MXL V6 Silicon Valve Microphone ?

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chiefraven

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Does anyone know if this microphone is any good? Especially for jazz vocals. I want a mic that's got a good smooth, and clear sound to it... maybe a little warm. This mic usually go for about 200-300 bucks right?

anyone know where i can find a sound sample of it?
 
It's real new so there's not a lot of clips around yet. I recall some good stuff said about it 'round here somewhere. I'm waiting for a new preamp before I get more mics, but it's on my list. :)
 
you know where i can find clips of other mics though?
and what would be a good decent mic and preamp for a beginner who wants to setup a decent little studio for practicing vocals and recording?
 
Mic and Pre-amp suggestion

Consider the SE Electronics SE 2200-A mic and the Focusrite TrakMaster Pro pre-amp.
Together they will cost you about $550 ish. ($299+$250? street)
The SE 2200-A is a very smooth mic with a fairly straight frequency response with some high end boost. However, when you kick in the 10dB pad it boosts the highs and lows a bit and drops out some of the mids. A nice vocal effect.
Plus the Focusrite Trakmaster Pro is a low-cost avenue into their Platinum range and it too is very vocal oriented especially with it's mid-cut section and easy to use compression. The Focusrite also has a latency free monitoring section just like its bigger companion, the $700 VoiceMaster Pro, which is nice if you are using a computer for recording.
Both the SE-2200-A and Focusrite TrakMaster Pro use Class A Electronics as I have read.
I own both.
Carvin has a $300 tube mic (CTM100) that is also supposed to be a nice compliment to vocals.
BG
http://mysite.verizon.net/homestudioguy/
 
hey

how does that mic compare to MXL V6 Silicon Valve Microphone ? since they are about the same price range. and which one would be better for jazz vocals?

and also, how are soundcard with a built in preamp such as the m-audio firewire solo compare to using a regular preamp? what would have the best performance?
 
The new MXL V6 is a solid state mic designed to sound like a tube mic (more specifically, MXL's V69) so it is just a bit "dark and coloured" in it's sonic character...I hear it's spectacular on acoustic guitar...that's great if that is what you're looking for...the SE 2200A is actually designed on the same circuit as MXL's V67...the V69 has been called "a V67 on steroids", so all of these mics mentioned share a somewhat similar sonic quality (none would be a really clean, neutral-sounding mic such as the MXL V77)...I have all but the V6 and they are very similar sounding...the SE 2200A would be the most versatile due to the built in pad and high filter switches, but at under a $100. the V67 is a steal...for the price of the SE 2200A or V6 ($299) you could get a V67 and a V77, two very different sounding (one solid-state, the other tube driven) and versatile microphones...

...you can hear the V67 and V77 here:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=157623&page=4&pp=25&highlight=v77
 
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Microphone Alternatives-Jazz Singer

I always thought you had to have a Gibson or Guild archtop electric acoustic to play jazz guitar. Boy was I wrong. Thank God for that! $$$$$$

Jazz is what you sing, not what you sing into.
I'd say get a decent mic and a good pre and use your eq if necessary to reduce any harshness or boost lows or mids.

Although a nice tube mic would be the ticket here..............

As an FYI, do a web search on Apex Microphones and check out their SP2 kit. Comes with a (Apex 460) 7 pattern LDC Tube Mic, a 3 pattern LDC and 2 pencil condensors with shockmounts etc. $469 for all.

I've read some interesting material on the Apex 460.
It is supposed to be a low cost imitation of an AKG C12.
It's a big old thing too!
(The Carvin CTM100 looks to be the same mic at least visually.)
This Apex mic sells for around $239 but will accept different tubes (5751 and 6072) other than the stock 12AX7 chinese tube, both of which can reduce the output levels and giving it a much nicer sound.

(I wrote to Carvin and they said their mic will also allow for the above mentioned tube change.)

There is a guy in Canada (Dave Thomas) who is doing modifications on these and selling them for $300-$400 depending on the mods. He has been selling them on eBay on and off.

See this link for related info although this one seemed to vanish in thin air!
http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php3?t=33638
BG
 
Here's a clip of a female voice singing into the V77; flat, no eq, a little reverb added:

 
That's real smooth. No esses or j's or ch's or f's.... must be a nice pre.

I was groovin to the sax at the end, then it cut, doh! One of those reverbs sounded round like real verb from a long time ago.
 
wow

that female vocal is amazing. that's definetly the jazz sound i'm looking for. So V77 is supposed to be flat, clean and clear, but how about the V67 with the darker tone? does it sound a little different? And what exactly is the difference between a tube driven mic and that other style you were talking about.

also, do you know what is the preamp used in that recording?
Is the mic more important or the preamp during the recording? Which one effects the sound more?
 
The singer (Barbara Dane, http://barbaradane.net/) is now 75 years old. We recorded that in September, 2001. Last time I recorder her before that was in 1961.)

The preamp was the preamp in our 32x8 Soundtracs Topaz. The reverb was a cheap Lexicon Alex, set for either #10 (vocal plate) or #6 (small room). If there was any compression during mixdown, it would have been an RNC (set with all knobs straight up).

It was spontaneous, with no rehearsal, at the end of a longer session, and the musicians were in the process of packing up. Keyboard and bass went direct, and the sax was miked with a Shure SM7, no compression, no eq, and again, the Lexicon Alex for reverb.
 
chiefraven said:
that female vocal is amazing. that's definetly the jazz sound i'm looking for. So V77 is supposed to be flat, clean and clear, but how about the V67 with the darker tone? does it sound a little different? And what exactly is the difference between a tube driven mic and that other style you were talking about.

Is the mic more important or the preamp during the recording? Which one affects the sound more?
Click to expand...
In the case of Barbara, I started out with an RCA 77DX, but it didn't work well for her - a little too muddy. I grabbed the first mic I came across in my mic closet - the MXL V77. The rest of the story is on the tape.

The MXL V67 or V69 would have probably worked well too, with a little eq.
 
junplugged said:
That's real smooth. No esses or j's or ch's or f's.... must be a nice pre.

I was groovin to the sax at the end, then it cut, doh! One of those reverbs sounded round like real verb from a long time ago.
Click to expand...
Barbara knows how to use a mic, and I did knock off a few pops during the mastering.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
In the case of Barbara, I started out with an RCA 77DX, but it didn't work well for her - a little too muddy. I grabbed the first mic I came across in my mic closet - the MXL V77. The rest of the story is on the tape.

The MXL V67 or V69 would have probably worked well too, with a little eq.
Click to expand...


...take it from the guy who knows!...thanks for the backup Mr.G...
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Barbara knows how to use a mic, and I did knock off a few pops during the mastering.
Click to expand...
very good, did you print the reverb?
 
junplugged said:
very good, did you print the reverb?
Click to expand...
Nope, I always add reverb during mixdown - never during the recording, although I'll feed some reverb to the musicians' phones for vocals and snare, but the recordings stay dry.
 
hey Harvey Gerst

That song is really incredible. That's the jazz sound i was looking for. I was wondering if you could suggest a few good equipment to get for practicing and recording vocal jazz on my own in my apartment. You said you used the Lexicon Alex reverb (i thought the preamp comes with the reverb function?!? so why do you have a machine just for reverb?) also the preamp you have is that big high-tech mixer right? Obviously, that would be too much and too expensive for a beginner, but could you recommend a good setup i could invest in for achieving what i want to do? ( i hear all i need is a mic and a preamp and the cable....), you said you were also fooling around with the compressor and something else for that song right? Let me know what you think, 'cuz i have no idea what exactly i need for this. That MXL v77 mic definetly sounds pretty dope though.
 
chiefraven, you've asked the same question for the past week and have gotten plenty of advice from people, yet you disregard it and keep asking ...you're gona end up getting expensive equipment you dont need and wont properly know how to use as a beginer. like a previous poster said, its how you sing more so then "how the mic is" , there may be some expensive mics slightly better for jazz vocals in a studio environment(which you still havent mentioned if you have) but if you cant do it yourself then it doesnt matter how good the mic is. the mic doesnt make you a better "jazz vocalist" . the quote "jazz sound you were looking for" was because of the singer and music, not particularly because of the mic. it may have sounded better for her compared to other mics (which you dont even know really) , but even if it was the best mic for her jazz i dont think you're a 75 year old lady therefor it wouldnt be the same. a certain mic may sound better for you compared to others, but you wont really know until you try them and hear them..people just wont be able to say "this mic will be better for your vocals" etc.
 
chiefraven said:
That song is really incredible. That's the jazz sound i was looking for. I was wondering if you could suggest a few good equipment to get for practicing and recording vocal jazz on my own in my apartment. You said you used the Lexicon Alex reverb (i thought the preamp comes with the reverb function?!? so why do you have a machine just for reverb?) also the preamp you have is that big high-tech mixer right? Obviously, that would be too much and too expensive for a beginner, but could you recommend a good setup i could invest in for achieving what i want to do? ( i hear all i need is a mic and a preamp and the cable....), you said you were also fooling around with the compressor and something else for that song right? Let me know what you think, 'cuz i have no idea what exactly i need for this. That MXL v77 mic definetly sounds pretty dope though.
Click to expand...
Preamps don't usually have built-in reverb. The preamps in the Soundtracs Topaz board are pretty nice, but any decent preamp should work fine. Compression simply reduces the dynamic range of the signal to make it fit better in a recording.

As to whether you'll get the same results that I did, I dunno. I've been doing this recording stuff professionally for more than 50 years, and she's been singing professionally for about that long, too. I could've probably gotten similar results with any one of 20 different mics here, using almost any fairly clean preamp/reverb/compressor.
 
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