Deal?.......MXL 603S for $30 at MF

Cool. That let's me know where you're coming from.

Based on what you said, if you ever get to try an AKG C451E or EB with a CK1 (card) capsule, you just might love it. Don't try one if you don't want to buy it though..... :D I always think of the 451 as the sound of "nashville" AC Gtrs. I'm not doing pop music with AC's mostly - usually in a more film or orchestral arrangement and I prefer a more natural darker sound, so the KM84 works better for me most of the time. Accurate delivery of the transients is my paramount concern with that application.

Cheers,

bp
 
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I tried mine on acoustic guitar today. (28 year old Martin D35) I think I like it, but I need to listen to the clips a few more times. And also compare it to some of my other mics on the same material. This too is probably a case where the high end sparkle is good for my particular guitar. But I can see how these mics could get a little "zingy" if you're not careful.
 
Just curious, for those of you who had 604's, 603's, 991's before this order - did you find that the build is a lot cheaper? That they weigh about half of what the older ones did? Curious. They were not what I expected, although I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet.
 
drBill said:
Just curious, for those of you who had 604's, 603's, 991's before this order - did you find that the build is a lot cheaper? That they weigh about half of what the older ones did? Curious. They were not what I expected, although I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet.
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It's been a while, but in my mind, they seemed to be quite a bit lighter. I got my other set back in 2004 from an ebay dealer. I grabbed these on the stupid deal, not necessarily because I loved them, but because I knew what they sounded like, and they were dirt cheap, and I let my brother borrow my other set, and I figured at that price I could afford to let him keep them.

So my view is completely subjective, because I don't have the other set with me, but, yes, in my memory, the others weighed more. I may be getting stronger though :-)

I tried them out for a minute in an xy with a stereo bar. They sounded good except that I was getting kind of a high pitched squeal, which increased if I touched the mics and seemed to decrease depending on how I moved the wires around. I've currently got kind of a cable nightmare, and now that I think about it, it might have been because the wires were running close to my tube power supply, which was on. :o Now that I think about it....that's probably what it was. I had headphones on, and when I lifted the wires up from the general area of the ps, the sound seemed to go away. Ok. I'm feeling really dumb about that in retrospect. But my son woke up from his nap before I had that epiphany. I'll have to give them another shot soon.

Dr Bill, do you happen to have an old and a new mic? It would be interesting to weigh them, to see if it's just in our minds. The ones I bought before didn't come with a case though, so that's an improvement.
 
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The one I just received is the first of these I have handled, but I was surprised at how light it was compared to other mics. It sort of reminded me of an AT pro37r, in size, weight, and even somewhat in the character of it's sound.
 
Caotico said:
Dr Bill, do you happen to have an old and a new mic? It would be interesting to weigh them, to see if it's just in our minds.
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Yes. I've got 604's and 991's. Older.

The older models of mine seem to be made out of brass. Not sure what these are, but I highly doubt brass.

These weigh 3oz. The older models weigh between 5-6 oz. Almost double.
 
mcmd said:
..just received mine this AM....

drossfile:

Are you saying that your new ones sound darker than the 603's you already had?

/mcmd
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no, i think they're pretty consistent. i just never thought my first pair sounded too bright as drum OHs, and the new pair sounds just as well-balanced on acoustic guitar. i'd have to put the new pair over the drums to really do a fair comparison, but i find nothing unpleasant about any of the four.
 
I finally got around to hooking mine up last night. They didn't blow me away. I was demo'ing them on acoustic (a Seagull), but they seemed a bit thin sounding to me. I then A/B/C'd them against my CAD e70's and Naiant MSH-2's. They were definately third in that batch. Not terrible, but definately third.

Worth $30 each? Sure. I'll find somewhere to put them to use, no doubt.
 
Paj said:
They should not be exact, though---the 991 should be slightly (about an ounce) heavier.

Paj
8^)
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According to my scale.....

New 603 - Just under 3oz
Older 991 - 4.5 oz
Older 604 - Just over 5 oz

I gotta say, the feather weight doesn't instill confidence, but I'll wait and reserve judgement until getting them into the fray.
 
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Anyone have the link to the 603 on MF. I can't seem to find it except in a package deal with the MXL 2003 (which sucks).
 
I have an older 603 and just got another in this deal. The older one says "Mogami" under the name and the new one does not (although I don't think it would make any difference in this case). The new one is definitely lighter. The guts of the old one thread out of the bottom, the new one uses three tiny set screws. You must screw them in to extract the guts (just like an XLR connector). The case is considerably thinner walled material. Also, the screen over the capsule is much coarser on the new one. The electronics appear to be the same. HTH

Paul:D
 
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