Does anyone have experience with this microphone?? Is it as good as the other Gefells?? And what applications do you use it for?

Thanks

J.D.

That mic has recently been chosen as the main speak mic in all studios for Denmarks national broadcasting - DR. Can't be that bad. It was chosen amongst several expensive competitors in blind tests with both engineers and mortal people.

So what, no Vampire's involved in listening tests? How racist. Isn't Transylvania just around the corner?
Bats have amazing hearing!

I'm actually looking to get a pair of the M930's.

finally! someone is speaking out for our kind! heh

I wonder if this is going to turn into another photoshop thread based on vampires.
Hell we already did the one with the werewolves!

all in good fun! I too want a pair of m930's and all the research I've done on this site and others led me too think these are the best for the price. . . I'm just waiting to get more dirt on the Charter Oak fet first . . . oh and some more cash!

Nothing to see here...

The M930 is a rich sounding mic, it really has that classic sound that just works on tons of stuff.

War

The M930 is a great mic on percussion, acoustic sources, and for ambient room micing. However, it's a boring mic on vocals and can get siblant. The following review pretty much reflects my thoughts on it.

http://emusician.com/mag/emusic_micr...ell/index.html

Finally, it smokes any Chinese mic that I have used, which are simply not in the same league, period. Try one out before you pull the trigger.

Greetings.

The M930 is my favorite instrument mic. I'm also very critical of self-noise. IIRC, the M930 is either 6 or 7 dB. Charter Oak is around 22 dB, again, IIRC.

-O.9

I don't know if it has to do with it being chinese or not. Only because the Gefell 930 sounds better to me than any of the new Neumann mics including the Neumanns at twice its price.

Just like a recording chain is only as good as its weakest link a mic (or any gear) is only as good as its weakest part. Gefell doesn't cut corners on building and that's where all the cheapy mics come up short.

It will be very interesting to see whether any of these "chinese mics" - even if they only have "this or that" made in china - are able to retain value in the used market on par with Gefell. The 930 is an extraordinary value - Fletcher is right about that.

Another vote for the 930 on acoustics. My pair came with an X/Y bar and it is stunning. Last time I used in on an old D18 martin into a Cranesong Flamingo. Everyone smiled. Great on grand piano. Try them out on vocals now and then, but they never wow me there.

i used this mic on my last session for drum overheads.in recorderman....worked like a charm.

In my opinion microtech gefell is the best mic company out there.their support is awesome...they just send me the mics for three weeks even tho' i told them before that i wont be able to buy them......is there any company out there that does stuff like that?

Great company




cheers

I just purchased two matched pairs of the M930's, as they are going to be my new tom mics. I'm using one today plugged into a Germ ->LTD-1 for EQ on a bass cabinet and it sounds ****ing sick.

So the M 930 is not a really great vocal mic, but better for acoustics?? What I need is a great vocal mic... can anyone recommend a GEFELL that excells at vocals?

Thanx

J.D.

I have some UM900's. To me they are among the best vocal mics out there...
Who says the M930 isn't a good vocal mic? I personally haven't tried it out on vocals yet but I bet it would work in some situations. It is more natural and not hyped.

Gefells---now theres a subject I can talk about all day! Gefell has many mics that are excellent for vocals. The um92.1s, m92.1(card only) m990,(card only) um900, and um75 all excel for that chore. For first reccomendations for a vocal mic, I would shoot for the um92.1 or um75. They are beyond amazing. um92.1 has a nice midrange, good smooth, highs, and a nice tight low end.Something about it just sits well in a mix. The um75 I havent used as much, but it is slightly thicker than the 92.1.I have used all of those mics (with the exception of the um75) quite a bit. Matter of fact I have used all of their new product line and most of their old line. The engineers there are good friends of mine. With Gefell, you cant go wrong. best mic company in the world.

What makes you think it wouldn't totally excell at capturing the human voice?

The price? The size? The sensitivity? S/N ratio? Freq response? Are there better Gefells, that would be better for voice? Yep - no doubt! But it beats the Neumanns and everything else in its price range - (even for vocals).

For my personal collection I would try before I buy and find something that rocks for "capturing sound" - quiet sound - loud sound - close sound - far sound.

Fletcher what do you think about the Gefell 92.1S. I am very interested in that mic and would appreciate your input.

I have found the M-930 to excell at vocals in many an application... especially female singers. Great for acoustic guitars, amazing for piano [at least for my piano], I've even used it on more than one occasion to mic a bass amp [SVT's included].

In the $1,000 range I can think of very few microphones that are as clear or well defined in terms of their tone. It will, of course, depend on the singer and the tone/texture you're trying to achieve... and sometimes the M-930 is almost a little too "high fidelity" for what I'm going for in terms of a vocal sound. When I need something a little less clear and defined I usually turn to the Soundelux U-195 [which buries the iFet-7 in E-V-E-R-Y application where I have tried them next to each other] or the MT-Gefell M-910 (apologies for the link back to the M-A site... it's the only place I knew where to find a description of the product on the web).

There are always a ton of options... some better than others, all will depend on the user's sense of aesthetic.

I think it's a great mic. I did a live recording with a band last weekend where we set up the band in the M-A warehouse for two days so we could pick mic's, pre's, etc. before we set them up in a club for 4 shows in two days.

Besides the "room" mics the most important mics to me were the drum overheads. I started out with a pair of Soundelux E-49's which seemed to sound a bit 'distant' for the application... wandered through a few others and finally arrived at a Horch RM2J on the 'ride' side of the kit and an MT Gefell 92.1 on the H/H side of the kit. The resultant sound was clear, opulent, and very nicely focused.

I have used the 92.1 as well as the UM-900 and UM-75 on vocals extensively. I have used the 92.1 on acoustic guitars and acoustic bass... horns, drums [including kik], and a myriad of other applications. I have found it to be one of my "go to" utility microphones as it seems to deliver a very solid interpretation of whatever application I chose to employ it's service.

One of the best values in my mic collection... but as always, YMMV.

MT71s is excellent.

M71s is even better (I love transformers, apparently) but is long discontinued. Best $220 I ever spent...

I love the 930 on acoustics--it's my new go-to mic there. The detail plus the low self noise are awesome.

Maybe it works on some vocalists; on my voice and on a few other singers I've had over, it is really not pleasant. (We've chosen U87's, Studio Projects T3's, and SM57's for those voices.)

How is the M930 on toms? On hat, it was way too bright for me.

That word just rocks.....I believe in this mic...not like I needed another mic to desire, but that word.....Im going to use it somewhere tomorrow.

I would have to agree on the "don't like the 930 on vocals" until I plugged it into a weiss ADC2.

WOW!!!!

I have fallen in love with this mic all over again

I'd be curious in hearing differences betwenn the Gefell M930 and the just released Neumann TLM49, they are not far regarding price...

Lets not go too OTT with this mic. As with all mics it has its limitations and it has its flavour. I agree with most of what has been written. To me it is a very pleasant sounding mic with a nice smoothness that almost sounds like extremely subtle compression, beautiful build quality and tiny form factor.

I dont think I would turn to it for lead vocal though. Of course it depends on the singer but for me it lacked a little grunt on the male vocalist we tried it on (compared to the U87 that we ended up going for).

Also, in my opinion, it sounded a little thin when used as an ORTF pair on a string section (compared to the Sennheiser MKH's it was up against). The Sennehisers are of course much more expensive mics though
In that price quite a few mics exist now that might well do the job better (especially when talking about lead vocal cardioid only mics). The Brauner Phantom can be got for the same price as the m930 (at least in Europe), the Blue range of mics would be worth a shot and even the hugely underated AT4050 can work well on some voices (and is a multipattern to boot).

All Im suggesting is that its very easy to get caught up in an enthusiasm for a product which can blind you a bit to the alternatives. The M930 might be just what you're looking for and as a relatively cheap fairly all-round LDC I think its great but I would probably decide on your application and see if there are others that might do a better job or have a flavour that you prefer. For instance, if you're recording mainly instruments then the Gefell m300 might be a better bet being an SDC and even cheaper!

I have an older Gefell in for evaluation... Not sure the model number, but it looks like the newer UMT70's, but it DOES have a transformer, although it is cardioid only.

I love this thing! I wish I could remember the model number, it just says "M71" on the front, but I don't think that is the model number.

If anyone knows what I am talking about, how does that sound compare to the M930?

We are going to throw this older Gefell up against some of my other FET mics this week and see how it compares (U87 for example), but on first tests, we really loved it on a male rock vocal part.

Great post and informative.

The main question I raised and the main point I was trying to make (in that quote) was; What would make him think this mic can't excell at capturing the human voice? I wanted to find his logic as to why he said - "ok so it's not a good vocal mic - I need a good vocal mic". I've had great success with the 930. I get a little taste of bliss from this microphone going through an ssl mic pre into an ad8000 with vocals recorded in the custom and quiet booth I built. They sound better to me than about 20 other mics I've tried in and around that price range.

Anyway, I own a 4050 and I love it. I've sent every Brauner and Blue that I've ever tried back to the shop. I've only tried the phantom c but I've tried most blues mics and I would still yet like to try and omni mouse. I doesn't make them terrible microphones - they could and probably will record a record that I love. It only means that my ears didn't get excited over the course of the trial period.

As with any mic, YMMV! Take it and try it out for yourself. My opinion of mics and what I own is not recommended buying for anyone else - just a consideration that someone requested. So it's only my experience here - no hype - no "caught up in an enthusiasm". If I was "caught up in the enthusiasm" I would use the bigger and the more expensive Sennheiser U87 and get an Avalon 737.

If any company is underrated in this age of a new brand of mic every 3 months - it would be a quality, steady and ethical company like gefell. They have resisted over-hyping their product and using nonsensical verbage and baiting descriptions and they keep a tight and honest check on parts they produce and use.

Buy one - without a doubt - the best workhorse mic I know of at the price range and I own a bunch of great mic's. If I was starting my collection again - I would start with a pair. Vox, Acoustic Guitar, OH, they are just unbelievable.