Mojave Audio MA-100 Small Diaphragm Tube Condenser Mic

In 1985, David Royer (Royer Labs) started producing hi-quality condenser microphones on a small scale from his garage in Fullerton, CA.  Today these mics are highly sought after by engineers and producers for their precision, character and design.  After reading some back story about David, I decided to buy a Mojave MA-201fet when I was in the market for a general "all-purpose" mic and found that it gave a great sonic representation of just about anything.  It has since become my "go-to" mic for recording!  When it came time to record drums recently for my band The Sour Notes, I thought I'd give a pair of MA-100s a try as overheads.  These small diaphragm tube condensers feature two interchangeable, 3-micron capsules, Jensen transformer and a military-grade JAN 5840 vacuum tube.  I ran them through a slightly overdriven UA 4-710d preamp, which gave me a crisp, bright response that sat great in the mix!  I set them up about 3-feet above the hi-hat and floor tom and used a Beta-52 on the kick, 2-57s on the top & bottom snare and an Octava MK-319 5-feet in front of the kit.  Check out the final mix below by Danny Reisch and mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound.

Song: Mannequin (Wire cover) on BandCamp

Video: Recording drums with Mojave MA-100s and Jordan Johns


by Jared Boulanger (singer/guitarist at The Sour Notes)

Making your next music video using Rock N Roll Rentals

This last weekend I took advantage of my job at Rock N Roll Rentals for making a music video. Few people know about the wide selection of A/V products that we carry, and I’m going to use this post to promote how easily you can make a music video or other video project using our awesome inventory.

For my project I rented two Canon MKII 7D’s, two shoulder-mounts, a Manfrotto tripod, and a Tokina wide-angle lens. Canon DSLR’s have quickly become an “industry standard” for capturing a high-quality image (1280x720p at 60 fps) through a camera where your lens selection is very wide, without having to spend $40k+ to use a RED camera or video-cameras that can collect high quality information. Though DSLRs are built for still-images the 7D is made with point and shoot ease of use in video, and can capture movie quality picture.

Using the shoulder-mounts my small crew was able to take moving shots with tripod stability, with the beautiful depth of focus that the 7D allows at 60fps. This high-quality information made it easy to create slow-motion shots, or cropping for image stabilization. For other shots we would put the two 7D’s at different angles in a room with one wide-angle shot that we could zoom (with the Tokina lens), and one still camera to pick up cross shots that we’re more focused on our subjects.

My band doesn’t have a big budget (less than $200), and we are currently editing something that looks like high-budget music video. These days making a music video is definitely a priority for bands (Youtube, Vimeo promotion), and very few bands have the money to make something that they could imagine could look like a “legit” music video. Using Rock N Roll Rentals, you can achieve a “label” quality music video or short-film with a budget less than $200!

We rent Tokina wide-angle lenses, as well as Canon’s stellar 50mm lenses for that artsy and thin depth-of-field look. You can use any of our DSLRs to do the same thing I did be that our T3I models for $36/reservation rate or our 5DmkIIs for $125/reservation. Rock N Roll Rentals is the cheapest camera/ A/V rental solution in the country, and should not be overlooked. 

I highly recommend you check out our video selections for your next project here: http://www.rocknrollrentals.com/filmvideo.html

-William Glosup

Empirical Labs Mike-E

Empirical Labs Mike-E

The Mike-E, by Empirical Labs, is a transformer coupled mic preamp together with a compressor/saturator circuit. The mic preamp has super low noise floor and features stepped gain switching. Your instruments can also be plugged directly into the “Inst In” serving as a high quality direct box. The Comp/Sat section of the Mike-E features compression based on the world famous Distressor as well as a tape-like saturation circuit. The Mike-E allows you to mix the compressed signal with the dry signal.

Este Vato recently recorded at Werd’s recording studio with engineer Joel Chalwick. We had the opportunity to use the Mike-E on vocals, acoustic and electric guitars. Personally, I was impressed with the
clarity and presence of the vocals and guitars and would definitely recommend the Mike-E to anyone. Here’s a short video of what Werd engineer, Joel Chalwick, had to say about the Empirical Labs Mike.

You can swing by Rock N Roll Rentals before your next recording project and pick up some sweet recording toys including the Mike-E. The Mike-E rents for $45 a weekend or $104 a month.  We are also your local source for Empirical Labs, so let us know when you want to buy!

ADL-700 + MA-201 FET = good squared

Presonus ADL700 Channel Strip

 I recently got to use the new Presonus ADL-700 for a couple of nights. If you haven't heard, this is the new channel strip which is Presonus's response to the success of the ADL600, all tube dual channel preamp. It starts with one channel of the ADL600, and then hits a custom built FET compressor, and ends at a semi-parametric eq. Aesthetically, they kept with the same sleek design as its predecessor. It has sturdy knobs and switches which look and feel great. I used a Mojave MA-201 FET mic and recorded some vocal. I noticed straight away, like the '600, there's tons of headroom. The vocal was loud and I had the gain structure set a little hot, and, though it was drivey, it still sounded great and kinda gritty. This is probably accredited to the 300 volt power rails inside. It's very warm. Yes, warm (aural quality is indeed measured in temperature as it turns out). There's a variable impedance selector and a high pass filter which can roll off up to 200hz. The compressor, I found to be the coolest part of the unit. All the knobs are variable pots and it's very responsive. It sounded great and the harder I compressed, the top end sounded better and better. The EQ sounded great and even when exaggerated, it maintained smoothness and clarity. Each section of the unit can be bypassed and the EQ can be put before the compressor with the flip of a switch.The compressor's setting can link out of the back if you're chaining two units together for a stereo application. The unit feels, looks, and operates like a high-end piece. And it is. I only tried it on vocals but I imagine it would sound great on pretty much anything. Even an onion.We carry it here at the shop and you check one out starting around $50 for a weekend or $105 a month.  We are one of a few select dealers to stock this unit, so come buy some as well.



                                                  Mojave Audio MA-201FET

                                                           

    So speaking of the MA201FET, I rented it. I used it on vocals. It is designed by David Royer of Royer ribbon mics. This is a FET mic which means it's equipped with a type of transistor that some say closely mimics the tonal characteristics of tube mics without the tube. It's true, I guess. I found that this mic was very well balanced, clear, and had a nice top end. What I mean by balance, is proximity effect. It was very forgiving to the source, even when bobbing back in fourth from its position. Even with compression off, I didn't experience that cliff-like drop when your vocal gets a hair too far away and it maintained smoothness and clarity when right up on it. I really enjoyed that I never detected much harshness that can be inherant on non-tube mics, it's smooth. It's an impressive microphone with an impressive price point too (around $700). It certainly could hold its own even against it's big brother tube model MA-300 which is around double the price. It's worth trying if you wanna try a non-tube flavor of condenser mics.



Reviewed By: Rene C.