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midnightsun · 20th January 2007

Both of these mics are in my collection and both are near and dear to my heart. I find the color of the M149 to be like the sweetest of cream, but colorer nevertheless. The Manley is crystal clear and to my ear brings it all out-- low, mids, and high. The Manley won't tame an edgy voice but the M149 colored texture can sure help. A beautiful sound will sound most beautiful through my Manley-- I agree it is great for strings and awsomely better for capturing the delicacy of room ambience (assuming the ambience is good to start with). I use the M149 more on vocals than the Manley simply because I like the color. I use the Manley more on acoustic string instruments and feel it captures a truer image. I have found that I can sort of EQ the Manley to give it a warm and creamy sound but can't EQ an M149 to make it sound like the Manley (entirely subjective observation).

Recently I was overjoyed with the performance of the Manley in the following setup. The ambience of the room was perfect and I wanted to get it. I put the Manley on a boom up about 15 feet, about half way toward the ceiling and set it on a fig 8 pattern. After making sure there were no phase problems and making subtle changes in position I started tracking. In the mix I blended the Manley with the primary close mic of the instrument. This gave me a "organic" reverb that I couldn't have achieved with any type of box-- I loved the result. I tried the exact same setup with the M149 and it didn't work the same magic but a couple of my ribbons were close.

If I could could have only one or the other I would take the M149 because it makes my voice sound better. This is more of a statement about the lack of tonal quality of my voice than the quality of the mics.

You can't go wrong with either mic and rest assured it won't be the last mic you purchase.

20th January 2007	#8
midnightsun Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 1,385	Manley Gold Reference vs M149 Both of these mics are in my collection and both are near and dear to my heart. I find the color of the M149 to be like the sweetest of cream, but colorer nevertheless. The Manley is crystal clear and to my ear brings it all out-- low, mids, and high. The Manley won't tame an edgy voice but the M149 colored texture can sure help. A beautiful sound will sound most beautiful through my Manley-- I agree it is great for strings and awsomely better for capturing the delicacy of room ambience (assuming the ambience is good to start with). I use the M149 more on vocals than the Manley simply because I like the color. I use the Manley more on acoustic string instruments and feel it captures a truer image. I have found that I can sort of EQ the Manley to give it a warm and creamy sound but can't EQ an M149 to make it sound like the Manley (entirely subjective observation). Recently I was overjoyed with the performance of the Manley in the following setup. The ambience of the room was perfect and I wanted to get it. I put the Manley on a boom up about 15 feet, about half way toward the ceiling and set it on a fig 8 pattern. After making sure there were no phase problems and making subtle changes in position I started tracking. In the mix I blended the Manley with the primary close mic of the instrument. This gave me a "organic" reverb that I couldn't have achieved with any type of box-- I loved the result. I tried the exact same setup with the M149 and it didn't work the same magic but a couple of my ribbons were close. If I could could have only one or the other I would take the M149 because it makes my voice sound better. This is more of a statement about the lack of tonal quality of my voice than the quality of the mics. You can't go wrong with either mic and rest assured it won't be the last mic you purchase.