Manley Gold reference Mic

[Jamz]

How good is this mic?
I rarely hear anyone mentioning this mic.

[84K]

Sums it up.

[T_R_S]

Originally Posted by Jamz

How good is this mic?
I rarely hear anyone mentioning this mic.

And the Reference Cardiod are sweet!

[midnightsun]

I have had a Manley Gold Ref for years. It is a great mic and has a permanent place in my studio. I wouldn't recommend it as a first and only large diaphram mic-- it is expensive and other great mics can be had for less money. When I grab for a large diaphram mic I usually put my hand on my U89 first and the Manley second. When I use the Manley it really hits the spot like nothing else. If there is a used one in good shape for a good price I don't think you could go wrong.

However my favorite mic pre combination is a AEA R84 Ribbon into a Neve 1084 with the impedance switch set to 300ohms. To my ear the Ribbons only sound good through a pre with lots of gain and lower impedance. (now, I am not trying to stir anyone up!)

[oudplayer]

It's a great, great mic. Vocals, acoustic instruments, drum OHs... we have a pair at the studio. I believe Josephson made the capsules - when I heard Josephson's new stereo mic at the AES, it reminded me of the Manleys in a way.

[darynbarry]

We had one for a while and it's really great on certain vocalists, mostly female. Jack Johnson was in here, we tried a 47, 67,87 and the Manley crushed them for his breathy tone.
Some find it bright which it is, but you'll find in mixing you need no eq at all.

If we had 2 I'll bet it would be cool on overheads too

Daryn Barry
The Orange Lounge
567 Queen St. West, Suite 300
Toronto, ON, Canada
M5V 2B6
Tel: 416.504.8084 ext 225
Fax: 416.504.8972
email: daryn@orangerecordlabel.com
visit: www.theorangelounge.com

[Ted Nightshade]

It's an excellent mic. You have to find the sweet spots on the variable pattern control- listen! And the omni side of things sounds rather healthier than the fig.8 side of things. I use it on everything, pretty much. Mostly in omni or near omni.

[gtrpaul]

I found one used, cleaned it up and had the factory clean the cap and change the tube. I changed the tube to an rca command 5751. Intended use was female vocals and it worked. opens up on top the way a great vocalist needs...unless of course you like your mic to compress things on top. It is a smoother mic than their cardoid ref. which I also own, less edgy (that's a non-technical term).
I like Manley stuff and also use their el-op.
Paul

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

love the stereo gold reference.
man, david bowie probably gets mics thrown at him to use, but he bought a stero gold ref..
and we all know how cheap 'rock stars' can be with their own money.
it also singers that i have tracked with it super stoked with all that bling, bling.
how much is THAT worth?

[Ted Nightshade]

I have drooled some drool over the Stereo Gold, but as I mentioned the fig. 8 side of things, including hypercardioid and even into cardioid, is not the strong suit of this mic. Things tend to sound thin in those patterns. I haven't been able to do M/S because the fig.8 sound just thins everything out when you mix it into the M mic. And Blumlein is out for similar reasons. Based on my extensive (truly!) experiments with a pair of Gold Mics, I'm making a very educated guess that a slightly wide cardioid XY is the only really great thing the Stereo Gold would allow.

This mic really shines on the omni, near-omni, and wide cardioid settings, which require a spaced pair for stereo. These mics can be completely stunning in mono, even for a whole ensemble recording to one mic, so a single Gold mic will take you quite a ways. Using a pair, I have found that mounting both mics securely to a custom (sturdy!) Jecklin disc is the prime way to use these beauties in stereo.