Buying a Tube Mic? - What to Consider

[@meistudiony]

Noise can be a result of the tube itself. Our 2247 (u47 clone) we tend to buy 5-6 tubes when we need to change it out and pick the quietest of the bunch. Theyre a little strange since theyre metal tubes. But the concept applies to glass or metal. Cheap chinese tubes that a lot of these mics are shipping with are pretty much hot garbage and may warrant replacing it right out of the box. Certainly a consideration when buying a tube mic. Prepare to replace it right away. Some higher end Neumann (hello neumann) mics, telefunken, and more boutique mics you’ll probably get to bypass this step. Anything less than 4 figures on the mic and its almost a certainty. Noise can also be a result of other components in the mic itself. Usually nothing you can do about it, unless youre going to start replacing components, but the possibility is there. I have an engineer friend of mine that went through the same exact thing you went thru with the manley. (Wonder if they gave you his that he returned 3x). Generally a tube isnt going to just give out one day. They tend to gradually just get noisier over time (unless theyre damaged physically). Sometimes you get what I call a “fire” or “wind” sound when they’re on the way out. Little light crackle randomly or noise. Not constant, a woosh of it and gone for a few more hours. That gets worse and worse till its virtually unusable. I always have a chuckle when someone says a tube mic is “warm”. I usually say, “yeah temperature wise it certainly is!” 😂

[@vincenteoppolo9025]

Thank You so much !!!!! I honestly think you are the only person on YT who spoke logically. I would just add the same holds true with Mic Pre's. I strongly suggest beginners start with solid state then add tube based units IF they love what they hear. It worked out well for me. I love having the options.

[@RiverSongMusic]

I got two minutes in after fast forwarding a bunch to find out you shouldn't drop your mics a lot. Life changing.

[@PastafarianLemur]

*owns opponent* *mic drop* "OH NOES, MY NEW MIC!"

[@goaway2174]

Other considerations: external power supply and possibly custom cable, warm up time, heat. Sound character varies but is typically different than a comparable solid state.

[@Schwabtastic]

Based off your monologue here it sounds to me like the tube helps power the mic. Kind of like how a capacitor can change voltage, the tube is just an old style cap (more or less). To me it sounds like a big bunch of marketing for people who poo their pants when tubes are involved. I think it sounds a bit harsh. I am listening on a tubed loxjie P20 with Beyerdynamic DT 990s

[@Bip4e]

Thank you for your video, it's much appreciated 🌺🌺🌺

[@BojanBojovic]

Many, if not most tube microphones use the tube for clean amplification, those microphones do not have any noticeable saturation. The best example is the Lewitt 1040, Pure tube, and Rode K2, zero change in frequency response, and no harmonic distortion. So, this is mostly the trick.

[@DaneBryantFrazier]

Good stuff man. Very helpful.

[@GhostOfLorelei]

The moral here is trust your ears. Too many folks think "oh, folks say tech makes things sound better, so I'm going to buy that". But...I mean, that's just kinda lazy? Folks need to do their research. Go find samples of the mic being used! If at all possible, rent one first and try it out. If that's not possible, buy one from a place with a good return policy ;). The point being, trusting that some tech is gonna make a mic good is...iffy at best. The advice is always the same: Do your research and trust your ears.

[@gabrielforsberg8744]

I agree 100%. "Trust your ears when applying your sound judgement and common sense" should be a no brainer but alas its not

[@HarvinderSingh-yy8th]

Excellent suggestions.

[@krissheehy]

It makes a lot more sense for me to have FET condensers in my home studio. I've also run into issues with tube microphones D:

[@СергейЧупин-м9ы]

Manley is a very high level noise. You are right. But having tube mics you have to have at least several tubes to change whi it is the time. And in my gold referecne i`m not using ecc 83> Mulard ecc 81 sounds clinear)) And will you make a comparisson of Lewitt Pure tube to 1040?

[@ereiffman]

I just bought and sang into my first tube mic - a Mojave MA-300. It sounds so freaking good, and better than every other FET I've ever heard. Now granted, the FETs I've tried are limited, with the most expensive being the AKG c414 II. Maybe the MA-300 blew me away simply because of the brilliant design, and not necessarily because of the tube. Who knows? But I definitely hear that "3D" aspect people talk about. Also, did you just say that you were left without any mics?? You?!?

[@BojanBojovic]

If you like the MA-300, it is not because of the tube. There are just a few microphones out there that have some kind of saturation from the tube, but with majority of available microphones today it is just the marketing.

[@ereiffman]

@@BojanBojovic I'm sure most of it is because Royer is just an expert mic-maker - but I'm sure the tube adds 'something', even if it's not a crazy amount of saturation as you're noting. There's something about the way it glues itself to other sources that I've found quite useful - but hey, you might be right and it has nothing to do with the tube. For reference, when I listen to online examples of the MA-300 compared to its FET counterpart, the MA-301, it definitely sounds different

[@Lyvvie]

...ok mebbe no want after all.

[@mainsailsound983]

I feel like a shiny tube mic is a rite of passage, somehow. But smart people on the youtubes keep talking me out of it. ;)

[@BojanBojovic]

It depends on which one you want to buy. But most of the time, nonsensical.

[@ElvenSpellmaker]

_"silenT"_

[@JeroBagg]

Man, you seem real angry. It looks like you're about to punch the camera.

[@TheSpeedyr6]

Yeah he needs a lolipop to calm him down

[@mattytwohatsmusic]

Pretty sure he is just tryin to help people