$1699...used $999 Emperical Labs Mike E, aka EL-9...

I was reading a Harmonica mic can get the distortion -ish growl-eq-spike..like Shure bullet mic.
Probably still need a compressor. hadnt tried that trick.

other than tweaking a free plugin to do it as well, I've not had luck with anything else doing the MikeE tone for cheaper.

I wonder would a blacklion173+1176KT but thats still near $1000 no savings there. would a GAP73>1176 might be $700 used but not built as well I would think? the big dollar gear can do it all-in and all that...

Its probably normal, like a Fender Strat and a Twin Reverb or something. $2000...$1000.....in 76 the new strat was $400.

gearflation...haha
 
turkey on rye is standard isnt it? corned beef and ruebens is the oem I thought and was the poor mans meat....

minus the 10,000 mustard types we have to choose from.
mustards being like distortion to the sandwich analogy.
 
Ya, all those immigrants couldn't wait to try turkey on their Rye. Fresh ground beef with diced onions and black pepper on a shingle, maybe.

Anyway, Dan Electro must still be working on the Turkey on Rye pedal : ) But ya, I think a preamp voicing using NY Deli sandwich names would be great.

The distortion here, sounds a little bit too much even harmonics ? Do you remeber anyone talking about the harmonics ?
 
They have a few youtube videos but I havent listened to them....like The Harmonics on the BBC or Harmonics Live....I dont know if they even have a harmonica mic.
 

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update 2-3 months......
military grade parts to handle the heat, one write up mentioned of the Mike-E.
That says a lot to me. The quality of parts is probably the biggest difference between cheap and expensive gear. (besides brand name hype and marketing)

Ive been involved in military spec testing of electronic products for a short while, hot , cold, vibration, altitude, drop test etc. It was very real. For example using welded metal and fused glass vs a consumable public part using glue and glass. In short can the parts withstand severe and extreme environments without failing.

Military Grade parts adds some $$$ to the Mike-E (aka EL-9). I call it overbuilt and this unit feels like it. Theres no wobbly plastic knobs as on my Line 6 stuff. The Mike E large white knobs have the feel of a solid, metal, tight, quality gearhead design. Any gearhead appreciates that it seems.
 

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Oh ya. Then there was RAD HARD. And now we get our radar programming overseas : )

I think they are still selling T34 tank grease and we can get paper and oil m-spec caps with that. That WW2 receiver I have has all the sections shielded.

What was m-spec, you think ? caps and resistors ?
 
I'm not sure maybe the entire unit was left on for 10yrs straight and then jumped on repeatedly?

Some of the pushbuttons are mentioned to have a million press's and vacuum sealed design which is total gearhead stuff. I dont think theres any grease but thats a good point. The parts we tested were used in projectors and tvs...but also submarines and the shipping could be very rough rides in very cold areas so that drove that testing.

for a preamp I dont know what would be the benefit of MSpec other than better sealed capacitors? Better Quality Control I suppose.

usually heat is the thing to ruin parts in this stuff or else the drunk guy spilling his beer on your gear....but that drunk guys not around much anymore except when im having too much fun. but even then Im not standing and moving when I play and any beer spills would be due to small area of space and the long Jazz bass neck thats I think the longest guitar neck ever made and can knock a lot of things over or whack the front of the piece.

military grade shoes could be interesting depending on what a person is doing with them.

i dont worry too much about freezing in Texas and the window ac unit doesnt come near shaking my house down but it can lock in a resonance pretty damn good that has to be loosening some nails.

Ive also read EL wiipes all the ic stamps off so people cant copy their design...very cool imo, make the thiefs work a little bit in CHina.
 
"Ive also read EL wiipes all the ic stamps off so people cant copy their design...very cool imo:

ya, that is !!!!
 
reading about distortion vocals I tried the Line6-Vocal gear into gearbox software guitar pedals and it can do the dist very well or not very well on the vocal track...this software is pretty cool for all that.
in trying to get the clarity of the hardware the ITB preamps and fx, in realtime need Latency work.

I tried some MikeE into the FX unit I had mentioned earlier but it was working and noisy, a downgrade so the FX rack unit is back to the garage for another 10yrs probably...the software does it better per this test.

latency and FX..... Realtime.... not later.

mic>MikeE (hardware preamp/comp)>Line In> DAW track 1
mic>interface> software preamp/comp> DAW track 2
mic> interface> preamp (no software)>DAW track 3
mic> Mike E> LINE IN> software FX realtime> DAW Track 4

coffee first. then Latency test.... how much latency is acceptable if the drummers a bit off and the keys are all delayed and flanged? is it really noticeable? probably not.

how was it to record a good folk song in 1961? a mic, a console, a reel to reel some tube compression and tube eq some candy and pall malls.
 
i wonder if they thought it was high end?
Did gearheads lust for better and more tracks ? did they even think about what a DAW would be? what was rick wakeman doing in 61?
did they think the mics would be worth $12,000? and the old tube eq maybe more?

paper routes..les pauls looked like sg juniors..like les paul juniors... they didnt have to mix as much probably, more time in mic setups and rooms probably. oppressive industry too ? unless you got lucky and signed theres the door.

in 61 if you sent in a cassette demo tape to the A&R guy they wouldnt be able to listen to it for years later.
 
Going back to females, I collected a lot of Pretenders for the music and vocals.

This was after they had trouble as a band
""The 'Chain Gang' vocal was comped from three or four takes, and then Chris sang her own harmonies before Martin and Tony did the backgrounds. That lead vocal was all Chrissie. I put a [Neumann] FET 47 in front of her and had [a Urei] 1176 compressing her through the custom Neve board, and that was basically it. "

I guess that a Keep is simple, stupid rig
 
nice and simple really....LDC>PREAMP/EQ with Overdrive Saturation> 1176 for subtle or ALL-IN smashed....
I get it now, years later....million hours of shopping and gear gas later....

same with guitars, a simple Fender Strat and a Fender tube amp is how Leo invented intentionally together. He even stated it was a "pair" as one instrument...the guitar and amp. Sure Marshall came along and copied the Fender Bassman and beefed it up to create a totally original distortion but its similar to the 1176 and LA2A being simple and still working as great today as it did then.

I read Adele sang into a $$LDC and a UA6176 and that was what went onto the platinum stuff, not much of anything done and certainly not a bunch of plugins were needed to make it sound good.

now simple as it is, I wouldnt be surprised if she sang through a MXL LDC and a neve and 1176 clone if she wouldnt hit the right notes too. some have the ability.

I got the MikeE and KSM44 and it can get what I want simply, but now being a HR with debt and kids, comparing to a KSM27 and GearBox soft-Preamps and softLA2A is more my budget.....

on the subject of Latency the Mike-E doesnt have any latency where the software, seems to be worse on somedays more than others, is that a Windows 10 thing?with auto mandated updates? or my USB cable isnt made my Monster? or my off the shelf stock BestBuy $239 tower isnt fast enough?

still just to keep the Mike-E focus thread included....for a preamp of its quality is in Great River territory, then throw in a really effective vocal compressor (1176 family) but with the Fatso-Saturation and a simple knob of DRY or COMP to adjust without a mouse is more like playing a guitar with ones hands instead of a playing guitar with a mouse and software program.

leave the microphone to do the eq seems to be a good trick in making things simple.
 

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I tried the DI on bass. it sounds great. but to be honest a lot of units can sound good on bass DI. why is that?

the DOD R825 is a great bass DI unit and sometimes found very cheap, cheaper than the sans amp. One gearhead said he preferred the 825 over his LA610. Ive had a SansAmp and wasnt impressed a bunch, tried many of the others and plugs etc...so Bass HR novice, you got to have a good Bass DI in the arsenal.

Mike E as a DI box, its great and more due to having the comp, sat , drive etc..... another function of this unit thats included in the price which is worth mentioning.

So if this piece can repalce other pieces, then I sell the other stuff apply to the MikeE and the price is getting lower as it replaces other gear right? now its like $500, $700...depending what one replaces with the new as in the upgrade game.

a versatile unit as SOS stated. $1600 new, $1000 used - selling other preamps and DI racks = $500 :D
Includes:
a mic preamp for clean
a mic preamp with transformer and large drive knob for dirt
a clean invisible compressor
a saturation/grunge rock vocal compressor
a dry to mix balance knob
a no latency hardware unit
and a DI for Bass that can go from clean to smashed

hmmm what else? fantastic unit ...so easy to get good sounds, feels great in build.

Bass youtube with some settings discussed-
Empirical Labs Mike E bass guitar demo - YouTube
 
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