Global Audio gxl2200

[mndog75]

I just bought a gxl2200 condenser mic(uni-directional) I would love some feed back on this buy,I'm pretty much going to mic my guitar as well as vocals.

[crazydoc]

It's not a bad mic for the price - the usual hyped high end at 10k - 15k.

I did some vocals comparing it to several other mics a year or two ago - they're posted still on nowhereradio.com under crazydoc still I think.

Here's a couple pics of the circuit board - looks similar if not identical to the mxl990 - same components (same 2sk170 FET), just on two boards instead of one. (Must be a generic circuit the all the chinese have copied.) One difference is the high pass filter switch that I've pointed out - it's not available to the outside of the mic case, but to use it you just unscrew the base ring and slide the body tube off.

[crazydoc]

Board #2

[Sklathill]

Personally didn't like the one I tried. Really harsh. of course, it could have been just my unit. I'd rather get a B1 or make the pretty small jump up in price to their better M units...

And gee, board pics are getting popular on the board now. Maybe I should take some photos myself...

[EddieRay]

I've heard that the GXL mics are very similar to MXL (Marshall) mics. They don't get mentioned very often in these forums though.

[chessrock]

I'm pretty sure they're the Shanghai mics distributed, I believe, by CAD in the U.S.

[Flatpicker]

Originally posted by EddieRay
I've heard that the GXL mics are very similar to MXL (Marshall) mics. They don't get mentioned very often in these forums though.

Yep, same mic as the MXL57/63/1006.

[crazydoc]

Originally posted by Sklathill

And gee, board pics are getting popular on the board now. Maybe I should take some photos myself...

Well, you know the old saying...one jpeg is worth a thousand docs...

[ausrock]

These pcb layouts don't really match up closely with any of the "popular" Asian mics in my pcb image library..........although I haven't done a component count, etc., my first impression was that they have fewer components than most of the other.

Definitely not close enough to the MXL 1006 to be regarded as similar.

[Flatpicker]

Originally posted by Flatpicker
Yep, same mic as the MXL57/63/1006.

Sorry, I meant to imply that the circuit was the same – not the mic, although I’m betting they have the same capsule too. The boards may be different but the circuit looks basically the same to me: FET into bipolar phase splitter output stage with a voltage multiplier to increase capsule voltage. The 1006 might have better capacitors.

[Sklathill]

Originally posted by ausrock
These pcb layouts don't really match up closely with any of the "popular" Asian mics in my pcb image library..........although I haven't done a component count, etc., my first impression was that they have fewer components than most of the other.

Definitely not close enough to the MXL 1006 to be regarded as similar.

I don't suppose your PCB image library is web-based?

And should I take a look at my 1006 and take pics?

[Flatpicker]

Originally posted by Sklathill
I don't suppose your PCB image library is web-based?

And should I take a look at my 1006 and take pics?

I've got pics of the 1006 boards and they are basically the same. Only difference is the GXL has a high pass switch and all the electrolytic caps are on the bottom board instead of two of them being on the top board. The switch doesn't make sense because the ones on the CAD web site don't have this.

I don't have time to post my pics right now, but if Sklathill or someone else wants to, have at it.

Chris,
Check your pics again. The circuit layout looks the same to me. Or better yet, post them and let us have a look.

I was thinking about picking up a 1006 eventually, but now I'll look for a GXL instead - they're a lot prettier!

[ausrock]

Tim,

You are right. I only had a quick look and the lack of a switch and electrolytic placement threw me.

It appears that a number of different mics have the hidden switch. I have an Apex 430 which has it on the pcb, whereas the more expensive 420 model has an accessable switch and as far as I know that is the only difference between the models.

[crazydoc]

Originally posted by Flatpicker
The switch doesn't make sense because the ones on the CAD web site don't have this.

No, they don't mention it, but it's there in the mic. Just an added bonus.

I noticed mention of it in the gxl2400 in a forum on CAD's website a couple of years ago.
http://www.cadmics.com/cgi-bin/ikonb...act=ST;f=1;t=5
Don't know why they don't advertise it.

[ausrock]

Just for accuracy, the Apex 430 has the hidden switch whereas the 420 has both cardoid and omni patterns as well as the accessible switching.

I was never really worried either way as I bought the mic from someone here with the intention of modding it sooner or later.

[mndog75]

What does the hidden switch on the circuitboard do???

[crazydoc]

Originally posted by mndog75
What does the hidden switch on the circuitboard do???

It's a high pass filter, aka "bass rolloff." You would engage it when you want to de-emphasize the bass frequencies of your sound source - if something sounds too "boomy", or to counteract proximity effect.