Peluso Microphones

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Jones
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Michael Jones

Michael Jones

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A friend of mine, Fred Remert, owner of Cedar Creek Recording told me about a new microphone manufacturer, John Peluso of Peluso Microphone Labs.
John is making astonishing copies of some pretty famous mikes, for not a whole lot of money. And they're all hand-built, right here in the USA. (Not a cheap Chinese condensor copy!)

While I have yet to hear these mics, Fred Remert, whom I trust emmensly, tells me that John's mics are indeed incredible.

John and Fred have been in the business for more years than some of you have been alive, and Fred has a pretty impressive list of clientiel.
I'm definately going to snag one of these mics in the comming months.

If the prices for what you get seem too good to be true, you can read a little about John's philosophy here.

Just thought I'd pass this on.

<edit> I should qualify something here:
Machining for the mic bodies and metal work IS done in china.

DOT may know a thing or two about these mics. Hopefully he'll chime in.
 
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I wish I'd heard about this when the ELAM's were going for the promo price. I'd have been on that in a heartbeat. These look really great for the money.
 
Reviews are starting to trickle in. So far, they have been favorable.
 
Looks cool. I'd be interested in seeing those reviews, I couldn't find anything after a quicky search. Ta :)
 
That 47 looks VERY interesting. I wonder how these stack up next to the Lawson mics.
 
Track Rat said:
That 47 looks VERY interesting. I wonder how these stack up next to the Lawson mics.
Click to expand...
I don't know. I've never heard either.
I thought you had a Lawson mic?

The 47 is the one that's got my eye too.
 
I don't know who they're being distributed by, other than Peluso Mic Labs.
 
* bump

these seem so interesting... a 47 for the cost of a tlm 103? hmmmmm i sez... hmmm!
 
Even the CEMC6 looks nice... with the cardioid & omni capsules.

Checkout their "PARTS AND ACCESSORIES" page... tubes, etc. :)

Wow, what a great link (thanks Michael)... also checkout the "REPAIRS AND RESTORATION" page... way cool.

ADDED: Humm, SOUNDKING?
 
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anyone got audio samples or personal use on these guys yet? I'm very interested
 
Its funny with all the positive reviews I've read, I've yet to hear a good track using one of these. I did hear a track where it was used on vox, but it sounded EQ'd to hell.
 
I can tell you by experience about Peluso Microphones. It all started when I needed a new capsule for my U47. Neumann wanted $1K, Blue $400. I won't say which I ordered, but it souned like crap. I saw the Peluso Labs web site and bought one of his capsules because they were so inexpensive and I had little to loose. His capsule blew the others away. Since his lab is only 1.5 hours drive away from me, I paid him a visit. He orders his brass from Europe, sends it to China for the machining, then builds the capsules and electronics. Only the exterior is Chinese. I know this for a fact because I have watched him build the capsules and assemble the electronics. One of the top transformer company winds his transformers custom designed for him. I bought one of his 47 clones. On every recording project, I do mic test for vocals and let the client pick their mic. Since I bought the Peluso microphone, every client (and I agreed) picked his mic. I bought the 251 clone. It sounds great on some voices (like all mics) but it is the best acoustic guitar mic I have used. I compared it with an original AKG C-12 and Peluso's was so much better, it was night & day. No comparison, whatsoever. Last weekend I bought one of his CEMC6 small diaphram mics. It sounds a lot like a Neumann KM-56. It is one fantastic mic on mandolin, but that is all I have tested it on so far. But, it is the best small diaphram mic I have, beats the socks off a KM-184 and Octava MC-012, AKG 1000, AT4041, Blue Baby Bottle and the Sennheiser ME340 which before had been my favorite. This was done under actual test, not talk. I will report after I have tested it on more instruments. His 47 clone is now my favorite acoustic bass mic. I have tried many mic's on bass and this is the only one that will record it and no eq is needed to make it sound good on both large & small speakers.
It would supprise you which studios John Peluso does repair work on their microphones. It would also suprise you to know who he makes capsules for. He is now putting one in my AKG 414. I will report when I get it back, which should be this week. He is fast on service. You might find a microphone as good as his, but you won't find one better. I know you won't find one that sounds better at his prices. I've got to run now. More later.
 
Wow this looks cool!
What do you guys thinnk would be a better mic for all around vocal tracking? I was going to buy a Soundelux U195 but now I may have to think about this......
 
Larry-

Could you post some samples of your work with one of the Peluso mics? I think you'll find that a very loud minority on this BBS will immediately call you a spammer if your first post happens to be something positive about a product that hasn't seen much in the way of reviews, particularly without something to back it up.

Everything I've seen on these mics has been vaporware...no reviews from any recognized sources, nothing. There's another thread about these on Dot's forum, and the reviewer is supposedly waiting on a power supply.

Does the phrase "too good to be true" come into play here, at least until someone with some recognized credibility gets their hands on one? I trust Michael (the originator of this post), but even his review is coming second hand...
 
Larry Blevins is NO spammer. I've read many of his posts on other BBS's.
 
Thanks, Mike. No, I am no spammer. As a matter of fact, I don't know exactly what is meant by that word. I've been on different forums for years as "Larry", "LarryB", "LarryBinVA", etc. I talked to John Peluso and have offered the use of my studio to make a demo CD of his microphones. I have the vocalist and musicians lined up. John is arranging the Telefunken ELA 251, Neuman U47, AKG C12, etc. which are in pristine condition and at their peak performance, to compare to his. You can't compare an old mic in just fair condition (like mine), to another. You need to hear what a new U47 sounded like in 1950. If you are wanting me to post some MP3's, forget it. The quality sucks so bad you can't really tell anything. I hate MP3's with a passion, cassette tape is better. I have already recorded one song by a great female singer and everything on it was done with his microphones with no eq. Just reverb and LA2A's and Studer tape on the final to smooth it. We plan to put it on John's demo CD, but I'll talk to John and see if we can't go ahead and just release this song. I have the writer's permission to use it.
Peluso mic's are too good to be true. I was full of doubt when the RNC compressor came out for that low price and promised such good performance. I now use it on every vocal recording. Low price, high quality. It does happen. I'm getting nothing from this. All I want is to let the poor man know that he can buy top quality mics at a good price. I keep you up on the progress.
 
Larry-

Thanks for the response.

The "SPAM" reference is near and dear to the hearts of a vocal minority here at HomeRec who think that people plugging gear, especially with their first few posts, are somehow connected to the manufacturer or retailer and are plugging the gear only to boost sales, regardless of the quality of the product.

I've actually been trying to get more info on the mics from people who have used them or reviewed them. There's a thread over on Dot's forum right now basically asking the same questions...Dan was supposed to get a couple of mics for review, so we're waiting patiently for the review once he gets them.

I'm not much of an "early adopter", particularly when it comes to $1K+ mics...they sound like a hell of a deal, but without the ability to use them myself, and without feedback from people I've come to know and trust (no disrespect intended), I'm a little hesitant to jump on a new product.

I AM going to be putting together a "Gold" vocal chain this summer (probably going to invest around $2K, total, for a pre and a mic), and the Peluso products interrest me greatly...but I hope they get some out for review pretty soon....
 
Phil, I'm with you on this. I have bought so much junk through the years based on some person's opinion. I am now at the point where I will not buy any audio equipment without the right to return it if I don't like it. It has to sound better than what I have. I am an old tube trained tech and love the sound of tubes & transformers. I've got 37 years in audio electronics. I modify all my equipment to improve the sound or give it a different color. I probably have about a thousand tubes and at least that many transformers, but tubes and transformers differ. Discrete electronics is my only way to go, because I will modifiy it. My Neve preamps and Peluso mics are the only units I own that I have left alone, you can't improve them. I have modified microphones and experimented with them too. A GE 6072 (12AY7) Black Plate tube will help most of the C12 design microphones, like the MXL V77. The V77 uses a single diaphram capsule unlike a C12, but the electronics are simular. Put a Peluso capsule in it, double the size of the output capacitor and it makes one fine microphone. (The Telefunken and Mullards are good in amps but are too soft in a microphone to cut in the mix, in comparison with the black plate tubes), however, the Sylvanias are my favorite tubes for any other application, especially tube compressors. Sylvania tubes, as a whole, have more gain than any other, which in some applications is good and some bad. If you have a 12AX7 tube, you can change it to any 12A_7 (or their industrial number) and you wont hurt anything. Keep changing it until you can say "that sounds a little better."
It has been my experience that good studio sound is not one piece of equipment, but, an adding of each "that sounds a little better" until your whole setup sounds a great deal better. I agree fully, by experience, with Daking. Transformers are the only way to go. You can match impedance correctly with them when nothing else works. Balanced to unbalanced and vice-versa really benefits from transformers and all you have to do is make up the plugs to transformer connections. You don't have to modify the equipment. Jensen's web site shows how to do this. Even cheap equipment sounds better doing this. There are many ways to improve sound without spending a lot of money and some products that sound good that are inexpensive. You just have to try them and trust your ears, not opinions.
 
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