Mojave MA-201fet

Mojave Audio is the brainchild of microphone wizard David Royer, best known for his line of self-branded ribbon mics. Mojave produces large and small diaphragm microphones that are a blend of American and foreign parts, with all final testing and quality control being performed in California. Mojave produces both tube and solid-state microphones, with the MA-201fet falling into the latter category.

The microphone comes with a small, yet sturdy hardshell case with a foam insert that has slots for both the microphone and for it's shockmount. A thread adapter for stands is included as well. The shockmount is fairly well designed, although the tilt adjustment isn't easy to use in certain positions, due to the lever's length. The microphone itself has a comfortable heft to it and the flat black finish is flawless.

I've owned the microphone for approximately two years and regularly use it on acoustic guitar, piano, and vocals; I've used it with flute, guitar cabinets, and upright bass as well. The mic has performed well on all sources, but I've had exceptional results with it on acoustic guitar, aimed at the 12th fret or directly at the upper f-hole on an archtop and mic'd very close.

On female vocals the mic has the perfect amount of top end and vocals pop out of the mix with very little equalization. On male vocals I've had mixed success; deeper voices benefit from the lift in the upper mids, while breathy voices (such as my own) have a lot of sibilance issues. Most of the middle-of-the-road male voices I've used the mic with haven't had any issues, so I wouldn't stress the potential for sibilance.

As a room mic on piano I've been very happy with it. I wish I had a second one so I could close mic the treble and bass hammers, as I'm sure the detail would be terrific. On upright bass the boost in the low end really helped to capture the thump and with careful positioning I was able to capture both the thump and a smooth mid-range. Flute had some similar issues to the a breathy voice when mic'd reasonably close, but as a room mic it performed quite well.

Overall, I've been quite pleased with the MA-201fet and in new recording situations it's usually the first mic I'll reach for, as I can consistently capture a great sound right off the source. Isn't that we all want from our microphones?