Good heavens, you're absolutely correct! And here's a direct link for anyone who doesn't wanna scroll. Thank you for doing that! If I'd heard those in the past, I certainly don't remember. This has been quite the epic thread.

On your particular example, the KM84 and Warbler are almost indistinguishable from each other, at least in my current listening environment. The Schoeps has a different character with fairly more open highs (but still smooth and lovely, as Schoeps tend to be). I really like the 84 and the Warbler, though, there's a kind of... crunchy? Al dente? quality to the mids. Like biting into a 3D Dorito. In the best possible way.

My potential mic shopping list for 2022 is shaping up with a pretty wide range of price tags: I'm strongly considering a Gefell M 990, on the high end... but now pretty sure I'll order a Warbler 127 from GZ well before then. Eventually, a Schoeps CMC with the switchable MK5 cap will be in my likely future too. But who knows, the Warbler SDC may cause that to be delayed for quite some time. I plan to use it on clarinet and flute, potentially paired with my u87.

Vanguard V4 - I haven't found a source it doesn't do at least well - excellent vocal mic and more importantly it takes EQ REALLY well for a $400 mic. The price has dropped since release, typical issue of trying to launch a new brand and find a segment - a real bargain now. Check out its (more expensive) tube big brother - the V13 - when it works as a vocal mic it's something beautiful - but being that it has flavour, clashes with some singers. I paid £500 for my V4 when it came out and the fact it's £150 cheaper now doesn't bother me in the slightest as I like the mic so much. In fact I bought another to have a stereo pair. If I lost it (them) I would buy the same again given the same budget.

If you check out the "Josh Turner's Guitar" YouTube channel, you'll hear many examples of the V13 and SE 2200. Like a vocal showcase for those two mics!
Chris
P.S. Too bad the V4 and V13 weren't set up,
at the last Anaheim NAMM.
Only could go off their clips there.

Last week I had a small network reach out and hire the studio for a few hours to record my upright-grand. I used my matched pair Warbler-I's in spaced pair for this. My piano is antique and needs a bit of work but I thought the recording came out pretty good. The audio clip below is completely RAW, no EQ, no processing whatsoever.

The network is doing a special on how sound and resonance affects the body and mind so they had the piano player do all sorts of interesting chords and demonstrations of how chords and harmonies create moods. Pretty interesting stuff. They shot the video in 6K and the footage I saw off-the-floor looked fantastic. Can't wait t see the finished edit.

Pardon the pics. These are just iPhone shots and I was pretty distanced and masked up in the control room area. The last shot is interesting because they asked me to pull out my A-frame ladder so they could shoot the guy's hands from above. I bet that show will look pretty slick when it's edited.


Happy Holidays Everyone!




.

When I took my V4 out the case I didn't hold much hope - it's a VERY light mic (in contract the shock mount is solid and expensive feeling!) - but it soon won me over. You really can "take the p" with EQ and it still holds up. I like the v13 with guitar - I don't own a v13 but I have borrowed one a couple of times and worked with it in the owner's studio a few times.

I have the first ever SE 2200 bought new when they came out - don't really use it any more (a bit brittle to my ears) nothing you can't fix in the mix - but I have heard they are much improved in later iterations.

But vanguards have gone up in price. The V13 was $699 when it was released and the V4 was $399. The V13 is absolutely the All-star of tube mics off the shelf under $1k. The V4 wasn’t bad, but ain’t better than the Warbler IV. The V4 top end is very nice and mellow, or kind of “creamy”, but it’s low end was unfocused in my room. Honestly, the problem could be my room, but the warbler mkIV was much better. In the end, to my surprise, I preferred a new C414 XLS.

I’m very keen to try the V1 with lolli capsule as I’ve heard the lolli is actually the V13 capsule. v4 capsule is a bit different, or it was in the mk I. Not sure I’ll try the V4 mkII unless it’s capsule is different than the mkI, but who knows?

YMMV. Happy holidays and happy new year.

I'm in the UK which probably explains the different experiences. The V4 has dropped from around £499 to £350 since release and the v13 from around £899 to £750. Might simply be a case of a weakening dollar? Not sure - haven't followed currency movements for years! Also supply (to the UK) may have been tight at first ramping the price up.

It might also be reduced pricing on mkI of both v13 & v4 to move those older models out. I see some shops in the US currently list both makes for sale and mkI is quite a bit cheaper (v13 $799 vs mkii $999 and v4 $399 v mkii $599)

But either way, pick them up if you can afford it & want it

After reading this mammoth threaded which took me many days to complete, I felt I finally want to jump on the ship and see some Warblers myself. I've been pondering on buying a nice large condenser for quite some time now.

I browsed to see if this was mentioned, but I didn't stumble upon that anywhere. Maybe i missed this - if so, I apologize.

However, Guosheng has just crashed my Warbler dreams 😔

I've just received a reply from him saying that:

That's unfortunate!

I will browse eBay and maybe find any, but it seems I'll be going the AA and/or Vanguard route then. I hoped for the IV-D though.


Cheers!

Which warbler has your interest? I see a VI is currently listed on reverb. Maybe they would ship to the eu?

Multipattern IV, the one voiced after 251. Shipping overseas can get tricky with customs piling one over another. I'll do my careful research before pulling the trigger, but I will surely look for it here and there I was hoping to deal directly with 3U though, having read so many good things about the customer service. Thanks for the idea about Reverb though!

I'm interested in the Warm Audio WA-87 R2. But have read that 3U may be involved with the capsule? Of course this might not be true. Is there a 3U that gives the same quality (or better) for a lower price, or similar?

Warbler MKID for the 87.
Email Guosheng Zhuang directly for best pricing.
I own the MKID and MKIVD and I love them both. Everyday work horse 🎤🎤.

If I were in your shoes I'd absolutely just get the Warbler MKID. Same general concept as the Warm, very likely a better mic, for less money (plus more voicing options). Guosheng's circuits and QC are excellent, and it's 99% likely Warm uses his K67-style capsule for their 67 and 87 mics.

But the 3U won't look quite as similar to an 87. Oh well.

Actually, since Warm had to change their head basket with the R2, the MKID looks more like a U87, to me anyway.

Thanks for the responses

Yes- thanks! Perfect timing

I honestly really prefer the look of the Warblers, I think they look great! And his logo is excellent... won't lie, it's part of what drew me to trying one out in the first place, silly as that is. (But it was the great Kidvybes' thorough analysis and endorsement that really did it. Your insight helped a lot too, Ragan!)

It's interesting that the Warm has been very favouribly reviewed, sounding very close in certain circumstances to a U87. So could this mean a 3U at a tenth of the price would give the u87 a run for it's money??

Thread Dedicated to Just 3U Audio Mic Demos

Check posts #116 and #117 for a vocal and acoustic guitar comparison between an mkID and 70’s u87.

So, here's my take on this. For context, I'm a session musician and composer/producer, not a full-time audio engineer, but I do remote sessions from my home studio year-round. I own both a u87 and a Warbler MKID.

The Neumann u87ai is my favorite mic ever, and it works brilliantly on everything I need it for (saxophones and woodwinds, mostly). It captures a level of detail and clarity that the Warbler doesn't, and it sounds effortlessly high-end on a good source in a good room.

The Warbler isn't QUITE as good as the Neumann in terms of detail and clarity, but it's phenomenally close in terms of overall quality and utility. (From what I understand, it's very close to a pre-AI u87, with maybe a more subdued top end and more midrange saturation, but I'll defer to people who have A-B'd those specific pieces for real perspective.) It has a more "vintage" and almost tubey flavor that's really, really nice, and in certain circumstances preferable to the Neumann.

For example, I'll bring it to live gigs that are live-streamed, like this one.

On my most recent record, I did about half of the saxophone and woodwind parts on the Warbler and about half on the u87. I actually cannot remember which parts were done with which mic, and in the mix, I can't tell which is which. Under the microscope, the differences are more clear, but when it comes to just making good music recordings, the Warbler is more than capable, and for the money it's a no-brainer.

Considering the thread we're in I think I know what answer I'll get for this, but which mic - GZ67 Fet or Warm WA-87 R2?

It might be a fair assumption that they're actually using the same capsule. But at a similar price is there any reason to choose one over the other?

I do prefer the GZ (based on clips), over the 87 R2.
Also I like the GZ version of the 251 style, quite a bit too.
Chris

While I'm sure the GZ67fet is a very nice mic, I personally opted for the Warbler and I don't regret it. The AMI transformers are undoubtedly very nice, but Guosheng's own transformers (in the Warblers) certainly seem to get the job done very capably. The capsules in the GZ67 are, as far as I know, the same as the Warbler MKI and MKID, and that's where the vast majority of the sound comes from. If you're looking at 3U instead of Neumann, you're probably looking at maximizing your quality-per-dollar ratio; I think the Warbler hits that sweet spot perfectly.

I'm coming from the point of view that I have had a bunch of mid priced mics (£200-£300) and want to go to the next step up.

Ideally I will save and get a Soyuz 017 (£1600ish) but am happy for now to buy something in the £500-£600 range. The GZ67 Fet or Warm fit that range, just need to decide which to go for.

Within Soyuz...
IMHO it'd be smart to compare 017 FET vs. Bomblet.
Chris

The Bomblet looks interesting. I prefer the polished silver look, although obviously the sound is more important.

Much as I love 3U, I think you should probably save up and skip to the higher end and go Neumann, Gefell, Soyuz, or Austrian. Those are the capsules that everyone on earth has either been cloning for the last few decades or will start to clone soon. If you really want the Soyuz 017, hold out until you can afford one, and use what you already have to make the best music possible in the meantime.

Here's another livestream concert for Monks Jazz, the excellent venue/recording/streaming room in Austin, for which I brought along my trusty Warbler MKID. I like how this one turned out, sonically, I think we found a sweet spot with the positioning! It's set to cardioid and voicing 1, with the low cut engaged.

While I've had the privilege of playing with my friend Bruce Saunders many times, this was the first time I've played his music for organ quartet, which I really enjoy. Bruce is a legendary jazz guitarist and was a professor at Berklee for decades. Terry Bowness is on the organ, Adam Jackson is on drums, my Warbler and I are on saxophone.

@ Progger beautiful! I'm on song one, but that "thing" happened already, you did some really satisfying phrase, and myself and apparently the other people on stage all got "the juice" so I'm in for a nice afternoon here on this cloudy day with some great modern live jazz. What a treat!