11 Vintage Microphones and How They Sound - POWER - RCA 77-DX 44-BX Astatic Shure EV toy guns Mattel

[@knifeswitch5973]

FANTASTIC is all I have to say.

[@marktubeie07]

Each of the 'topics' within this video are all fascinating. In fact I am in shock that someone with such an interest in microphones can affirm my own obsessive compultion with the same topic and this makes me very happy ! However the last section is the most powerful and what we need to hear right now. I thank you sir. Beautifully put. Let's hope it resonates with the populace...

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

Once again you pull another fine collection out of your archive, microphones it seems we have had a similar journy with making do with what you can afford. Mum got me a second hand Grundig taper corder, I used to record the Prom's concerts from the Royal Albert Hall so no one said a word, the quality was to me satisfactory. Later on on life I had collected a few Shure mics and amplifiers and a Steel Band ! .. Recording five west indians playing oil drum's (Pan's) was hard work, more so for the poor microphones. Artists are more comfortable with certain mic's and needed something to play with so the BBC would add a wire to Wireless mic's and dummy antenna to broken Sure mic's when they were miming. I have always wanted an Elvis mic they are so cool and my second choice a BBC Coffin mic. Iy is interesting that despite the advancements in microphone technology KZbinrs have to have the biggest clunkiest mic to hide behind. Thanks again wonderful program and social observation .Best Wishes from the UK

[@thrillscience]

Wow! Your 77 is in great shape! I love the sound of ribbons, too. I've even used them for piano.

[@crr8297]

Thank you, you have a nice collection of microphones. I retired as a microphone engineer at the Astatic corporation, your pronunciation of Conneaut is correct, that name as well as the nearby town I live in are old Indian names that translate to "river of many fishes" There is quite a history of the Astatic corporation , briefly, the legendary D104 all the way to the dual tube 1.25 inch diaphragm VX2 studio microphone and their forays into WW2 sonar, CB mics, record player needles and cartridges, reel to reel tape and much more. I own quite a few one of a kind pieces in my collection and while not very rare who wouldn't want a D104 microphone desk lamp?

[@ScottGrammer]

1:53 Those crystal mics are likely being connected to an input with too low of an impedance. Crystal and ceramic mics are capacitive sources, and must be connected to loads higher than 500K Ohms. When connected to lower impedance loads, they lose low frequency response. In this case, the lows and even most of the mids are gone, so I suspect it was connected to a low-impedance (usually about 3K Ohms) input. Alternatively, the crystal(s) might be broken, which would make it sound that way even under the best of circumstances. Crystal mics were sensitive to being dropped. Ceramics, which replaced crystal elements, were much more robust. Love that 77DX! I owned one about thirty years ago. I sold it at a great profit, but now I wish I hadn't. The 664's are familiar to me too. We had the similar 665's at the church I grew up in. Absolutely bulletproof. For some reason, you never saw 666's in churches.... I owned a 330 as well. Found it NOS, unsold, on the shelves of an electronics store that was going out of business. Got it brand new for $65 in 1992!

[@billharris6886]

Yes, the crystal and ceramic microphones were meant to be connected to the control grid of a vacuum tube, where the input impedance was 1 to 10 megohms. When transistor amplifiers obsoleted tube amplifiers, the dynamic microphone became the microphone of choice; the typical 600 ohm impedance was about the same as an emitter bypassed bipolar transistor's base impedance.

[@elmofeneken4364]

What a great video. The logically thinking and presenting of the words that are spoken at the end of the video came off as just fantastic, well written. You may not have that hair anymore, but what's upstairs in your head is not a Distortion.

[@collectornet]

Thanks very much for your kind words.

[@stanleybest8833]

Your EV664 is the best sound. No rings at all.

[@MistahJigglah]

Another fantastic video from the best narrator on KZbin. Loved the wrap up, spot on as always. If you're interested in the downfall of RCA, "Technology Connections" did a great series on RCA's failed CED system that talks extensively about RCA's self destruction.

[@herbcraven7146]

I love your microphone collection, and I love how you often make use of your videos to tie such a collection into valuable insight about the human condition. By the way, I still think the RCA 77 sounds better than any of the others. Keep up the good work!

[@collectornet]

Thank you. Yes, I agree that the RCA 77 is still the one to use for the narrations. I did get a couple more interesting ones lately to try-- another couple of (different) vintage RCAs. I'll be testing them out to see how they stack up against the 77.

[@defaultuserid1559]

Absolutely superb! I owned some of those mikes and toy guns. I still have the Dynaco preamp and still use it with my big stereo. The last segment hit hard. I fear your videos are too deep for most of YooToob but I enjoy the hell out of them.

[@collectornet]

Thanks very much.

[@aliasfred]

Not too deep for this "Truther".

[@imblakeimbald]

those mics sound pretty great, especially the RCA ribbon. Wonderful bit about power.

[@cjay2]

I never owned any kind of mic as a kid, but in my late teens, I worked live sound, where we used Sennheiser MD-421's, Sony C-37's and lots of Shure 57's and 58's. All were good mics and had their applications.

[@billharris6886]

@collectornet It sounds like you are about 1 year older than I am but, your interests are nearly identical. As for microphones, I discovered these along with tape recording about 1964. My older brother also collects microphones, he especially likes the Ribbon type. My interests were divided, with audio recording, radios, TVs, tube audio amplifiers, antennas, photography, and target shooting competing for my interests. The Lafayette Radio catalog was basically my Sears "Wishbook". Thanks for showing some of your collection and especially for providing a sound sample!

[@igorperuchi2114]

Wow, these old RCA microphones sound superb, how surprising! I like to listen to some old jazz recordings, pre hi-fi era, and would never thought the mics were so good, given the low fidelity of the recordings. Great video with lots to think about!

[@collectornet]

Thanks! Yes, pro mikes in that era were indeed very very good, even by today's standards, I think. So much else in the audio chain can hurt sound and account for diminished fidelity in old records. With old jazz recordings done live, I would think the biggest drag on fidelity would be the room, the acoustics. Then of course there is the recording gear, the lathe, the plating, pressing, etc. In pre home hi-fi days, there wasn't much commercial point to making records that sounded better than anyone was able to hear. But many did anyway, for the sake of their art. I've been amazed how good some 78s sound when played on hi-fi gear. Even 78s recorded direct to disk (pre-tape). I should say 'electrically recorded' direct to disk--with microphones and everything. Not those recordings where everybody crowded around a big horn and played as loud as they could!

[@RogerSuttmeier]

Ha! Lafayette. I can remember using those same catalogs for the same

[@RPlace-m5c]

Ribbon microphones have lower outputs but sound amazing. When I was in my teens (70s), I had a Radio Shack electret condenser shotgun mic that sounded quite nice. My current mic is an AKG C214 condenser. The old EV 635A handheld mics could pound nails, too! BTW, your voice is reminiscent of Casey Kasem. I'm sure you've heard that before.

[@1McMurdoSilver]

Wonderful... Thanks

[@aliasfred]

I own a Winchester Cathedral album like yours, I love the sound also.

[@in.der.welt.sein.]

The first way you pronounced Conneaut was correct. I live about 40 minutes from there and have been there several times. Interesting little town.

[@collectornet]

Well, I was driving with my father through Ohio once and we came across the town of DuBois. Me being the little know-it-all that I am, and trying to impress my father, was explaining the pronunciation of the town to him, that it was French and would be pronounced doo-bwah. As we continued driving along, listening to the radio, the announcer on that radio came on and gave the call letters of the radio station and the name of the town, "Doo-Boyce."

[@imblakeimbald]

@@collectornetHere in Tennessee, we call Lebanon, “Leb-nin” 😉

[@faulknik000]

Have you ever come across a Sony C-37A condenser microphone? The earliest examples sported the original 1950s Sony logo and the model was introduced the same year as the TR-55, albeit at a much higher price.

[@collectornet]

No, but I would really really really like to find one of those.

[@Go4Corvette]

A+

[@alexxbaudwhyn7572]

4:57 You appear to be from the Detroit area 😊

[@collectornet]

Originally, yes. Waterford.

[@Śiśna3633]

Is that Jerry Rig Everything? All microphones sound like him.

[@lkmsl]

Hey , you were a handsome man !

[@collectornet]

Were??

[@aliasfred]

@@collectornet have you ever exposed yourself on here in your present configuration? I live too dam near Detroit.

[@collectornet]

I don't think I've been on-camera live in these videos, other than just my hands holding things. I will do that if it ever suits the video's subject. My priority is the video's subject and what best furthers that discussion. This is all quite by design and reflects my philosophy about what, to me, is a good video. Other manifestations of this philosophy include the fact that my videos are scripted and there is no background music. I personally find it annoying to listen to people pause and try to figure out what to say in unscripted videos. I respect the viewer's time and I don't want to waste it. That's also why I don't tell viewers to "like and subscribe" and that sort of thing as almost all other KZbinrs do. As to background music, I love music too much to abuse it as background noise to be talked over.

[@RPlace-m5c]

@@collectornet I agree with your video philosophy. Loud annoying music, bad voiceover and poor editing are just a few reasons for me to dump out of otherwise interesting videos. Your videos are well done and I always watch to the end. Keep up the good work!

[@collectornet]

Thank you!