----------------------------------- Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:56 am MXL SD mic line? ----------------------------------- Hey guys, I figured theres a good bit of MXL talk round here so someone might know... does anyone know what the deal with MXL's small diaphram mic line is: they've got the 603s with i've heard and know I like, then they've also got the 991 (which looks just like the 603s) that they're marketing in mxl mic packages through the illustrious musicians friend, and then the 993 (which looks more like an akg 451) also sold in mic packages and in pairs and seperately through mf. yet MXL's website only has any info on the 603s... anyone have any idea what these other mics are like? i.e. is the 991 a relabled 603s for MF and GC to sell, or a cheaper mic stuck in the same housing to thow in on mic package deals. and how is the 993 different than a 603s) Thanks for any and all help. oh by the way, what happened to the MXL V77? the tube mic d.m. gremlin used to sell... I could never find any info on it on MXL's site and now I don't see it on the gremlin site??? ----------------------------------- D. M. Gremlin Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:30 am Re: MXL SD mic line? ----------------------------------- Hey there - sorry for the really slow reply here. Here's what I think I know about the 603S, 991s etc - MXL has made a deal with Musicians Friend and Guitar Center to make for them an exclusive and ultra-cheap mic line, a decision that I think is in the long run a mistake. From what I understand - though I'll confirm this again with the guy at MXL I talk to about this stuff - the 991/990 and all the exclusive mics sold to the giant corporations are made of cheaper parts than their counterparts. They are NOT re-labeled versions of the same mics. This mistaken association is why I think that this move by MXL is a mistake - they have a few very good mics, but now their name is going to be associated with these cheap - low quality microphones instead, ultimately sabotaging their future. Case in point - the V77S was discontinued. I'm pretty sad about this. This is the second microphone of theirs that I was very fond of that got jack-shit for marketing and ended up getting discontinued. I still use the MXL 1000s for my tom mics when miking drums and they sound better than anything else - I hope none of those break. Now I pray that the two V77S' that I use here in the studio continue to have a long life to them. I'm hoping that the mod that I'm going to do for the MXL V69M can be a replacement or an improvement to the V77S but that has yet to be seen. The mod I'm going to do is to put a 6072 tube - same type as in the AKG C-12VR, and similar to the one that shipped with the V77Ss - in the V69M (replacing the cheap tube that it comes with) and see what the mic with the new tube and internal mogami wiring sound like in comparison to the 77S. Still waiting to get the tube though, likely to happen sometime next week.