damn, so THAT'S been my problem!

As an ADK user I agree with you, so many models came and went from ADK, too many to remember. Unlike a company like Shure (not necessarily high end, cause you better at least have one 57) that produces one good mic (like a 57) and it stays forever. ADK seemed to change mic models (mk 1, mk2, mk3, mk4, mk5, mk6, AU SE LE etc..) of the exact same mic on a monthly basis. Seemingly jumping the gun on every mic they made and having to come up with an "upgrade" or "options" as if the one you just bought and though was so great based on what they claimed at the time, was no longer worth making. Like new improved tissue paper.

And to the point that was raised that if a product is not well marketed well it's not worth having, well, had ADK been better marketed we wouldn't be here having this discussion in this "what ever happened to ADK" thread in the first place. I think lpkyer is right to make that point considering the original question.

I use ADK mics, but indeed gave up trying to keep up with the claims and models they pump out. I like the ones I use and I'm not suggesting they aren't worth having or buying. The very first ADK ad said something like, "what's better than a German designed large diaphragm microphone? 2 for the same price!) When the mics were neither German designed, nor German made. But they claimed it sounded like a Neumann U67, and a reviewer made a comment about it sounding like a U67. So, why did they stop making that original mic? Wasn't a mic that they said sounded like a U67 good enough? Why would you need to MK2 or MK2 a U67?

Again, China is the cheapest place on the planet to make mics. All ADK and 3Zigma mics not "Custom Shop" are from China. Again, not that that will make them sound any better or worse, we all know how many products are produced there. And sure a lot of clients won't know the difference, but aesthetics are an important part of owning a studio that wants to attract artists. As unfair as it is, some people still judge things solely by name brand and visual appeal and you sound silly trying to tell them your $200.00 Chinese mic is better sounding than the guy down the streets vintage U47 even if his U47 is garbage. If you're just a one man operation with no clients, it really doesn't matter a stitch what you use. No one can hear "gear" only the results of you using it. Even Larry Villella ADK founder constantly talks about his "vintage mic locker" and puts it above his own products. I use Sonar because I have used that DAW since it was Twelve Tone Systems and I get "oh, you don't have Pro Tools?" Branding does play a part in opinion. So yes, the mics are good sounding, but they have chosen to use for the most part the stock Chinese bodies/designs and not come up with something that makes them stand out above the other Chinese mics visually. Something of their own.

Constantly comparing their mics to "German flavored" and "Austrian flavored" mics turns me off totally. I use the mics based on their individual merit, not what they are supposed to emulate. Put 10 U47's or C12's in a shootout of the same model mic and see what you come up with results wise.

They aren't in the major gear catalogs or other MI store catalogs that bombard us with products and literature. If you read B&H Pro audio, or Sweetwater Pro Audio , you wouldn't even know they existed so I can see why this question was asked.

EDIT: Also, I forgot to add that when ADK first started advertizing they placed full page color ads in a majority of the trade magazines such as MIX, EM, Pro Audio Review, etc. month after month year after year. I don't think I have seen an ADK ad in the last 5 years in MIX. Also little to no product reviews despite the massive mic line in MIX (I think maybe I saw 1 or 2?) or similar trade mags. This may be a marketing decision on Larrys part, but it's a huge difference in how they used to advertize, which would also lead to the question of whatever happened to ADK? They have disappeared in that respect also. Has anyone seen an ADK ad or 3 Zigma ad in print or a pro audio catalog? I guess it may not matter in a while since a lot of publications are going mostly online. Plus! ADK can't be found in pro audio shops here either or MI retailers, similar to dkelley's situation, the local pro audio shop used to carry them long ago and no longer do.

I hate YouTube music quality, unless you can search on iTunes or Spotify, search for Vivien Searcy and you can find the whole album "Water On Soil" that I recorded, produced and mixed for quite a while ago.
But hey you asked for it.
I recorded almost all instruments with ADK GT2´s on this record. (the "source accurate mics")
Lead Vox, harmony vox, cello, acoustic gtr, dobro, bass/gtr amps, fiddle, drums OH..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDmi2hmpWF0

Unfortunately I can´t put any better newer ADK recorded samples for the moment as I´m not in the studio right now.

EDIT: Yes, I found a link to the live Jazz record I did last summer..(record, mix and master)

http://www.jazzmatazz.se/01%20Spar%201.mp3

Sax ADK S7B. Double bass ADK S7C and ADK S7.

Very much appreciated!!

Sounds amazing and nice songs also.

One last question, where did you buy the mics?There's one dealer in Spain but I think they don't have all models.

Marca: adk | Sector Audio | Tienda online de equipamiento de sonido y audio profesional

Thanks again

They are hard to track down in Europe, which is a real shame. I think I bought the one and only ADK A6 in Scotland earlier in the year...

Presumably these guys will ship anywhere in the EU. They've got the Area 51 TT (is that the current version of the GT?) and the A6 but that's all.

This looks better: http://goldenagemusic.mamutweb.com/S...hile-Line/48/1

Haven't bought from either before so do your own due diligence.

Thanks for the info, I think I'd better purchase them in the spanish dealer.

The Area 51 TT is not a 'newer version' of anything. Its moniker stands for Tube Transducer. It has 9 polar patterns and is one of the best sounding tube mics around ESPECIALLY at that price. A solid excellent mic.

I have a pair.

Thank goodness this business requires the use of your ears to make decisions.

I'd hate to think that I'd need to check the logo or judge the website layout in order to make a responsible choice about sound.

Also, since you've "never used any ADK mic", how can you be so certain that the body is the same as the so-called "cheaper MXL mics" ?

Must be the pictures on the website.

Thanks Jose for your kind words
I bought all the the ADKs from Golden Age Music
ADK Audiophile mics:

ADK Audiophile Line (Product list) [Golden Age Music AB]

ADK Custom Shop mics:

http://goldenagemusic.mamutweb.com/S...tom-Shop/459/1

They sell internationally.

This company Golden Age Music is also making the famous GAP product line like the GAP 73


The ADK GT2 valve mic that I used on the Vivien Searcy album is now rebranded and called GAP TC 1


http://goldenagemusic.mamutweb.com/S...ct%20tc&page=1

Interesting... that sounds like great value for (uk) £240.

I have a A51-TC, and a few others from ADK, and the A51-TC is Amazing. For warm female vocalist and male vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin... just amazing. The cardio pattern is very wide and natural/open, and we end up using it all the time for real live instruments. I can not boost about it enough.

Also it does not look cheap, but honestly, in reply to the question of a Chinese mic body..., If I place a radio shack mic in front of someone, no one questions me anymore. They hired me for a reason, you just need to act confident about what you are doing, and of course know what you are doing...

Nice tracks! I personally use an original ADK TL on sax quite often. It's one of my favorite mics and I think one of the best mics ADK ever made (multi pattern making it useful for many applications) it has a very nice top end that isn't ever shrill, but detailed and honest sonic characteristics. Why they ever quit making I'll never know. I've put it up against a lot of their new models, but it has a thing of it's own that's hard to match. I also use it on High Hat again for it's silky smooth response. Here's a live in the studio raw non mastered track / mix using the TL on sax, and HH. The double bass is a home made / modified tube mic. Please excuse the mp3 quality. Great stuff I'd like to hear more tracks with specific uses of the mics. Tim, you've got some great music on your website!

Thanks! - Multi

This clip is from dreamguitars.com who've used the ADK A6 to show off some very expensive guitars. Balanced, natural sound and good transient detail. These characteristics make it a very versatile mic for live instruments, vocals etc.

Also a big adk fan!! Got the Vienna and hamburg mk8.
Now the question still remains:
When is the "Thor" mic comic out?

Thor and Odin are to be released in February 2012


THE UNIQUE FEATURE OF THE THOR AND ODIN IS THAT THE HIGH FREQUENCY CAN BE TAILORED
Which is to say, it can emulate the tonality of the S-7B / S-7 / S-7C (Dark / Neutral / Brilliant)



ODIN = Polar pattern: Cardioid



THOR = Polar pattern: Omni/Cardioid /Figure

ADK Audiophile Line (Product list) [Golden Age Music AB]

Really stoked!!! ......just hope they won't get delayed again....

Any insight on the price for the two?

Spot on.

And now a slight thread derailment to address that aesthetics issue.

When a top notch engineer with a proven track record hangs up what appears to be some dog of a mic during a session, are you going to complain about the way it looks?

I don't care a tinker's damn what the mic looks like; I want to hear the sound it produces. If that is up to snuff, nothing else matters.

Yes, I have dealt with picky clients who don't know the difference b/t brands, or who have limited experience with mics in general. If your set up produces winning sound, sell the sound, not the mic. Sell the sound! They don't know or understand the difference? Help them out, fergawdssake! It's your job to explain the process and make it more accessible to the novices, at least if you're serious about doing business.

If a client walks out because you don't have a Rausberger 77-T microphone, or don't use Faux-Tools, and they won't listen to your reasoning, then let them go. They must use a Neumann? So rent one, and charge them to A/B against your mic locker gems. They can't afford that? Well shite, they are going to have to trust in your professional abilities.

This isn't so hard; lots of business deals in the six figures are sealed with a handshake. Now, I wouldn't do that with just any firm, and lots of my clients sign contracts that spell out everything. But in the end, it comes back to trust. They're going to have to give someone the money-- it's your job to make them believe they're doing the right thing when they give it to you...

In my experience, when a client walks out because 'You don't have a neumann', it's usually for another reason that points more closely to the way the client perceives business is conducted on that premesis, I.E., they weren't impressed with the way you handled your assistant, didn't like the way your studio rooms were designed, thought your gear looked poorly maintained, or any other of a thousand legitimate things that separate a well run studio from the usual pretenders. It's easy to make a bad impression; doing the opposite takes work.

But that's ok, just keep telling yourself you lost the client because of your selection of mics, or your DAW...


/rant.

Sorry lets go back to arguing about mics....

I wondered what happened to Thor, seems it's finally on its way...

Do hope they'll be very consistent spec-wise so that they can easily operate as a stereo-pairs. I have high confidence in these as I really like the sweet sound of the S-7, which they are built on. Hopefully the dual-diaphragm Thor can live up to the single diaphragm S-7 sound-quality and that the Fig-8 works well, as I really like Fig-8 patterns

::
Mads

I think Odin will be $300 and Thor will be $400.

Thanks for all the answers guys.
I'm running a risk asking this question, but I heard rumers that those mic's are supposed to have a u87ish sound...... Anybody have any info on that?

(sorry for all these questions)

Yeah, that sounds nice! Those mics are still resonably priced. I still use my original A-51's on acoustic guitars with nice results. Never felt the need to "upgrade". I don't have a problem with the looks at all.

I guess one thing that bothers me a little is their charging made in America prices for the made in China products on a lot of their new mics like 3Zigma and the "Custom Shop" series.

If you have no factory here unlike like Royer, or Manley, or A-Designs, or any of the people producing and manufacturing quality products here in the States, no ADK employees above 2 or 3 (I don't count Chinese factory workers as ADK employees, as they have several companies to produce products for), no real major advertizing costs (I don't see any ads in trade magazines) no test facilities or building, no manufacturing equipment, no studio, no real in house promotional content being produced, one designer in Belgium, and the founder has never even designed a mic, I can't see a relative overhead compared to the American companies that actually do have a founder that has a background in electronics, bulding maintenence expenses, facilities, employees, employee insurance packages, advertizing, overhead that add to the cost of their products. How much R&D can one person do?

It's getting so I can buy a finley crafted American made product that is superior to an ADK mic, for less than what I'd have to pay for say, a Chinese made 3Zigma mic.

If I am wrong forgive me and I'd like to be set straight because I like my ADK mics, but I've done some heavy reading and research into a lot of the makers of equipment because I like to know their heritage, and it appears they have no manufacturing facilities here in the US. Maybe one person that assembles a select few of the mics for some of the custom stuff. Does that one person build all of the custom shop mics? That line is blurred severely and now their prices for the Chinese mics are "ridiculous" as opposed to the original mission statement of ADK.

It's not a matter of Chinese vs US, and Larry can charge whatever he wants for mics. This is just my gut feeling, but I think the mission statement is going out the window here on some of these mics. To the point where I am now thinking they are on the "not affordable" list.

Where did you get that approximation? Not meaning the question to be cheeky in any way.

That golden age site had the prices in Swedish krona and I converted them to US dollars. Plus I saw a YouTube video where Larry Villela said that Thor would be about $400.

According to their website they also have a "rocket scientist" from Sydney helping in the design phase and their Custom Shop and 3 Zigma mics are "remanufactured" in the U.S. From that information I would say that what you pay for is the equivalent of what you would pay total to buy a budget mic and have it modded with better parts by someone who knows what they're doing. You do make very good points though.

I don't think it really matters in which country each of the different parts of a mic are manufactured. What matters is quality control ie consistency, accuracy, and durability. I've never heard any complaints about ADK workmanship, or sound.

So true. As much as everyone bashes everything made in China, the Apple computers that serve as the backbone of their studios were made there.

Sent from my C771 using Gearslutz.com

Yes, I read that too, so I guess what I don't understand is if they are indeed "remanufactured" in the US, where does that take place? There is no ADK facility in the US. I had one mic repaired that had bad capacitors by a guy named Kevin, and as far as I know he is the only person in the US working on ADK products. Does he alone remanufacture all of those mics in the US? As I said, I have no problem with where it's made or what parts are used if it works and sounds good. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it.

Larry Villella himself said "Building a microphone requires a clean-room, anechoic chamber, etc." but he doesn't have those. So how good can the quality control be if you are "remanufacturing" mics if you don't have a clean room and an anechoic chamber as he states are necessary. It would appear that there is a compromise in remanufacturing mics here without that equipment. At least the Chinese have the necessary equipment to build mics and test them with state of the art equipment. What kind of tests are done after remanufacturing? How can you test the response curves and "tonality" of a microphone without proper equipment.

I guess I feel what ADK claims and what's apparent don't add up, especially considering the cost to the end user. I know it soesn't matter to most people, but I'd like to at least know where the products are made simply for my own knowledge.

I have a hard time believing all of the 3Zigma mics and Custom Shop mics are remanufactured in the US by one person without a clean room or anechoic chamber or B&K test equipment.

And if indeed that's what they are doing, well I could save some serious cash by just doing the mods myself. I've modded and built several mics that work just great.

It's just that you take a look at Manley Labs, and you see EveAnna in the shop hands on and you realize the blood sweat and tears and investment and knowlege , employees that it takes to build a product to such exacting specifications and still have a reasonable price, and then you see that ADK is just building stuff in China and they have next to none of those things in the US but charging so much for their products. At that point I would much rather buy a Manley Reference Cardioid mic for less money than a Chinese 3Zigma kit any day. I don't know it just seems really weird.

Scroll up to post nr 75 and you get all info
And click this link:
http://goldenagemusic.mamutweb.com/S...hile-Line/48/1

Thanks, I know - it was a comment as there was no info on the Thor [T-7] for such a long time... but now it seems finally be on it's way...


::
Mads

thank you VERY much for posting these samples... I've been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out which one of these mics to purchase, and you've helped my decision big time!

*side note* the female singer you have on these has a great voice and is quite attractive, is she with a band or doing any projects that we might be able to listen to?