair of MXL990s. I get a reasonable amoutn of use out of them. Places where I have found them useful.

Room Micing. They are a bright mic and that helps them in my opinion when adding rooms mics.

Vocals in a midrangey mix. Lots of heavy midrangey guitars and the added hump at the top brings the vocals out. This is NOT A DEFINITE. Sometimes this is the best sounding mic in the world... other times it's not.

Stereo pair for live performance. They don't sound great by raw but compress them a bit and punch up the low end and it's a VERY natural sound from an x/y setup. I go for these over the Oktava MK012 for a distant stereo setup lately.

Then again... I have a dynamic Radio Shack omni that I use occasionaly. I'll try whatever is getting the sound I want.

For the $60 I think the MXL990 is a decent mic. I bought asecond to have a pair. It has it's places and they have worked great for me. Watch the top end on them though, it can be harsh so when placing it pay attention to that.
 
I have often found it strange that the 990 and the 603 have the same capsule and same electronics but very different opinions. It caused me to wonder whether the packaging made that much difference or whether the packaging set expectations. In other words the 990 looks like a LDC so people are expecting it to sound like a LDC. The 603 looks like a SDC so people expect it to sound like a SDC.
 
It's actually fairly common to use an LCD as a kick mic, but SEVERAL FEET OUTSIDE OF THE DRUM. You can actually get a nice organic kick sound with plenty of low end using an LCD. You just wouldn't use it the same way as a dynamic. If you put it right up against the batter or in front of sound hole there is a good chance that you will damage your mic, but this doesn't mean you can't use it on kick at all. I'd hate for people to get stuck in the dogma of "only dynamics should be used on kick drums" because many well respected engineers will cite certain LCDs as some of their favorite kick mics.
 
Han said:
BTW, DJL is a girl and her name is Brittney :D
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Geez Han, and here I thought you were my best girlfriend... are you going to tell everyone about our last date too? :D
 
Innovations said:
I have often found it strange that the 990 and the 603 have the same capsule and same electronics but very different opinions. It caused me to wonder whether the packaging made that much difference or whether the packaging set expectations. In other words the 990 looks like a LDC so people are expecting it to sound like a LDC. The 603 looks like a SDC so people expect it to sound like a SDC.
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It is my understanding that the MXL603S and MXL990 have the same capsule (I think it was Harvey who posted the info), but I didn't know the electronics were the same too... how do you know both the MXL603S and MXL990 use the same electronics?

And IF both the MXL603S and MXL990 use the same capsule and electronics... then yeah, it's the housing that makes them so different sounding. And IMO, I think it was sneaky of Marshall to make a SDC to look like a LDC.
 
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