New tube mic!

Hey guys, with all the great mic reviews I've been reading on here, I thought I'd share with you my newest tube mic discovery. It's from a company called Pacific Pro Audio and it's called the LD-3 Large Diaphragm Tube Condenser mic. Here's a pic:



You can read a full review on this page. The guy who did the review said it sounds almost identical to a Neumann M-49 but at a fraction of the price:

http://www.delicious-audio.com/

So my question is this: Has anyone here had any experience with this mic or the company Pacific Pro Audio?

Oh and here's another great mic I just found out about:



It's called the Cascade FAT HEAD ribbon mic and is only $175! The following website showcases a ton of samples comparing the FAT HEAD with many other high end microphones. Check it out and let me know what you think:

http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT%20HEAD.html

I currently use a Rode NT1A and run it through a Presonus FP10 audio/midi interface. What type of preamp(s) would you guys suggest I purchase in order to enhance my current Rode NT1A and if I were to purchase both of the mics shown above?

Thanks!

Hmmm.... I already have a Tube mic, but for that price I could get a matched set... hmmm...

Darn disposable income. Where'd I put it? Always hiding from me...

Corey

I agree with the FAT HEAD sounding rather muddy. I listened to a different comparison of it and the sound was very dark.

By the way, there are two more tube mics I'm currently comparing with the PPA LD-3:

1) Avantone CV-12



More info: http://www.avantelectronics.com/CV-12.htm

2) ShuaiYin SYT1200

This mic is apparently a Chinese replica of the AKG C12. There's an ongoing discussion about this mic at the following forum link:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/126401-avantone-cv12-clone-not.html

I definitely don't think you have to spend mega-bucks to get good results, but it probably takes a bit more to get up closer to that point where the price/performance graph lays over and heads heavily rightwards.

I don't know much about ribbons, but something like the Peluso R14 is a nice mic for reasonable cost from what I've heard. It's about $750.

http://www.pelusomicrophonelab.com/R14.html

For a tube mic, the Pearlman TM-1 is excellent. It's about $1600, but the performance is probably as good as things twice the cost, and it's hand made by an actual human in the US. Lots of people use it and it has a user approval rating better than anything else I can really think of. I have one and I really like it.

http://www.pearlmanmicrophones.com/tm1.html

Mics are something that it's worth investing in, since you'll never get the signal better than what you captured. You don't have to have $5000 mics to get good results by any means. But something like the TM-1 is one of those deals that are pretty rare, where you really do get a lot more than what you paid for. It doesn't have the super precise fit and finish of a factory made mic, because it's a one at a time thing. But the sound is what counts and it has that down very well.


For pre-amps, if you are on the budget train as most of us are, I think that the 500 series stuff is a great deal. You do have to make a bit of a commitment up front, to get a frame plus your first module, but after that you can add more at a quite reasonable price compared to the full sized stuff, and the sound quality is very good, in many cases identical to the rack mounted versions for a considerably less.

The Great River 500 format pre-amp is excellent. Again, lots of users, and a very high approval rating by those users, though of course there are always people who don't like anything you want to mention. It's very flexible which makes it good bang for the buck. It can do pretty clean up to highly saturated. It's a great DI for guitar and bass (DI goes through the input transformer so you can get it nice and thick sounding), plus it has two impedances which is very useful for DI or mic, and the sound is great.

But there are LOTS of 500 style mic pres out there right now that a lot of people like. Shadow Hills Gama, Juggernaught, A-Designs P-1, of course the APIs that started it all, Purple Biz, Avedis MA5. Some more more expensive than others, but considerably less than rack mounted stuff of equivalent quality in some cases.

ORIGINAL: ohhey

I think this is the one to watch this year.

http://www.mxlmics.com/condenser_mic/GENESIS/GENESIS.htm

Thanks for the info bro. Any chance of having some links that showcase what this mic sounds like?

I think this is the one to watch this year.

http://www.mxlmics.com/condenser_mic/GENESIS/GENESIS.htm

I have always steered away from MXL. For absolutely no reason. Just one of those things. But the more I hear of their mics, the more I like.

The only budget mics I would never consider are Samson brand mics. I have heard many, and hate them all.

ohhey, do you happen to have any recordings where you've used the MXL V12 for male/female vocals?

I bought a M-Audio Sputnik about a year ago because of all the "glowing" press that it was generating. It is a tube mic and lists for $750-799 and sells for $500+. I am pleased with the detailed sound, I also got caught up in the $40 mic that has reseaved about a million hits in this forum, (it is not a tube obviously) and I must say that in some cases I prefer it to the sputnik...go figure. I guess its all about the sound for the application, irrespective of cost.

ORIGINAL: sven450

Re: Preamp. I just got an ART MPA Gold 2 ch. tube pre (under $300). Spent $40 extra bucks on two new tubes (super easy to switch out) and it sounds fantastic. Loads of gain if you want it, and as I bought two different tubes, I essentially have two different sounding preamp channels.

Cheap, great sounding option.

Thanks for the info bro. I'm currently looking at this badboy:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StudioChan/

By the way, I went ahead and purchased the PPA LD-3 Tube mic I was talking about and I'll let ya guys know what I think after I get some time to mess around with it.

Darn disposable income. Where'd I put it? Always hiding from me...

Corey,

We're all socialist now, right?

When you find it, "spread the wealth", man!

ORIGINAL: JayJayVee

Hey Sven450-

Which MPA replacement tubes did you get and where did you get them?

I just bought the Art Digital MPA several weeks back, and I have to admit I really like the ability to change the sound around with that unit. Lots of flexibility there. I also have a FMR RNP, which is nice and clean, but there are really no options with that preamp to do anything except get a nice clean signal through it. The Art MPA units seems like a very good buy for the money. Can the MPAs compete head to head with the high end or boutique preamps? Prolly not (um, definitely not), but they only cost 1/10th the price too.
JV

I got a Mullard reissue 12Ax7 for one channel (to use with instrument input, mostly bass) and a JJ / Tesla 12AT7 Gold Pin for vocals. I've messed with both pretty extensively and am a very happy guy. Sounds great. I don't exactly have an Avalon to A/B it with, but for the money, it really seems like a great sounding pre. Got them both at Tube Depot. hope that helps.