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Hi, I want to get 2 mics to record my acoustic guitar. I just spoke with a guy at Guitar Center, and he said the Marshall MXL603 was getting some very good reviews and that 2 of those may be better than the MK-012's. Does anyone have any info. on the these mics?
Thanks.

Comments

KurtFoster Thu, 07/01/2004 - 20:41

Look out for those Guitar Center "guys" ... most don't have a clue and cannot offer any real insight. They are "sales specialists" not gear freaks ...

I personally don't care for either of those mics. In this price range, I recommend the Studio Projects C4's ...

The C4's come as a "matched pair" with both omni and cardioid capsules and shock mount mic clips housed in a very nice flight case.. for about $500.. anything else comparable will cost twice as much.

The C4's also have been getting great reviews. I wrote one myself!

[="http://www.recording.org/e-mag/article_110.shtml"]PMI 3 'fer![/]="http://www.recordin…"]PMI 3 'fer![/]

But don't take my word for it ....

Check this link ..

[[url=http://="http://www.oade.com…"]Tapers Link[/]="http://www.oade.com…"]Tapers Link[/]

... it is a collection of comments from concert "tapers" and is completely independent .. no magazine reviews or comments from people who received their review pieces on loan from the manufacturers or a "gear pimp". These guys all bought theirs ... see what they say ...

KurtFoster Fri, 07/02/2004 - 15:50

Mic to mic consistency is an issue with the Octavas ... there is no denying this. Just go to GC and audition 4 of the same thing ... each one will sound different. Bad QC ... The ones at The Sound Room (where Shelltones purchased his) are matched better because SR staff does this ... but they charge more than other retailers like GC for this extra service (worth it btw) .

The MXL's also have QC problems, failure in the field and bad build quality ... for everyone who says they like them, there is someone else complaining about them failing or falling apart.

Studio Projects matches pairs and does a very extensive Quality Control check on all their mics prior to shipping them out from their US facility.

They may cost a bit more but IMO, it is worth it.

anonymous Tue, 07/06/2004 - 18:03

Cedar Flat Fats wrote: Mic to mic consistency is an issue with the Octavas ... there is no denying this. Just go to GC and audition 4 of the same thing ... each one will sound different. Bad QC ... The ones at The Sound Room (where Shelltones purchased his) are matched better because SR staff does this ... but they charge more than other retailers like GC for this extra service (worth it btw) ...

Just to clarify, I did purchase the Oktava at GC. But before I did, I looked at one in the store and rejected it because it looked used and dirty. Then I took two others home. One had bad threads on the preamp body. The other had bad threads on the pad. Luckily, by mixing and matching the caps, pads and preamp bodies, I made one that closely matched (to my ears and preamp gain settings) my MXL603s.

So what you say about build quality is true. It's a tad risky to buy them from GC.

I did purchase the omni cap from the Soundroom, however.

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