Does anyone like this as a vocal mic and how much should a used one fetch.

Sanbar wrote:
Does anyone like this as a vocal mic and how much should a used one fetch.


We ended up getting one when they were first introduced. There were
few similarly priced tube mics at the time and we were determined to
widen our palette within a certain time frame. Unfortunately, it
wasn't until we had tried it on every conceivable source that we
concluded it's useless, which took too long to then return it.

We keep it in the closet to remind us of a legendary bad purchase that
we procrastinated too long on returning. Every few years I pull it
out and stick it on something, or someone, thinking that maybe whatever
karma was blocking it had dislodged. But, nope. It goes back in for
another few years.

Sanbar wrote:

Does anyone like this as a vocal mic

No.

and how much should a used one fetch.

I'll give you a dollar if you get it as far away from me as possible.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
Sanbar wrote:

Does anyone like this as a vocal mic

No.

and how much should a used one fetch.

I'll give you a dollar if you get it as far away from me as possible.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

LOL!

Aww come on Scott, doesn't 24 tracks recorded with a SolidTube-ART Tube
MP-Alesis 3630 signal chain and then mixed with a Behringer mixer sound
tempting??? Maybe even sweeten the deal with a C1000 on half the tracks?????


John L Rice

On 4/8/06 4:50 PM, in article ,
"Sanbar" wrote:


Does anyone like this as a vocal mic and how much should a used one fetch.



I auditioned this mic before I bought my current fave, which I'll tell you
about in a moment. I thought with something like "Solidtube" in it's name,
how could I go wrong right? Wrong...

This mic sounds like you're singing thru a box - a thick cardboard close
ended box at that. I still don't know how people use it.

I ended up getting a Marshall V69ME tube mic thru Harvey Gerst's
recommendation here. It was fine for most of my applications. I have a
tenor like voice with not much lows or low mids. Sometimes when I hit the
high notes, it sounded kind of shrill.

Then on a friend's recommendation, I got some Mullard NOS tubes from Ebay
and I switched out the tube that the V69 ships with.

I loooooveeeeeeee this mic now...I don't think I've sounded better thru
anything else before with the exception of maybe a Neumann TLM103 - but
that's way over my budget.

Word of warning though - I had to listen to 2-3 V69s before I found one I
Iiked...

Just my humble 2 cents...

Charles

Charles Alexander wrote:

Word of warning though - I had to listen to 2-3 V69s before I found
one I Iiked...


See, this just flabbergasts me... having to go through them one by one
until you find one that isn't ****ed up doesn't concern you? It doesn't
make you wonder what you might overlook during the audition that will
bite you on the ass later? It doesn't make you wonder how it's going to
hold up even a year or two down the road when they can't even
manufacturer them well enough that any two sound similar?

Personally, I'd rather pay more to a *reputable* manufacturer who takes
care of little, trivial details like QUALITY CONTROL for me.

But then I'm a dinosaur.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

Lorin David Schultz wrote:
Charles Alexander wrote:

Word of warning though - I had to listen to 2-3 V69s before I found
one I Iiked...


See, this just flabbergasts me... having to go through them one by one
until you find one that isn't ****ed up doesn't concern you? It doesn't
make you wonder what you might overlook during the audition that will
bite you on the ass later? It doesn't make you wonder how it's going to
hold up even a year or two down the road when they can't even
manufacturer them well enough that any two sound similar?

Personally, I'd rather pay more to a *reputable* manufacturer who takes
care of little, trivial details like QUALITY CONTROL for me.

But then I'm a dinosaur.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good


I guess it depends on what you mean by "more" - frankly, I don't have a
huge pro audio budget. If you have unlimited resources then I
certainly recommend that you pick up a Neumann TLM 103 or a Soundelux
or some other high end mic. No question. But, I can't justify
spending that kind of $$ for my needs. And if I am patient and
thorough I don't have to...

Besides, the issues I was facing with the V69 were not just a crappy
sounding mic like *all* the Solidtubes I listened to were. There was
just some kind of intermittent subtle crackle/screech that was just
hard to take with my voice going full bore. Kind of not very tolerant
in the upper frequencies. I assumed the cheap tube in it had gone bad.
Plus the way things are shipped to dealers, it wouldn't surprise me if
half of those things sounded that way. It's the nature of the beast.
I'm under no illusions as to what I am paying for in a $300 mic.

A friend of mine just picked up a rebuilt Neumann U67. He's been real
happy with it. But, he had to listen to about 4 U67s over the course
of a year to find this one. Does that mean the U67s are crap? Even
given the fact that they are used vintage. Of course not. It just
depends on what your expectations are.

Everytime I've been in touch with Marshall they've been more than
helpful and they even shipped me accessories that they don't ship
anymore with their mics. Very patient with all my questions and they
have been many,

Wayne from MXL has been great. I have no reason to believe that if I
had a problem with the mic, they'd help me out. But, I've had the mic
for about two and a half years now with no real problems besides having
to switch out the tube. It worked fine without the switch. It just
sounds *way* better now. All for an extra $30 investment.

When I took it apart for the swap, the guts looked real solid. I'm no
expert on mic assembly/disassembly. But even, after my fumbling
fingers working on it, the mic sounds great still.

I wouldn't have dared to attempt this on a Neumann...but then again
maybe I wouldn't have to...

I just know I've been happy with this purchase. I know I wouldn't have
been with the Solidtube. The Solidtube costs more than 3 times what
the V69 costs. Seems like a no brainer to me. But YMMV.

As always, buying from a reputable local dealer helps. BTW, FWIW, my
dealer says the two of the low budget purchases folks make at their
store that comes back with the best return in satisfaction is the V69
and the FMR RNC. One other item is the Studio Projects C1 mic.

Best,

Charles

Hi Barry,

I tried out a Solidtube a few years ago, and like the others who have
replied, didn't like it much at all.

What a used one should fetch depends on whether or buying or selling.
If buying, I wouldn't pay much of anything. You can find much better
mics for so much less. I have an AT2020 that I strongly prefer, and
it's under $100. And I'd probably even use an SM57 over the AKG for
just about anything, and new ones are $75. If you're selling, put it on
Ebay and get what you can.

My $.02,

Dean

Lorin David Schultz wrote:

Personally, I'd rather pay more to a *reputable* manufacturer who takes
care of little, trivial details like QUALITY CONTROL for me.

But then I'm a dinosaur.


Well, since the subject line says "AKG Solidtube"...

I thought AKG was a reputable manufacturer who takes care of little trivial
details like quality control. That makes the Solidtube kind of puzzling,
as well as the C1000 & C3000. I guess in his case "Quality control" means
each unit is equally ****ty?

denovo wrote:

I guess it depends on what you mean by "more" - frankly, I don't have a
huge pro audio budget. If you have unlimited resources then I
certainly recommend that you pick up a Neumann TLM 103 or a Soundelux
or some other high end mic.

Soundelux maybe. The 103 is decent enough, but it's raison d'etre is so
people who DON"T have unlimited resources can get a mic with a little red
diamond logo to make them feel all warm & fuzzy (but not as warm or as
fuzzy as they would if it had a toob in it).


A friend of mine just picked up a rebuilt Neumann U67. He's been real
happy with it. But, he had to listen to about 4 U67s over the course
of a year to find this one. Does that mean the U67s are crap? Even
given the fact that they are used vintage. Of course not. It just
depends on what your expectations are.

No, it means that old things wear out & old things that have been treated
badly wear out sooner. You can bet your ass you wouldn't have had to try
out more than one U67 to get a good one when they were new. That's about
the most ridiculous comparison I've ever seen.


Everytime I've been in touch with Marshall they've been more than
helpful and they even shipped me accessories that they don't ship
anymore with their mics. Very patient with all my questions and they
have been many,

Wayne from MXL has been great. I have no reason to believe that if I
had a problem with the mic, they'd help me out. But, I've had the mic
for about two and a half years now with no real problems besides having
to switch out the tube. It worked fine without the switch. It just
sounds *way* better now. All for an extra $30 investment.


I just know I've been happy with this purchase.

In the end, that's what counts, right?

Scott Dorsey wrote:

Agent 86 wrote:
I thought AKG was a reputable manufacturer who takes care of little
trivial
details like quality control. That makes the Solidtube kind of puzzling,
as well as the C1000 & C3000. I guess in his case "Quality control" means
each unit is equally ****ty?

Yes, this is what ISO 9000 buys you.

I had a similar conversation at work recently regarding SEI/CMM. "Why
bother doing things right as long as we do them wrong the same way every
time."


In the case of the C1000 and C3000, I think they were intended to sound
that way.

The C3000 capsule is very interesting... it is designed for machine
assembly
and machine tensioning. This makes it VERY cheap to make. On the other
hand, there are some severe design constraints that come along with that
reduced manufacturing cost. But it really is a brilliant piece of
engineering work even if it doesn't sound very good.

But all of these microphones are very consistent... each one is exactly
like the others, much like Budweiser.

And I had that conversation this weekend with a friend who wanted to help me
bottle a batch of homebrew. "You mean you don't pasteurize OR cold filter
your beer?"

Well, Fletcher said it's OK to be consistently mediocre as long as you don't
suck.

Agent 86 wrote:
Lorin David Schultz wrote:

Personally, I'd rather pay more to a *reputable* manufacturer who
takes care of little, trivial details like QUALITY CONTROL for me.

But then I'm a dinosaur.


Well, since the subject line says "AKG Solidtube"...

I thought AKG was a reputable manufacturer who takes care of little
trivial details like quality control. That makes the Solidtube
kind of puzzling, as well as the C1000 & C3000. I guess in his
case "Quality control" means each unit is equally ****ty?


Shut up. g I thought of that about ten seconds after I hit send.

I don't know WHAT the hell to think about AKG these days... on one hand
you have the 414EB, 480, 451 and 535, on the other hand you gots yer
C1000 and SolidTube.

It does tend to **** up my argument, doesn't it? It might lead one to
believe that if AKG can make both good stuff and crap, maybe an MI brand
can outsource both crap and... nah.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

denovo wrote:

I guess it depends on what you mean by "more" - frankly, I don't
have a huge pro audio budget.

I dig that. On the other hand, would you rather upgrade several times
over a period of years, losing a little more money each time, or just
get the one that sounds good in the first place, which hurts at first
but ultimately costs *less* and also buys you better recordings?

Let's say the mic you're using now sounds good to you... now. Now lets
say that as you spend more time honing your craft, your listening skills
improve. Now you'll start to hear things you didn't notice before. So
you buy a better mic. Then the same thing happens again. Eventually
you wind up buying the good mic anyway. It just takes you five or six
years to get around to it.



But, I can't justify spending that kind of $$ for my needs.

Neither could I, at first. Then, after a while, I couldn't justify
wasting all the time and effort I was putting into my projects by using
cheap mics. I finally decided that if I'm going to try as hard as I am
to make good recordings, I might as well remove that obvious impediment
to good results and just put decent mics up front to start with.



And if I am patient and thorough I don't have to...

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. Look me up in five
or ten years and see if you still feel the same way.



Besides, the issues I was facing with the V69 were not just a crappy
sounding mic like *all* the Solidtubes I listened to were.

I'll grant you that. Some of the supposedly "pro" brands spew forth
unforgiveable **** from time to time too (*cough*tlm103*cough*). That
said, there are also cost-effective gems that *are* consistently good...
RE20, MD421, TLM193, C535, 4050... you could go on for days listing
not-cheap but not overpriced mics that you'd never feel the need to
replace.



A friend of mine just picked up a rebuilt Neumann U67. He's been
real happy with it. But, he had to listen to about 4 U67s over the
course of a year to find this one.

Of course it's not the same thing to compare relative wear on
forty-year-old mics to consistency of brand-new off the line units
though, is it? C'mon...



I have no reason to believe that if I had a problem with the mic,
they'd help me out.

I have no reason to believe they'd help you out either! g Of course,
neither do I have any reason to believe they wouldn't.



I just know I've been happy with this purchase. I know I wouldn't
have been with the Solidtube. The Solidtube costs more than 3
times what the V69 costs. Seems like a no brainer to me. But YMMV.

If those were the only two options, I'd absolutely agree that you made
the right choice. I just think you might have found something else for
the same price as the SoldaToob that you would have been happy with
forever, whereas I suspect you'll outgrow the Marshall.

I could be wrong though. It's been known to happen.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

Lorin David Schultz wrote:

It does tend to **** up my argument, doesn't it? It might lead one to
believe that if AKG can make both good stuff and crap, maybe an MI brand
can outsource both crap and... nah.

Well, it wasn't that long ago that Audio Technica was essentially an MI
brand. But I don't think they outsource their manufacturing.

On 4/10/06 7:34 PM, in article kQC_f.18899$4S.9553@edtnps82, "Lorin David
Schultz" wrote:

denovo wrote:

I guess it depends on what you mean by "more" - frankly, I don't
have a huge pro audio budget.

I dig that. On the other hand, would you rather upgrade several times
over a period of years, losing a little more money each time, or just
get the one that sounds good in the first place, which hurts at first
but ultimately costs *less* and also buys you better recordings?

Let's say the mic you're using now sounds good to you... now. Now lets
say that as you spend more time honing your craft, your listening skills
improve. Now you'll start to hear things you didn't notice before. So
you buy a better mic. Then the same thing happens again. Eventually
you wind up buying the good mic anyway. It just takes you five or six
years to get around to it.


Maybe - I certainly hope so. But you can only deal with the facts you have
at the moment. Maybe in 5 or 6 years, they'll have mics for $25 that sound
like gazillion dollar vintage mics...just never know. ;-)

But for now, I had a budget and the V69 sounded good enough for my needs...


But, I can't justify spending that kind of $$ for my needs.

Neither could I, at first. Then, after a while, I couldn't justify
wasting all the time and effort I was putting into my projects by using
cheap mics. I finally decided that if I'm going to try as hard as I am
to make good recordings, I might as well remove that obvious impediment
to good results and just put decent mics up front to start with.


I know what the biggest impediment is - the idiot behind the knob. No
amount of money is gonna fix that right now. Just time...


And if I am patient and thorough I don't have to...

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. Look me up in five
or ten years and see if you still feel the same way.


See point one above... :-)


Besides, the issues I was facing with the V69 were not just a crappy
sounding mic like *all* the Solidtubes I listened to were.

I'll grant you that. Some of the supposedly "pro" brands spew forth
unforgiveable **** from time to time too (*cough*tlm103*cough*). That
said, there are also cost-effective gems that *are* consistently good...
RE20, MD421, TLM193, C535, 4050... you could go on for days listing
not-cheap but not overpriced mics that you'd never feel the need to
replace.


One man's cost effective is another man's break the bank...Don't get me
wrong...I totally get what you're saying. If I had the resources, I'd be
clicking "Gimme" all day off of Fletcher's web site - but I have to be
realistic.

Right now, my holy grail *is* the Soundelux U195. But, I'll be waiting for
a while.


A friend of mine just picked up a rebuilt Neumann U67. He's been
real happy with it. But, he had to listen to about 4 U67s over the
course of a year to find this one.

Of course it's not the same thing to compare relative wear on
forty-year-old mics to consistency of brand-new off the line units
though, is it? C'mon...



You know, reading my earlier post that does sound ridiculous. I wasn't
trying to A/B Neumann to MXL. That's silly. What I was trying to say was
since I don't have a big budget, I was prepared to forego convenience.

Apologies to you and Agent86 for the mangling of that thought.

However, there's a certain vibe I'm getting here that a nicer name plate may
mean more reliability. Maybe most of the time but certainly not all the
time. And a cheapo Chinese mic isn't gonna be crap all the time either.

Plus if you're able to return it to a local dealer when a problem arises...


I have no reason to believe that if I had a problem with the mic,
they'd help me out.

I have no reason to believe they'd help you out either! g Of course,
neither do I have any reason to believe they wouldn't.


Touche...


I just know I've been happy with this purchase. I know I wouldn't
have been with the Solidtube. The Solidtube costs more than 3
times what the V69 costs. Seems like a no brainer to me. But YMMV.

If those were the only two options, I'd absolutely agree that you made
the right choice. I just think you might have found something else for
the same price as the SoldaToob that you would have been happy with
forever, whereas I suspect you'll outgrow the Marshall.

Forever is a pretty long time... I like a lot of AKG stuff - love the 414s.
I have their K270s headphone that I think absolutely rocks. Also like a lot
of Audio Technica stuff.

I wish there was a Consumer Reports for Pro Audio. That way all the
guesswork is taken out, you know. But there isn't. This group is about as
close as it gets - with a little bit more personality 8-}

For $300, I thought it was a reasonable risk and so far it's worked out
great. Maybe I bought a Hyundai. But, I didn't think I was buying a Lexus
and I certainly didn't pay Lexus (or even Toyota) prices. Right now I just
need something that'll get me around and not fall apart like a Yugo.

At least it hasn't yet...

I could be wrong though. It's been known to happen.

You're right here -- a lot...Just sharing what worked for me...

Charles

On 4/10/06 10:45 PM, in article ,
"Agent 86" wrote:

Lorin David Schultz wrote:

It does tend to **** up my argument, doesn't it? It might lead one to
believe that if AKG can make both good stuff and crap, maybe an MI brand
can outsource both crap and... nah.

Well, it wasn't that long ago that Audio Technica was essentially an MI
brand. But I don't think they outsource their manufacturing.


Pardon my ignorance - but what does MI mean..?

Charles Alexander wrote:

I know what the biggest impediment is - the idiot behind the knob.
No amount of money is gonna fix that right now.

LOL! That's good...

(Psst, I'll let you in on a little secret, just don't run around telling
everyone -- you have to work harder to wrestle good sound out of crappy
gear. You can do it, but it's harder. Nice gear is MUCH more forgiving
and sometimes will save your ass. Like, oh, say, a certain console that
didn't clip even when 14 inputs suddenly all went WAY past full scale
all at once and caught the operator off-guard... Even just having a
really sweet mic on hand has been enough to win the client's heart more
than once.)



Right now, my holy grail *is* the Soundelux U195. But, I'll be
waiting for a while.

Good goal. Seems like a nice mic. I haven't had the pleasure myself,
but I'm told it's quite versatile and pleasant. Probably a "forever"
mic.



What I was trying to say was since I don't have a big budget, I was
prepared to forego convenience.

Ah, gotcha. That make sense now that I understand what you were getting
at.



However, there's a certain vibe I'm getting here that a nicer name
plate may mean more reliability.

I think that's true. You've probably read Scott's reports of certain
mics being full of flux and other people's remarks about ill-fitting
grilles and seemingly random component part substitutions (not to
mention that whacky American connector company with the set screws
threaded backwards! g). Those things all affect how long you might
expect a mic to last.

It's more than just that though. The most troubling thing about poopy
QC is that you don't know what you're getting right out of the box. It
might be fine, it might be to sound what old gym socks in the back of a
locker are to smell. Unless you're willing to be the QC department
yourself (like you were), you takes yer chances.



I wish there was a Consumer Reports for Pro Audio. That way all the
guesswork is taken out, you know. But there isn't. This group is
about as close as it gets - with a little bit more personality 8-}

This place is actually remarkably good for that. Class, what can you
tell me about the following without ever having heard any of them?

1. FMR RNC
2. AKG C1000
3. Schoeps CMC641
4. Alesis 3630

Anyone who's been here more than a year already knows what to expect
from each of those. There are other examples too, like the C535.

If you pay attention for a while, comparing people's comments to things
you've heard, you get a sense of who hears like you do, and how others
hear things differently. Then when you read the group, you get a pretty
good idea of how something sounds based on how you read specific
people's comments.

Or you can just take Ty's word for it! g

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

Solidtube makes evefryone sound like Shania Twain. You know, that boxy
nasal whine.

geoff

Geoff@home wrote:

Solidtube makes evefryone sound like Shania Twain. You know, that
boxy nasal whine.


Is that what she actually sounds like? I always assumed that was
artifacts from AutoTune.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

Lorin David Schultz wrote:
Geoff@home wrote:

Solidtube makes evefryone sound like Shania Twain. You know, that
boxy nasal whine.


Is that what she actually sounds like? I always assumed that was
artifacts from AutoTune.

Whatever it is, it's ****ing iritating. Not that I listen - you just can't
hit the scan button fast enough all the time while driving...

But I would LOVE Joe Cocker to do a version of You're Still The One...

geoff

PS Somebody said that she has perfect pitch. They didn't mention that it
came in a 1U box ...

Geoff@home wrote:

But I would LOVE Joe Cocker to do a version of You're Still The
One...


Doesn't Antares make a modeller plug-in that will do that yet? Yeesh,
what's the hold up? Should be stupid simple... just select "TooTwainy"
in the input pane and "Cockered" in the output pane and hit "go."

I wanna hear Cher's "Believe" with the input set to "Welk-um Lawrence"
and the output set to "Dylanize."

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

"Lorin David Schultz" wrote in message news:99N_f.2629$Zl.2105@edtnps89...
Geoff@home wrote:

But I would LOVE Joe Cocker to do a version of You're Still The
One...


Doesn't Antares make a modeller plug-in that will do that yet? Yeesh,
what's the hold up? Should be stupid simple... just select "TooTwainy"
in the input pane and "Cockered" in the output pane and hit "go."

I wanna hear Cher's "Believe" with the input set to "Welk-um Lawrence"
and the output set to "Dylanize."

It's gettin' deep in here....


;-)

Agent 86 wrote:
Lorin David Schultz wrote:

It does tend to **** up my argument, doesn't it? It might lead one to
believe that if AKG can make both good stuff and crap, maybe an MI brand
can outsource both crap and... nah.

Well, it wasn't that long ago that Audio Technica was essentially an MI
brand. But I don't think they outsource their manufacturing.

A-T outsources some parts, but the capsule design and manufacture and most
of the important stuff is definitely done in-house.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:07:13 -0400, denovo wrote
(in article .com):

I guess it depends on what you mean by "more" - frankly, I don't have a huge
pro audio budget. If you have unlimited resources then I certainly recommend

that you pick up a Neumann TLM 103 or a Soundelux or some other high end mic.

No question. But, I can't justify spending that kind of $$ for my needs.
And if I am patient and thorough I don't have to...

There seems to be a presumption here that a tlm 103 is a high end mic. It's
very nice, but not a high-end mic.

Over the years this newsgroup has sort of spread its boundaries to include,
welcome actually, a wider spectrum of users. many of them have never really
heard, say, a U87 though a really good preamp.

When discussions start about what mic sounds good, they have their frame of
reference.

Your attempt to explain away a Neumann U 67 as similarly in variance ignores
the fact that these are very old mics in uncertain condition and you don't
state whether the tube in each one was the culprit or what else may have
caused them to sound different. That's an impossiblly naive anaology

I've never heard a Marshall that holds a candle to a properly operating
Neumann. NEVER. Neumann has a great service department as well.

Anyone who favors the C1 has obviously never heard a U 87, U 89, TLM 107, TLM
193 or TLM 103, or wasn't using the Neumann as intended.

I do agree that the SolidTube was a mistake. One made in a frustrating
attempt to cave in to a market that keeps saying they simply don't have the
money to spend on a good mic.

It's sort of sad for really good mic engineers. The boss comes in one day and
says, "Heinrich, listen, the Chinese are killing us in the market. The market
doesn't want steak, they want chop suey. If we don't dumb it down and make it
cheap quickly, we'll miss the wave and you'll be out of a job."

So the prosumer market wins, and get what they asked for and what they
deserve. Imagine the surprise when some of them actually DO get the chance to
hear the good stuff under the right conditions. We hear from them on this
newsgroup and it always brings a smile to my face when they share, with
excitement, their discovery.

Regards,

Ty Ford


-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 00:51:57 -0400, Charles Alexander wrote
(in article ):

I wish there was a Consumer Reports for Pro Audio. That way all the
guesswork is taken out, you know. But there isn't. This group is about as
close as it gets - with a little bit more personality 8-}

You're always welcome to tour the gear review archive on my site. It's pretty
deep with mics.

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 18:47:05 -0400, Agent 86 wrote
(in article ):

Lorin David Schultz wrote:

Personally, I'd rather pay more to a *reputable* manufacturer who takes
care of little, trivial details like QUALITY CONTROL for me.

But then I'm a dinosaur.


Well, since the subject line says "AKG Solidtube"...

I thought AKG was a reputable manufacturer who takes care of little trivial
details like quality control. That makes the Solidtube kind of puzzling,
as well as the C1000 & C3000. I guess in his case "Quality control" means
each unit is equally ****ty?


See my longer post in this string about Steak and Chop Suey.

Ty Ford


-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

Ty Ford wrote in
:

Over the years this newsgroup has sort of spread its boundaries to
include, welcome actually, a wider spectrum of users. many of them
have never really heard, say, a U87 though a really good preamp.

snipped more good stuff

That one just landed in my personal FAQ for resurrection later.
Thanks, Ty.

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:45:23 -0400, Agent 86 wrote
(in article ):

Lorin David Schultz wrote:

It does tend to **** up my argument, doesn't it? It might lead one to
believe that if AKG can make both good stuff and crap, maybe an MI brand
can outsource both crap and... nah.

Well, it wasn't that long ago that Audio Technica was essentially an MI
brand. But I don't think they outsource their manufacturing.


The do on the AT2020 and AT2021, BUT (and it's a big BUT) the deal is a bit
different when AT goes to China and says they're going to order umpteen
thousand mics and they better be right, and they check them in China, again
in Japan and again in Ohio before they hit the street.

That's leverage the small importers just don't have.

And the AT2020 and AT2021 won't sound as good as their 40xx series.

Ty Ford


-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

Lorin David Schultz wrote:

Some of the supposedly "pro" brands spew forth
unforgiveable **** from time to time too (*cough*tlm103*cough*).

Let us not forget the very fine tracks Harvey cut of several different
sources using one of those. It's on the RAP CD's somewhere, maybe the
first set. Certainly didn't sound like unforgiveable **** to me.

--
ha

I have in the past and will do so again in the future...