More Info On New MXL's From The Source

[Harvey Gerst]

Ok, all this talk about the new MXL mics shown in the Musician's Friend catalog made me really curious, so I called MXL, and talked to Wayne Freeman, the head of their MXL division. None of these new mics are shipping yet, so it's a little premature to order them. The interesting new mics are gonna be the cube and the 190; those are the two new mics, most of the others are specially labeled MF versions of the standard MXL line.

But here's the really exciting news:

You can now buy omni capsules for your MXL 603's !!! That's right, the MXL 604 capsule fits the 603 perfectly and gives you a flat, low noise omni that eliminates the 7KHz peak that some people find a little bright. But the really exciting part is the price. Get this:

You can buy a matched pair of omni capsules (in a nice metal presentation box) for only....






















































$49.95 - for the pair. Less than $25 bucks each

And they're already in stock at most MXL dealers. That is one hell of a deal.

LATE BREAKING NEWS

I didn't know about the omni pair being available till this morning, when I talked to Wayne, but last week, I had ordered a pair of omni capsules from them, and UPS just showed up as I was typing this. Here's the first pic of the new capsules for the 603:

 

[scrubs]

Cool. Thanks for the update. Let us know how those caps sound.

 

[notbradsohner]

so you're saying the cube and 190 are completely reworked mics?

 

[Harvey Gerst]

so you're saying the cube and 190 are completely reworked mics?

From what Wayne Freeman just told me, yes. The Cube grille will obviously give it a different sound, but without hearing it, I don't know what it will sound like. Same thing with the 190 grille.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Oh yeah, just to make things absolutely clear, the reason I ordered a set of omni capsules in the first place was because I just bought a pair of MXL 603's from hungovermorning on this bulletin board (see http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=2187979&postcount=469).

I just found out they're a stock item now, when I called to ask Wayne about all the new Musician's Friend models.

Oh, just for the record, one more time:

I also bought an MXL V69ME from one of the guys here as well, so that should make it pretty clear I'm not a shill for MXL or anybody. I don't think Larry at ADK, or Alan at SP, or Wayne at MXL are all that thrilled when I recommend a particular mic that they don't make. And not having ever talked to anybody at Behringer didn't stop me from recommending their ECM8000, when I thought it was appropriate for some applications.

I know most of the people here understand that I'm not a shill, but that I do have a lot of friends in the industry, but I feel that I've gotta mention my friendships and that I'm just a studio owner from time to time here.

 

[Hee-man]

I've read somewhere that the MXL 993's use the same capsule as the 603. Would these Omni capsules fit the 993 as well?

 

[dkelley]

the big question to me is has the guy at MXL actually heard these new mics himself yet? I suspect, being manufactured in asia by whatsitsnameco inc., they probably were designed by mxl (probably the guy you talked to) on paper, the plans given to xyz corp mic manufacturing in china, and mxl is probably as excited as (and much more nervous than) you are to hear how they really sound.

I'm certain that the more open mesh will be an improvement - if it just doesn't have that super hyped high end of my apex 435s (which I love but have a hard time taming when I need to) then it'll be the cheap chinese mic to beat.

All of it, behringer, apex, mxl, nady, shinybox, dr. whositz in europe, they're all made by two major chinese manufacturers, and about 90% of them use the 4 main capsules made by those companies without any modification at all except for the mic body and grill. Hence why they mostly all sound rather similar. (there's a 1 inch 6 micron sputtered gold capsule, and the small diaphram cardoid capsule. There are also omni versions of course, but I made my point).

Now if they're actually changing how the electrical and mechanical connections are done to the infamous chinese 1 inch 6 micron sputtered gold capsule, plus changing the windscreen and foam (or killing the foam entirely), then we might actually have a different sounding mic here for a change.

I personally have grown tired of that long lost excitement I used to feel when I'd purchase apex 435s knowing fully well it was exactly the same mic with the same sound and a more pure transformerless output than the much more expensive chinese made multipattern mics by nady, mxl, etc etc etc. It used to be fun, now it's just like, ok, I've got a few $55 large dia cardoid condensors that sound really good, but I'd really like a couple of different (maybe gentler or warmer) sounding similar mics for a similar price without breaking the bank.

The new 190 or whatever that roundish looking one is might be the ticket - can't wait to read reviews by people who've actually heard/used it!


Cheers

 

[earlwgreen]

Thanks Harvey,

I always read what you have to say and I do trust your ears. I'm so new to this that it's nice to have someone who will mention the good and the bad in both build and sound quality.

I love my TB1 from SP and I want to get a few more of their mics, but I'm always interested in what's out there.

Thanks again for your honesty.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

the big question to me is has the guy at MXL actually heard these new mics himself yet? I suspect, being manufactured in asia by whatsitsnameco inc., they probably were designed by mxl (probably the guy you talked to) on paper, the plans given to xyz corp mic manufacturing in china, and mxl is probably as excited as (and much more nervous than) you are to hear how they really sound.

The new 190 or whatever that roundish looking one is might be the ticket - can't wait to read reviews by people who've actually heard/used it!

Cheers

OK, some of your questions I can answer. MXL has their own factory in China. They actually hired some of the people from Fiello and/or 797 (not sure which) to start their factory. The mics were designed in the US and they keep pretty decent control over the parts that go into it.

Believe it or not, guys like Larry and J.P. at ADK, Alan and Brent at SP, and Wayne and Len at MXL are all pretty sharp about dealing overseas and knowing how to get exactly what they want.

And yeah, I'm really looking forward to trying the new 190 when it hits the U.S..

 

[Harvey Gerst]

I've read somewhere that the MXL 993's use the same capsule as the 603. Would these Omni capsules fit the 993 as well?

I can't find my 993 to try it, but I'm guessing the new omni capsule will also fit the 993 and 991 as well. I'll call Scott at MXL in a few minutes and ask him for sure.

Update

Just talked to Scott at MXL; the omni capsule will fit the 603, the 604, and the 991. He said the 993 is a bigger unit. Way too many model numbers!!

 

[daav]

Thanks Harvey, as always you provide real info, and put it out there in a very straightforward, helpful way.

Daav

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Thanks Harvey, as always you provide real info, and put it out there in a very straightforward, helpful way.

Daav

Well, I try to help whenever I can. I'm kinda excited because it's the first time MXL actually listened to something I suggested. (The other thing I suggested was putting out a low-cost recording package of 2 603's, and an MXLV67G.)

 

[dkelley]

OK, some of your questions I can answer. MXL has their own factory in China. They actually hired some of the people from Fiello and/or 797 (not sure which) to start their factory. The mics were designed in the US and they keep pretty decent control over the parts that go into it.

Believe it or not, guys like Larry and J.P. at ADK, Alan and Brent at SP, and Wayne and Len at MXL are all pretty sharp about dealing overseas and knowing how to get exactly what they want.

And yeah, I'm really looking forward to trying the new 190 when it hits the U.S..

cool info, thanks. That's news compared to what I've read on the web or heard from mr. nady, but I believe you completely - it's the only explanation why the companies you mention manage to keep their gear different and from trickling into the apex catalogs I cherish so dearly.... ;-)

 

[Harvey Gerst]

cool info, thanks. That's news compared to what I've read on the web or heard from mr. nady, but I believe you completely - it's the only explanation why the companies you mention manage to keep their gear different and from trickling into the apex catalogs I cherish so dearly.... ;-)

MXL started out buying stuff from 797 with their MXL name on it, but quickly discovered that they needed more control over their designs. Studio Projects went into partnership with 797 to insure their exclusivity, and ADK kept their designs very proprietary to avoid copies.

Bottom line is that if you are dealing with a Chinese manufacturer and simply rebadging their product line, you have no guarantees that those same products won't show up with another badge from somebody else. That's just how things work when you do business in China.

When I was at IMC, we had our Ross amps made in Taiwan; it was a nightmare at times:

"Oh, we ran out of 200,000 ohm resistors, so we put in a 20 ohm resistor instead. Is that a problem?"

Aaarrgghhh!!

We finally wound up sending one of our guys over there to live there and supervise production.

 

[Dogbreath]

Excellent stuff. Harvey!

I appreciate the fact that you come here to enlighten us (me ) with your knowledge and expertise.

Appreciated, sir.

 

[travelin travis]

Harvey, have you tried the 604?

 

[TragikRemix]

Harvey is the man.

[crowd cheers] Harvey! Harvey! Harvey!

 

[dkelley]

...When I was at IMC, we had our Ross amps made in Taiwan; it was a nightmare at times:

"Oh, we ran out of 200,000 ohm resistors, so we put in a 20 ohm resistor instead. Is that a problem?"

Aaarrgghhh!!...

Wow man, you frighten me sometimes - I never cease to enjoy your anecdotes! Thanks for taking the time to put together such great info and fun reading while responding to an old musician you've never met or heard of before... I truly appreciate it.

Warmest regards sir.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Wow man, you frighten me sometimes - I never cease to enjoy your anecdotes! Thanks for taking the time to put together such great info and fun reading while responding to an old musician you've never met or heard of before... I truly appreciate it.

Warmest regards sir.

The whole music industry is weird.

I once worked for Morley, the people who made the pedals. This was way back in the 70's. The president was banging the receptionist, and the vice president (the president's brother) was banging one of the girls that worked on the assembly line. Both of those guys were supposedly happily married. They're both dead now, so I guess mentioning it here ain't gonna hurt them.

 

[mshilarious]

The whole music industry is weird.

That's pretty much every industry