If you have spent anytime recently in the ‘pro-audio community’ you must be aware of Chinese microphones manufactuers….. like this and this

The mics are manufactured in China and sold in the West by various different firms.  The designs and quality vary from quality to crap.

If my memory serves me correctly, the phenomenon may have been started with Rode.  They were the first company that offered a large diaphragm condenser microphone that was within the reach of most audio geeks.  I may be wrong here, but I think they were the first. 

Fast forward a couple years….. and everybody is in the game Apex\Yorkville, Nady, Shinybox, etc.. the list is long.  Individuals even got into group buys like this, circumventing the companies importing into the West.

Dealing with the Chinese can be a double edge sword, as they are a bit loosey-goosey with the ideas that make up Western capitalism / intellectual properties / exclusivity / etc….    

Well something had to break……  and i guess it started here

It seems that an article written by one Lynn Fuston of 3D Audio on his adventures with attempting to import a few ribbon mics has pissed off one of the larger companies doing the same thing.

If you read the 2 articles you can make your own judgement.  I read the original article and thought it was funny, well written and convinced me that importing mics myself was not something I would ever do.  I guess John Nady thought otherwise….

At this point I’m not going to comment on anyone persons position as I am far removed from the situation but holy f*ck I guess some one opened a big can of worms…

I’m just gonna go back to using my Russian mics and old American oddballs, but I’ll definitly keep an eye on this one….

Here is a good link for all you home recorders who play the drums but only use drum machines / samplers to get your beats down… Derek Miller i’m looking in your direction….

Now get recording!!!!!

I still haven’t gotten my Oktava’s mod’ed as I am waiting for the repairs of my Otari MX-70 to be completed but I’m even more anxious to get the work done.

Michael Joly has added a new feature to his standard 319 mod.  He gets rid of the ‘boink’!  I have experienced this sound and have mention it before.  Michael mentioned it has something to do with the way the capsule is shochmounted.

Michael has updated his price list and for $99 you get alot of bang for your buck.  I can’t wait!!! 

So on my last recording, before my Otari MX-70 I/O cards went south, I made a great discover!!  A DI, a pedal compressor and a SM-57  make my Fender P-Bass and Ampeg B-15N sing.

I had mostly been miking my amp with bass specific mics or just straight DI.  This time I used my Radial DI (which was recommended to me by Howard Bilerman at one of his recording workshops at Hotel2Tango) and a standard issue 57.  Boy was I happy with the results. I had to move the mic around a bit to compensate for phase but once i found the spot it was sweet.  The 57 caught all the warmth and grit from the amp, the DI provided all the tight bottom end and the compressor (only slightly on) made the setup sustain for days.  I put a touch more compression on during mix down to control the dynamic and was very pleased with the results.     

So I frequent the Tape Op message board.  I post very infrequently because there are exchanges like this and this…. 

I’m sure the people in the threads are great people in person, but oh boy those are some pretty time-wasting exchanges.  I think most attempts at humour / sarcasm / irony on message boards are lost and people get their backs up pretty quickly it seems.

I generally only post to threads that I can directly provide positive input, but I know there are people out there with lots of time on their hands and a diffrent sense of  how things in the world should run…

My two Otari Mx-70 amp cards have arrived in Chicago.  The UPS website tells me that ‘FABER’ signed for it at a ‘residental’ location at 12:15 CST today…..  well I hope it got to the correct location as the ‘residental’ location indicator in the UPS website makes me go hummm and who the hell is ‘Faber’  ha ha !!!!?????

Soren the tech said he would call me when he get the cards so i’ll wait a day before I panic! 

This web site, Recording Consoles of the 20th Century, is a spot on the old innerweeb where if you are a geek like me you could spend hours.

Multi-track tape recorders galore, recording consoles of every shape and size, outboard gear from a-z, etc…

It isn’t updated frequently and it isn’t as comprehensive as it could be, but it has some pictures that make me gaa gaa.

I came across this blog awhile back.  Very cool stuff.  Lots of links / post about analogue gear and it’s updated reguarily.  Some of the set-ups he lists under Hard Core Gear Porn Fridays are amazing…..

Adam Lazlo at Analog Electric sure is a busy man.  He is very good at keeping his journal update with good information.  You can also listen to the results of some of the recording he is writing about.

They recording quality is excellent…… Wow.

Take a look at this ebay auction…..

Ward Beck is a Canadian Company that has been around for awhile and makes broadcast equipment.  Back in the 60’s and 70’s they made alot of topflight gear for the CBC here in Canada.  Mostly it was for TV broadcast purposes, but they also made lots of consoles that were used as recording consoles.

The listed auction is quite crazy.  It seems to be the modules for a complete Ward Beck recording console - sans frame.  Lots of input modules, eq’s, master sections, and various other bits.  Wow.  They auction is for the whole shooting match, they are not parting it out.  Who ever wins this is going to have alot of valuable parts.  I imagine if the winning bidder has the technical ability to rack the modules up and sell them they will make a killing selling the individual, racked modules.

I wonder if the people at the Ward Beck Preservation Society know about this auction.