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  1. #1

    Lightbulb OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    So, this just happened... Mojave Audio Debuts MA-1000 ***8232;Large-diaphragm Multi-Pattern Tube Condenser Microphone
    Featuring an original new old-stock 5840 tube, a 251-style capsule, and a custom-designed transformer built by Coast Magnetics.

    Coming in a a mere 2995 us ( 3995 can )

    Im not sure how people can Justify these days these HUGE prices on gear.. Is there that much demand?

    The return time on your money would be LONG....for me anyway, especially since that just ONE microphone...

    At the same time you have the New ASTON Microphone out of the UK, releasing a fully Made in the UK Microphone NOT trying to copy any old designs, for 199 and 299 euros ..
    Carey A. Langille
    Producer/Engineer
    Ocean Sound Productions
    www.oceansoundstudio.com
    Creativity at the Speed of Sound

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    Carey,
    I'm not sure how people can Justify these days these HUGE prices on gear.. Is there that much demand?
    Good point, Carey! I am not sure how they can as well...and I am often completely "kerfuffled" when it comes to the gear some folks purchase.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Quad Cities Il
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    736

    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    And yet People still think a $99 SM58 is a great vocal mic


    Butch

  4. #4
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    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    Quote Originally Posted by Carey Langille View Post
    Im not sure how people can Justify these days these HUGE prices on gear.. Is there that much demand?
    Perhaps the lack of demand is part of why they feel it necessary to charge so much?
    Lovingly signed,
    Robert Randolph

  5. #5

    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    Most of the cost is probably due to the diaphragm. The really expensive ones use pure gold while the cheaper ones use a different conductive metal with a tiny bit of gold mixed in. There is a difference in the sound, but like all things it can be very subjective.

  6. #6

    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    There are a lot of different mics out there (so I may go too far out on the limb of speculation) but I think diaphragms are frequently composits like mylar with the conductive material (like gold) sputtered on it. Gold has a bad property (for mic diaphragms) of being highly massive. Also it is highly maliable so I doubt It could be stretched and maintain elastic behavior. But this does allow it to be made extremely thin. It also has two fantastic properties one being the highest conductivity and also it is non-corrosive. The corrosion resistance will allow it to stand up to breath and other environmental factors over time. Anyway, I am deducing that there is not a whole lot of gold on a diaphragm.

    Probably in the old days they may have adhered gold leaf to some elastic propertied material or plated some gold on springier metal. But now modern manufacturing has lots of possibilities. I would be shocked if there isn't a mass-produced inexpensive capsule that blows away everything from past decades. There may be even a whole mic that has all of the other components that makes it fantastic.

    I have a couple of Rode NT1a s. They are not trying to be a condenser of old - still they are great in other ways - and for 200 bucks even more so. I have not really experimented with them that much - just parked them overhead a drum set early on - and that is where they go.

    I looked at the Asten site, I have to say, they look kind of cool. I wonder how they sound?

    Just like now, there is a lot that contributes to the capturing of sound. The instrument, room, know how and especially the player. A lot of the music I love went through a ****load of vacuum tubes and analog tape and transformers - all of those 3 things highly color the sound - and often in pleasing ways. Above all, there was an organic quality about it that seems to get lost with surgical precision, auto-tune and the quest for the perfect take (although I love Steely Dan).

    Ribbon mics work on a different principle. I would guess that there have been a couple of gold ribbons.

    I may have to research this mic manufacturing history - but for now, you get the rant of speculation...

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    Having had a lot of "good" mics over the years the trick is to have a system that will show off the benefits of a "better ie more expensive" mic. It won,t do you much good to have a $3000 mic and be monitoring on a cheap set of speakers. A buddy has a Neuman U87i and unless I play back stuff on my Genelecs I can't hear a diiference. My ears too. I have modded cheap XL990 mics and made them sound better but still not like the U87. I owned a pair of vintage C12A AKG's and they were amazing, so I guess bottom line is people will pay for what they think is better and if they can hear the difference then maybe to them its worth it.
    Steve L.
    Audio-Video Electronics
    Mountain View Recording

  8. #8
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    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    There are already so many mics out there for far less that have proven they are good enough and even more Johnny listener would never be able to tell the difference. That's my 2 cents

  9. #9

    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    Nothing like a U47.
    U87 aren't too bad either.
    An earlier model AKG451 is OK too.
    All depending what you need and what you hear...
    There's a realism - a sound - that is hard to imitate, electronically or acoustically.
    Carl G.
    Voice Talent/Audio Producer
    www.creativetrax.com

  10. #10

    Default Re: OT: Rising costs of buying "Boutique"

    Just received a copy of Sweetwater's Pro Gear Winter 2016 catalog with a cup of coffee I love flipping through its pages; for the free work I do (mostly recording friends with no money) I cant justify buying 90% of the stuff gracing the pages of this catalog. A friend of mine with a studio in Brooklyn NY would only use his Neumann U87 for paying clients the other guys get the Shure SM58.

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