Thursday 12 May 2011

Mojave MA-200



David Royer and his company Royer Labs have a great reputation for their fine line of ribbon mics. When the time came to manufacture David’s designs for non-ribbon mics, Mojave Audio was formed to create and market that brand exclusively. And my God what an amazing microphone it is...




The MA-200 is the new company’s first production mic. It’s a cardioid condenser mic with a 3-micron thick, 1'' capsule; a JAN 5840 tube; and a Jensen transformer.
Dusty Wakeman, famed producer, bass player, and studio owner, is the president of Mojave Audio, and I was fortunate enough to work with Dusty on a record recently.



We initially set up the MA-200 as the vocal mic for the tracking session. Even though this was a scratch vocal, I thought it would be fun to hear what the microphone sounded like while recording basic takes. It was immediately evident that this mic sounds fantastic. I really liked the way it was smooth on the top and round on the bottom..

The MA-200 capsules are of Chinese origin. It is a 3-micron, dual-diaphragm design, although the rear diaphragm is neither sputtered nor wired into the circuit. The presence of the rear diaphragm is required to put the proper acoustic load on the capsule. The front diaphragm is center-terminated; David Royer has commented that Chinese copies of the Neumann K67-style (large-diaphragm) capsules are more consistent and higher quality than other Chinese LDC capsules.

The MA-200 uses a 5840 pentode vacuum tube in a plate-loaded circuit configuration. The output is transformer-coupled, using a Jensen transformer.
The tube power supply can be switched for 115V or 230V operation, at 50 or 60Hz.

Overall the mic really has its own personality, its not an exact replication of the source but it certainly manages to bring out the best of the artist, with both men and women. I honestly cant believe how superior this mic is relative to other mics i have that are twice and three times the price. Its always somewhat difficult to explain in words, the 'sound' of a microphone, and what makes it unique, but believe me when i say if you're in the market you need to give this mic a shot.

The sound is so superb Ive even decided to replace my U87 ($3,100) with it for most records. It has become the standard in my studio.

So how much? you ask. $1095.00 Expensive to those who arent serious about music, but an unbelievable value to those who are.


Score (out of 10):

Sound Quality: 9.5
Design: 9.5
Value: 10

27 comments:

  1. Lovely blog. Could you do a post for those just beginning in music and general sound?

    All I really know about are the basics like all the cords, how to set-up for a live show, how to work the mixer, and how to edit and master in Soundbooth (I use CS5 personally)

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  2. very informative, i loved it ! :D

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  3. wow... that much...

    Im studying electrical engineering so this is really informative! Consider yourself a new follower!

    But it does not really look that expensive...

    $upporting! Chocotaster!

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  4. Great post. Really informative.

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  5. Now that's pretty fancy, looks pretty damn good.

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  6. so much technology for a so common thing but I thing those little details gives a great difference when it comes to professional matters. Followed.

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  7. 1,095 thats pocket change!

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  8. Oh man, that's so cool... Kareoke anyone?

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  9. Very nice, thanks for the heads up!

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  10. Really in depth, seems a bit expensive though!

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  11. Wow, that's a really nice microphone. I want one.

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  12. never mind how good it is, that thing is beautiful!

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  13. I wish I would need a mic like that. However, I can't sing so I don't ....

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  14. Well I'm a drummer, so if I'm going to drop 1k on a mic, it's gonna be some condensers. That is an amazing mic though.

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  15. you look like you really know your stuff! following =)

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  16. Ohhhh shiney... A bit out of the range for us amateurs but we can dream ;0

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  17. Whoa, for a $1k mic to replace a $3k mic, I guess you know it's good!

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  18. so much info :-) *clap clap*

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  19. That is indeed an expensive price. But hey for those who are passionate about music it's probably worth it.

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  20. Looks pretty fancy, really don't have a need for one, but thanks for the info.

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  21. hope you have a nice preamp to go with that

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