A very common
urban myth is that the Eskimos (or, more correctly, Inuit peoples) have an
alarmingly high number of words for snow. You know, the stuff that everyone
wants around the holidays but then wants gone right after New Year’s day…or
maybe that’s just certain relatives. The point is that being in and surrounded
by snow 24/7, it’s not so far fetched to imagine they would (even though they
really don’t).
Similarly, musicians
by and large are not the wealthiest group of folks. I mean, after we’ve spent
our hard-earned cash on limousines, champagne, and five-star accommodations,
there’s very little left in the budget for things like instruments and
microphones. This is why I’m quite positive that we muso-types have more words
for inexpensive than our friends to the north have for that cold white stuff
the falls from the sky of their seemingly endless night.
The real challenge, in
light of these circumstances, is to find not just words but actual products
that represent low price in conjunction with high performance.
Well, thanks to the
fine folks at MXL Microphones (www.mxlmics.com), there seems to be another one:
The V87 Low Noise Condenser Microphone ($399.95 List, $199.95 Street).
The V87 is a single
pattern (cardioid) condenser mic, so it requires phantom power. It has an
internal FET preamp and transformer, which in simple terms means that while it
is essentially a solid-state microphone, the mic actually emulates some of the
characteristics normally associated with much pricier tube models.
Additionally, it’s wired with high-end Mogami cable and comes with an elastic
shock mount and a cool metal pop filter that attaches to the body of the mic.
There are no external
switches, like a -15 dB pad a 80 Hz low-cut filter for instance, so these
functions will have to be supported by either your external mic preamp, or the
input section of your mixer.
I must preface the
following with the following disclaimer: I have some experience with MXL mics,
and I do own a couple. They are good performers, but due to each model’s
idiosyncrasies, I have used them in fairly esoteric applications. For instance,
I have one that has a beautifully extended high end, but it doesn’t take a very
loud signal at all to distort it, so it is usually used in a supportive role
with other more hearty mics or on very quiet sources. Suffice it to say that
while my hopes were high, my expectations were somewhat lower, even though I
was encouraged by the mic’s ability to handle levels up to 133dB.
My first experience
with the V87 was scheduled to be on a vocal session, but at a session that came
up before that, an unscheduled percussionist showed up halfway through. He set
up some congas in the same room with the other performers which included drums,
bass guitar, and violin. Not wanting to slow things down with an elaborate
setup, I simply set the mic up in between the two congas about a foot above
them and a foot back, angled down at the players hands. I was both relived and
impressed by what I heard back: the congas were full and round, due to the
generous low end the mic exhibits, but there was also plenty of great highs
too, so the transients generated by his fingers hitting the skins were captured
wonderfully, even when dragging his hands across the tops of the congas! Due to
the V87’s cardioid pickup pattern, there was plenty of isolation, even with no
baffles up.
The session eventually
included djembe and dumbek, both instruments one might select a different mic
for, but we stayed with the V87 with uniformly excellent results.
Shakers are a real
test of a mic’s ability to accurately capture transients in the high end.
Usually, you’ll find that inexpensive mics are made with cheaper components,
resulting in harsh high end or blurry imaging, but the Mogami cabling seems to
be helping quite a bit here, resulting in a wonderful shimmer in the top end as
well as a very realistic picture of the instrument.
Emboldened by these
outcomes, I decided to stay with this mic on as many different sources as
possible and I never did find one it wasn’t suitable for.
Acoustic guitars had a
beautiful balance of low mid punch and high end sheen, allowing me to set them
prominently in the mix.
On electric guitar
amps, the mic gave a very in-your-face aggressiveness to the tone, but always
with the right amount of low-end chunk.
I used it as a room
mic for drums and guitars and found it to be a very flattering compliment as
well.
Sitar, esraj, bells,
and tambourines are among the more challenging instruments to capture, but
again the V87 had no problem capturing the true sound of these instruments as
they sounded in the room.
In fact, there are
three or four projects I’ve been working on that have used the MXL V87 for
every one of the overdub sessions. This would include all of the lead and
background vocals, an application that this mic is particularly intended for,
as evidenced by multiple references to it online as a broadcast mic.
Herein lies the rub,
for while it is a fantastic vocal mic, it’s also easily the weakest of its
talents. This is mostly due to two factors: the slightly exaggerated high end
that can create troublesome sibilance for some voices and an abundantly large
low end bump created by it’s unique proximity effect. In fact, I found that in
order to tame the bassiness of some voices and instruments, I was placing the
mic a good three feet away from the source! It should be noted that this did
not make the sound too "roomy" in most cases, but it certainly does warrant
keeping it in mind.
The only other caveat
of mine (besides wishing for the pad and low cut switches) was the inability to
remove a mic cable while the V87 is in its shock mount. Instead, one must
carefully unscrew the mic (which twists the cable unnecessarily) and push the
barrel connector through. This is a bit ridiculous and a glaring oversight on MXL’s
part. Still, it was easy enough just to leave the mic in its mount connected to
the cable, even though this will shorten the life of the elastic bands in the
shock mount.
On balance, the price
and performance of this microphone is tilted so squarely in your favor that it
would seem almost absurd not to own at least one. I may go back for seconds or
thirds!
Sven-Erik Seaholm is an
award-winning independent record producer and recording artist. Find him on the
web at SvenSongs.com, KaSPro.com, Lynda.com, and myspace.com/SvenSeaholm.