| User Review | | Sound Quality | | 5 | | Ease of use | | 3 | | Features | | 1 | | Bang for buck | | 5 |
Overall:  3.5 |  Mxl v69 me | | Mxl v69 me
The MXL V69 ME, is a Chinese Manufactured Tube Mic. It is however not a clone of any other microphone and is a new cool approach to microphone circuit design. The V69 is a tube microphone, but it ins't your typical capsule to tube to transformer model. It actually uses the tube as the biasing and a FET as it's amplifier. It still however retains a bit of mojo and tube richness that you'd expect from a more classic design.
The microphone has a Chinese 32mm, K67 capsule clone, because of this the microphone has a boost in the higher register, around 8 db at 10 kHz since there is no negative feedback used to tame the capsule's frequency boost. This can lead to the microphone being a bit harsh on some sources. Albeit, it can also be quite airy and bright, while still retaining some of that harmonic richness and smoothness because of the tube.
The mic sounds very good on Pop vocals, male or femals and excels on hip hop/rapper vocals. Still be warned sibilant voices will need heavy de-essing. It's great infront of the kick drum and it also does well on string instruments, like violins, but wouldn't be my first pick on a harp or a piano. The mic is cardioid only so using it on orchestras as a room mic won't work, but for spot placements it's perfect, except for it's powersupply (it is a tube mic  ).
Overall, it is a great sounding mic and one that every studio should have regardless of budget. I highly recommend it!!! Especially going into a Greatriver ME-1NV, Neve 1073 or GAP Pre-73 for our budget recording engineers  | | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 5 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 2 | | Bang for buck | | 5 |
Overall:  4 | | Great mic especially for beginners looking for a pro quality sound
The v69me is a great microphone, and it surprises me how well the vocals sit in the mix with this microphone. I have tracked male/female vocals, singing and rapping and I am always amazed by the quality of the sound, especially for a Chinese made microphone. The v69me also sounds great on Acoustic guitar, percussion and I'm sure they would be great overhead microphones as well.
Now let's talk about the flaws:
The shock-mount is horrible, and I'm sure could easily break if tweaked too far. Also, the v69me has manufacturing issues regarding to humming noises (40hz hum) and it is the reason why I had to sell the first v69me that I had bought online.
Nevertheless I was so impressed with the sound of the mic, and so unimpressed with the u87ai I had, that I decided to do the unthinkable, I sold the u87ai and bought another Mxl v69me. This time the microphone had no hum whatsoever, sounded great right off the bat. I personally don't regret my decision, it was well worth it!
Another flaw with this microphone is that the 12at7 tube they provide you is really terrible. An extra 50-60 bucks US for a NOS tube will help tenfold. I find that with the microphone, the tube is the worst part of the stock mic. I suggest a Nos Mullard cv4024 for this mic, but I'm sure other Nos tubes will do.
Overall, the microphone is great and I suggest it for beginners as well as pros. It's fairly inexpensive and delivers amazing results, especially for the price. I have used it with an ART MPA and an AMS Neve DPD and it sounds great with both preamps. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 2 | | Bang for buck | | 4 | |
Overall: 3.5 | | Good mic for the money
I and a friend own the MXL V69 ME, mine stock and his retubed with a Mullard. Having had a chance to use both, I'll get this out of the way early: ditch the stock tube now! Almost any Nos tube is better than what is installed from the factory.
Having said that, the mic is quite good on certain sources. One must take care when using a source with a prominent high end, as this mic gives quite a boost above 8-8.5Khz. For example, my voice, which is rather sibilant in nature, is simply not suited well for this mic unless I want to call out the de-essing police for some overtime work. I will say that this is much less a problem with the modified mic than the stock mic--perhaps the stock tube really is that bad. Also, my stock mic had a bit of hum. Checked out with a o-scope, it was isolated at 59.5hz. The retubed mic did not have this problem.
I've paired this mic with a Manley Mono Pre, a Langevin DVC, a UA-610, and a BAE 312A. Sources this mic sounded good on include an Irish harp, acoustic guitar (except Ovations), light, pop female vocals, viola, and cello. Brass, however, was a different story. I can play any brass instrument. I would never use this on a trumpet or flugelhorn, and lower brass only as a last resort. For whatever reason, the character of the instrument gets lost. This effect does not seem to be a problem with woodwinds, saxophones excepted. This may have to do with the nature of an instrument that is a woodwind but made from brass. The resonant qualities of brass in general do not seem to go well with this mic.
Overall, changing out the tube gives one a mic that can sound very good on multiple sources without spending thousands of dollars for a "name" mic. It is certainly a useful tool to have at a great price point. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 1 | | Ease of use | | 1 | | Features | | 2 | | Bang for buck | | 1 |
Overall:  1.25 | | If you're looking for a good tube mic sound pass on this mic
Want to get a tube mic that along with the hassles of getting out and connecting a separate power supply with an extra cable, sounds like a cheap Chinese condenser with a piercing hyped high end that will make dogs in your neighborhood bark? The MXL V69 is the mic for you! Looks cool. Sounds terrible. In spite of what you hear, changing tubes on this dog does nothing to improve that ear splitting high end spike. I put a new old stock Mullard in the one I had and then recorded an identical vocal track I had done earlier with the original tube. A/Bd the two tracks and heard absolutely no difference! With all the tube mics on the market now, I'd recommend staying far away from the MXL V69 | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 4 | |
Overall: 4 | | MXL V69 ME Tube Condenser Microphone
How versatility a mic is - is really up to the engineer if that be you. You cannot, should not, and will not use just one mic for everything. I consider its best use as a special niche mic for female/male vocalists and choosing it should be up to the engineer's discretion. Never used it on instruments; so no comment there. Not to be used for every person that just walks in the door; nor should it be. Pick your 'weapon of choice'/mic carefully. I cannot see doing it any other way - myself. I use it with my own voice and I have found it to be round and fuller at the low end depending upon proximity to the mic.
But it is not running a stock/OEM tube either. The tube change is necessary because the stock tube just isn't made with the same quality materials and attention to production details that the tube generation used to build them. There is an expose of the new 'Mullard' tubes if you look on Google. A MUST read - BTW. Mullard Reissue vs Original - A Physical Comparison - Marshall Amp Forum
A real quality NOS tube should be the first order of business with this mic - or for any other tube mic that uses a tube that comes from a dubious manufacturer. I use a 5751 GE 5-Star made in 1957. The 5751 works far better than the stock tube. The results are obvious to me, and I would only change it if I should get a genuine 4024 Mullard. So long as it doesn't force me to turn both pockets inside out and emptied to get one - that is . . .
This mic has no attenuation switch, dual pattern switch, nor omni switch. Just a cardioid pattern. Decent mic capsule; but it is possible to replace it with another of your choice. The barrel is made of painted brass. Parts are all well-fitted. Power supply is more than sufficient; but keeping it cool would be best for a longer life. The screen is gold plated and uses a classical style. The capacitors on the mics circuit board may be subbed out with a higher quality grade if further improvement is sought/desired. The use of Mogami cable is one that will save you the time and money to do it yourself. I see that as one 'plus'.
I am not going to ding the 'ease of use'/'features' score on this mic when I knowingly bought it for the features and materials it provided at that cost. You set the mic up on a stand and plug it into a preamp or console; how easy or hard is that to do?
Other than my cost of ~$240 from Guitar Center and the ~$30 for the NOS tube, I would say that I have been more than pleased with it. It is smooth and has a genuine tube/glass sheen tone. Use something to control the sibilance if you must; but isn't that also true of even some high end mics? Just be judicious when picking any mic for a track - once again. Is it everything to everybody? Of course not!
Again; no one mic would be used to do everything. For the cost of this mic and what it can do, it certainly fills the bill. Just depends what the 'bill' is. If you need better performance out of it; then upgrade it with a better capsule and capacitors. Makes a fine platform for that with a low initial cost - IMO . . . | | | |
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