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New ribbon mics for $69? What a crazy world...


Jim Feeley

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Yes, it's MXL. And yes it's Guitar Center. So I'm not buying one. But I'm still surprised to see a ribbon mic, even a probably crappy one, available for so cheap...

 

Breathless description lifted from GC's website:

MXL R80 Ribbon Microphone 

Go ahead... get loud. Designed as a studio go-to mic for daily recording, the MXL R80 is built to last inside and outside. MXL has built modern ribbon elements into the R80 microphone. It has a high SPL capacity, making it suitable for guitar cabinets and horns. The figure 8 polar pattern lets sound roll in from both sides of the mic to create a ...
 
 
J21168000000000-00-250x250.jpg
 
 
If you care, the deal is available for about 12 more hours.
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Ya, I'm semi-hip to ribbon mics. I'm just surprised that there's a market for such incredibly cheap ones...

 

And speaking of (well, looking at) Royer, have you seen their new AxeMount clip? Lets you set up a R121/SM57 pair for a guitar cab with a lot less fiddling and just one stand. Available next week, they say:  https://royerlabs.com/the-new-axemount-dual-microphone-clip/

 

 

AxeMount.png

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Some years ago when I my location music work was expanding faster than my budget I got some MXL LDCs.  They were bought a few months apart, same model. On unpacking mic #2 I noticed a serious difference in heft between it and #1, like it was much lighter.   An examination of the innards revealed that the two mics had relatively few components in common, including the transformer.  Let us say they were somewhat less than an exact match.  That was pretty much the end of my MXL period.  There are a lot of brands put on the same cheapo mics from China, in fact I was told that with a fairly small minimum order I could have a set of PHIL-FI branded mics of this sort.  Any takers?

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Why am I not surprised? A couple friends (and it looks like lots of other people) have found good uses for MXL mics: As donor bodies for fairly complete mods, with new capsules, electronics, etc. Like everything, information and parts are more available now than in the old days. If you find a trusted source for capsules and/or order a few to find a good one, it seems like you build something kinda fun and kinda useful. 

 

There are probably better sources, but this place is supposed to be a decent low/mid-level source for kits and parts: https://microphone-parts.com

No ribbon kits currently, but they do have what they claim is something inspired by a Schoeps CMC5: https://microphone-parts.com/products/sdc-microphone-kit

 

slideshow_3.jpg?17

 

OK, I'm getting pretty far off topic here... I'll stop.

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