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$13 Condenser Mic! Wow! (say these guys on the net)


Jim Feeley

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In another forum, purportedly aimed at and peopled with production pros, there's a thread saying these mics are actually really good. I don't know; I'm all for cheap equipment, and I usually let this stuff roll off my back, and maybe they're right. But this just makes me a little sad.

lucky13mic.png

If you want to buy one, go here. Also available in pink.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Floureon-Pro-Audio-Condenser-Microphone-Studio-Sound-Recording-Mic-Shock-Mount-/281744268619

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It has the tell tale signs of coming from the Chinese factory that makes MXL and many other "we put your brand here" U87 etc clones.  In this family is the MXL V67G, which was a not-bad LDC when it first came out about 10 years ago and has since been dumbed even further down, crappier trafo and components--the diff in weigh between older and newer mics of the same model is striking.   This mic is prob OK if you get a good one, the wide variance in QC is the major issue.  In truth they are probably no worse than many mics from the same Chinese factories with different brand names that have much higher prices at places like GC.

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Probably true. Heck, you could buy 10 for $130 and perhaps find a good one. 

Or maybe have a shell for one of the mod+capsule kits out there (if the size, etc is correct) that often start with MXL-class sleeves. These look fun, though I have no idea how they sound. Anyone here tried something like this?

https://microphone-parts.com

micmod.png

Oh check it: they have kits for the BM-700 mics at the top of this thread. They say:

====

"BM-700" is the name used for a number of extremely inexpensive, and extremely low-quality condenser mics sold on Ebay and Amazon. Out of the box, the mics are fairly worthless, but they've become a favorite "donor body" for DIY enthusiasts.

We don't love the BM-700 as a donor mic; the metal parts are the cheapest we've ever seen. The colors are garish (see above). All the internal parts are throw-aways.

Nonetheless, we've developed a series of products that transform the BM-700 into a surprisingly versatile, professional-quality recording device....If you haven't already bought the BM-700, consider our S-25 microphone kit instead. These are significantly more robust than the BM-700; the S-25 body sleeve and end cap alone weigh more than twice as much as their BM-700 counterparts.

====

Rest of that page:

https://microphone-parts.com/pages/bm700-mods

 

Anyone here tried the mods/capsules from this place or others? What did you think?

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The main question is really: what are you buying this mic for?  What do you want to record with it?  The MXL V67G (from this family) turned out to be great on koto--who knew?  It sucked on many other things.  Most soundies on this board already own mics that would serve better on most instruments than this sort of commodity mic, even if they are a bit more directional than what you'd prefer.....

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A while ago I bought a couple of very cheap electret mics from a company called Karma Mics - http://www.karmamics.com/shop/Condenser-Mics/ -  a pair with clips for $26, plus postage to the UK. I bought them as throw-aways for a car recording project that I had planned where it was highly likely that the mics might get damaged and I didn't want to risk anything expensive. In the end, the project fell through and they languished in the mic drawer. I eventually hauled them out just to see how they sounded and ended up using them to save a vocal overload from a wireless mic (not under my control) and was quite surprised at how well they behaved. I've since used them for sound effects recordings in assorted odd locations where I wouldn't risk my Schoeps or Sennheisers and they turn in usable, if not spectacular results. Checking the website, they're now marked as out of stock, so I guess the Chinese have found a more lucrative market, but sometimes a cheap and cheerful mic can be a useful addition to the mic locker.

Cheers,

John

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Unboxing / tear down of the BM-800, which is just a cosmetic change to the BM-700.   Note at 5:20 he finds that only one of the 2 PCBs in the microphone is in the circuit.  The same microphone is also sold with an internal 1.5V battery and electret capsule, so the 3.5mm and phantom power claims are for different models.   The capsule is a 16mm, enclosed in plastic to make it look bigger behind the basket.

usually great fodder for mic mods.   I put a nice FET stage inside my MXL V67G to good effect, but I think the capsule here is just too poor to be salvegeable. I might get this though just for the accessories.

Personally, I'm still waiting for a Groove Tubes GT33 clone ...

 

Here's the closeup of the capsule

343895_orig.jpg

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On October 10, 2016 at 0:02 PM, soundmanjohn said:

A while ago I bought a couple of very cheap electret mics from a company called Karma Mics - http://www.karmamics.com/shop/Condenser-Mics/ -  a pair with clips for $26, plus postage to the UK. I bought them as throw-aways for a car recording project that I had planned where it was highly likely that the mics might get damaged and I didn't want to risk anything expensive. In the end, the project fell through and they languished in the mic drawer. I eventually hauled them out just to see how they sounded and ended up using them to save a vocal overload from a wireless mic (not under my control) and was quite surprised at how well they behaved. I've since used them for sound effects recordings in assorted odd locations where I wouldn't risk my Schoeps or Sennheisers and they turn in usable, if not spectacular results. Checking the website, they're now marked as out of stock, so I guess the Chinese have found a more lucrative market, but sometimes a cheap and cheerful mic can be a useful addition to the mic locker.

Cheers,

John

I have a pair of the Silver Bullets and have used them on a variety of instruments and they're really pretty good.  Very small too.

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