Nady TCM 1100 tube mic

[jaz49]

What's the story on these? Does anyone have one of the newer incarnations of this model? The original ones were supposed to be the same as the MXL v77 I think. Then they changed to a new factory in China, FWIR, and the mic is totally different. I'm wondering how they compare to the cheaper MXL tube mics...or the v69ME. Or, would I be better off forgetting about a tube mic and getting something like a ADK Hamburg, AT4040, m-audio Luna, or v67g? This would be for vocals only(male baritone). I'm looking for an upgrade to my AT3035.

 

[thajeremy]

I just purchased a 1050 from a friend a few days ago for $125.....he even through in a brand new Electro Harmonics tube....I think its supposed to be pretty similar to the 1100...but since I have not yet tried it....I cant comment on it...

 

[PhilGood]

We need to clarify. The 1150 and 1050 have the same circuit. The 1150 is the same as the Apex 460 and the 1050 looks like a stubby U47.

The 1100 is like a snubbed U67 and has a similar circuit to the V77. It was originally made by 797 Audio and was/is quite a good mic, if its the original version. Nady broke ties with 797 for its manufacture of this and took the design to another source. Alctron I believe. The Alctron version uses a different capsule (inferior IMO) and mylar capacitors compared to the polypropylene ones in the 797 version. Both still use electrolytics as the output cap. I would say the earlier version is better. I had a secondary version that I modified, and after it worked I found it to be equal to the 797 version, which is a darn good mic.

To know which is which, the ring at the bottom of the grill has two raised edges around it. On the Alctron version it is smooth.