Im not sure who came first ART or the WARM, or <enter namebrand> whose copying whose parts from what factory?
Some gearheads might even know what China road they are made on.
I do like the MXL shockmount better, it has the pinch mechanism to spread the mount on and off and a larger contact surface, while the other uses small bands for contact and the "clip approach". I got the larger MXL Metal Vintage pop filter for the WA47, as its a fat-boy diameter...
It doesnt matter to me really, but the WA47 cost of their focused effort on the capsule clone 47, drilled holes and micron coating etc..
add in the internal parts of the highend transformer .and there would be a cost increase of some value. Its like the SM7b costs more than the SM58, in parts alone its obvious why it costs more.
All I know is I couldnt build one!
EARS
I wonder if theres a video HD shootout of Original 47's from like new-old stock to 10yrs to 40yrs old to 70yrs old...does it get burnt out or burnt in? Like WARM builder said "which 47 do you copy??" I guess everyone can drill the holes to print exact, and the pvc ring was a failure and rotted away and even Neumann dropped that ...it can be a black hole no doubt trying to repaint a Mona Lisa of microphones. The power supplys? does it make a huge huge difference or not? is it worth spending $5,000 for subtleness.....or the best duplicate version seems to be TeleFunken at $8,000. My expectations would be too high I suspect. Anyway the Sylvia Massey video made impact and the many videos and the WA47 can sound great or be made too...so can others.
FWIW..my 2cents to date
The last few days I pop on my headphones and listen to tracks Ive done with the WA47, and other mics, and though the mics sound noticeably different, they all would get some eq and dynamics in the end making the difference even smaller. Once again for my ears and hobby-ears..on vocals .its kind of a bummer because there isnt a huge huge difference. Like when I spent $1500 on a US strat and the Mexi sounds great too, no huge huge difference.
Cup half full..My SM58 does so well, for me. It has clarity and midrange and doesnt have the low low bassy radio dj sound to remove in a mix.
The bassy-LDC solo sound is great, but in a mix and to remove noise the high pass filter is ON anyway, and you know? SM7b, Shure SDC, MXL V67G, WA47, WA47JR... they all have their thing. I read the Bono dude said they spent hours in the studio trying to get the big mics to sound like his voice on a 58....I get that now. The WA47 performed clean, low low noise, clarity was great too but it costs 10x's the SM58 also. The SM7 sounded blurry and bassy compared to the SM58, HPF helped and EQ would be done....MXL V67G is so so quiet, and its a sound, for some might be the best, not really for me....acoustic guitars Id take all of them over the 58, to get some sparkle, the SDC's I have were the worst noise floor and had sparkle I liked and the pair I bought used were so cheap and sound very similar to the SM81.
The ISA One is just an awesome preamp with clarity and low noise and functions. The KT2A adds noise floor of course but at 2-3db cuts its pretty subtle....cranking up the reduction and gain the noise takes off and not to my liking. I could do without it...but it does add some slight roundness, albeit adds some noise floor. Seems it was better on my bass guitar and less noticeable on vocals.
I dropped some cash on a the Metal Vintage filter , WA47. Not only does it look cool like EMI's, its so much more attached than my floppy gooseneck popfilter...it was expensive though but fits on all 2" type diameter mics.
The MXL V67G heritage series comes with one that fits smaller diameter mics like V67G and WA JR....
ADD:
about a month later....
Ive done some time with this WA47 and this mic is really impressive.
5 STAR in build, cost, sound.
why?
1) I dont have to eq it. Handles my ssss's well anyway
2) Its got a great level of sensitivity for my room, pretty silent in idle
3) its a really clear sound with some personality and per some who own real ones, this WA47 is close , like many of the other clones, will ever get without the age & exact obsolete parts. ..47-ish
4) got a great deal used here on the HR free ads !!...$600.
Massey- and her 70yr old U47...WA47 perspective put simple.
WA47>ISA One w/KT2A> Reaper...nice vocal chain. no plugins required......except maybe auto-tuner for sour notes. lol