which tube condenser mic?

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livepast00

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I am looking into buying a new mic solely for vocals, as of right now I am using at4040, its a good microphone but not for me, I would like to try a tube condenser microphone and I'm deciding on these and as of right now I am leaner towards MXL v69, has anyone had experience with these microphones on vocals?


-MXL 960
-MXL 9000
-MXL v69ME
-CAD M9
-Behringer T-1
-Behringer T-47



THANK YOU!!
 
"Cheap" and "tube" in the same sentence almost invariably leads to "crap" in the next.

Why tubes anyway...? If you're looking for that "tube" sound (that marketing guys like to throw around so often), it rarely ever came from tubes in the first place...
 
We were using a V69 Mogami Edition in the vocal booth for a few months, and it's actually not a bad mic for the price. The web mount it comes with is kind of cheap, but as long as you don't abuse it, it's functional. And that's usually the case with the web mounts that come with most of the cheap condensers. It's not so hot on the AT either.

But here's the thing that gets me. AT condensers mics are kind of known for not being very "dark" or bass-heavy mics. That you say that your 4040 sounds too bass-heavy is kind of an anamolous report. I'm just wondering how sure you are that its the mic itself that's cause of the problem.

In fact, I'll tell you that we replaced the V69ME with an AT 4050 just a couple of weeks ago, and in our opinion, anyway, it's the superior-sounding mic. Now, I'll be the first to say that the 404 and the 4050 are not the same mic, but I will say that I couldn't guarantee that the V69 will necessarily be any better for you. It's a flip on the coin at best in my book.

G.
 
I bought the Behringer t-1 yesterday and am burning the tube in right now.
It started off good and seems to improve every time I go back and check.
I'm satisfied at this point but can't rate it until later this evening.
So far, I'm finding it a good deal warmer than any of the Behringer, Large Diaphragm mics.
Is quite sensitive and has a nice presence.
I've been testing it on vocals but have still to try it in a mix.
 
The MXL 9000 is a good choice for modding. With a new tube, transformer, and capsule it can be a great mic, and it would be cheap to mod. And if you don't want to mod, it's decent stock. And it's my avatar.
 
The Karma K-58 is a nice mic for the price (I changed to stock Chinese tube for a NOS JAN which I think helped immensely, the stock tune seemed a bit grainy)

I think they're still under $300

though I should mention I'm running it through a Prism MMA-4XR pre...
 
what is it that you don't like about AT4040 the AT4040 ?


sadly at4040 isnt right for me :( Im going to take break from using it and come back to it in a month or 2


Ive saved up and picked up a brand new spanking sterling audio st69 mic, and its the first and best tube mic ive used, it sounds amazing when i record my piano and guitar, and its great on vocals! it has a warm sound, Id recommend sterling audio st66/st69, i picked up st69 because it has 3 different polar patterns and its going to be very useful to me in the future
 
There is the factory modded stellar CM6 and the MXL 2003a both are talked about extensively in the microphone forum. possible the next microphone for me will be the CM6.
 
I'm all for trying out different microphones but don't sell the 4040's short. They are a very versatile mic and do a great job on many sources. Like Massive said earlier you need to be very careful with inexpensive tube mics.

Charlie
In Tune Audio
 
Uh huh. So what don't you like about it?
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Taste in mics is such a subjective thing. Guess it just doesn't work for him.

Got to spend a bit more time with the Behringer T-1, this time running it through the Golden Age Pre 73.
I burned the tube in for a full 4 days (Just the way it turned out) and I have to say, I'm very pleased with it.
It brings some warmth to the sound while still maintaining a certain brightness but not over the top in either department.
I'll probably be using this one instead of the Golden Age Ribbon and will save up my pennies for either a Golden Age Tube or an AKG Solid Tube.
The T-1 has certainly peaked my interest in tube mics.
 
burned the tube in for a full 4 days
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I'd bet a dollar that you could remove the tube and jump the connections with paper clips and it wouldn't sound any different.

In any case, "Tube" sound rarely ever comes from tubes. And certainly not in a $150 mic without a high-voltage power supply.
 
The T1 does have a power supply, that being said I've not heard of needing to burn a tube in for 4 days before.
 
The T1 does have a power supply, that being said I've not heard of needing to burn a tube in for 4 days before.
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Heh, heh!
Yup! Just didn't get around to switching it off.
As for Massive Masters comments: You know, he gave himself a really big handle but he has never made a comment that would lead me to believe that he is all that well endowed.
In any other forum, he would be regarded as a troll.
'Nuff said.
 
Did buring it in make a lot of difference, I just got one from the sale meself.
 
Massive Master said:
"Cheap" and "tube" in the same sentence almost invariably leads to "crap" in the next.

Why tubes anyway...? If you're looking for that "tube" sound (that marketing guys like to throw around so often), it rarely ever came from tubes in the first place...
Click to expand...

This pretty much sums up anything I had to offer, but I will agree with Glen that the MXL V69 mogami is a usable mic. I have one and it gets some use, but I would not want it to be my main mic.

The Audio Technica AT4060 is an outstanding mic, but it does not do what most people are thinking of when they think of "tube" sound.
 
Ronan said:
the MXL V69 mogami is a usable mic. I have one and it gets some use, but I would not want it to be my main mic.
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That's a good way to put it. If $300 is all one can afford, and not a penny more (not counting tax or shipping ;)), one could do a lot worse then the V69ME. We have recorded some very good vocals with it (once we replaced a flakey tube :P).

But once one has had experience with or access to better mics, it's real easy to say, "As long as you're spending three hundred clams on something as life-unimportant as a microphone, you really should just wait and save up another couple of hundred for the next class of mic altogether, because the difference in performance is actually worth it."

And again, I have to re-iterate that a complaint that an AT LDC is too bass-heavy is rather like a complaint that sucking helium makes one sound too baritone. It makes me wonder if it's actually the mic that's the issue, or that the MXL will solve that for you. Most folks would consider moving from an AT4040 to a V69ME a downgrade.

G.
 
Did buring it in make a lot of difference, I just got one from the sale meself.
Click to expand...
Yes, it did.
There was some distortion close up and a pretty high noise floor, in the beginning.
Both are gone.
The quality of the sound, which was almost acceptable in the beginning, became quite excellent.
Using the Golden Age Pre 73 with it, just put it over the top.
This is an excelent microphone. (Behringer T-1)
 
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