Maybe look at WeissKlang? They have a sale on right now. Been eyeing the M3 which also has a plug-in for changing profiles. Looks intriguing for €299.
Not sure about hand soldered but made in Germany at least.

Made in Germany means nothing. Made in China either. If it's hand soldered and made with premium parts, a nice diaphragm and has good quality control, I don't give a scooby where it's made!

So I went and bought a MK1 warbler, the OG.

Guo recommended it, and also offered to 'exchange' my dead MKVID diaphragm for £75..though I do not feel comfortable changing it myself..

So again, any UK based mic repair techs wanna take a crack at my Warbler?

Edit: not bought but invoice sent. Has anyone in the UK received a mic post Brexit and can give me an idea of import costs these days?

Last edit: import is 4% tax is 20%
Which takes the cost of a warbler reaching the UK to £335.

That said, are there any mics that wouldnt incur such charges that can compete with the 3U stuff at that price? WarmAudio mics any competition for 3U?

So, now you care where stuff is made?

haha i see the confliction - egg on my face as they say.

Though I am sure you understand the difference?

I hold no bias or discrimination to a company in regard to its ability to create a reputable product in relation to its location..

but there is a very real, monetary impact with regards to import duties (which is not a fabrication of my own based on inherent bias)

for what its worth

As someone who lives in an EU country I’d rather buy inside than import. Hence my comment. For me manufacturing location can have an impact on quality but it doesn’t have to.

Anyway, I hope you find what you need. I tried to order 3U stuff but they already stopped selling to EU. So I had to chose something else.

really? seems mad they would sell to UK not EU..is it regulatory?

In July 2021 I got this response:

“According to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, we’ve stopped selling to the EU. We are doing our best for the compliance of products.”

And:

“The UK will have the same regulation next year. So we'll do similar jobs together next year.”

So hopefully they will start selling to EU again.

Got it today. Worked well and sounded good (without the supplied sw) on the first session immediately after getting it. Sounds flat but not boring.

Software works as expected, it's easy to use and really makes this mic sing in a different way. It was on sale for 299 EUR, def affordable.

k

IMO Warm is crap. I've heard Microphone-Parts mics/kits get closer to the original gear than Warm does.

I'm not bothered about replication. I know 'U47' 'U87' like have become a way we describe tone, but honestly, that's not what I'm chasing in an affordable, well made, well tuned mic.

On a side note, it's crazy there isn't already a £40 Amazon basics mic that is a direct copy and is amazing haha

Well capsules alone are like $28-30 wholesale, and that's for the not-super-impressive Chinese ones like the RK67. The good ones like 797's and 3U Audio's are quite a bit more. I don't know the cost of 797's off hand, but I believe it's something like $60, and the 3U Audio ones are something like $120. The cheapest I realistically see a copy like that being is $100 using the cheapest capsule. I think at the least building one yourself would be $60, judging by a similar project I've seen done in a BM-800 body (except it was using a Chinese edge terminated capsule).

this is super interesting but i mean amazon is a behemouth that eclipses the reach of say behringer or warm audio or neumann or shure or ev or audio technica or mxl or se or 797 or 3u or samson or akg or sony or sennheiser or telefunken or isk or beyerdynamic or...you get my point

Sure.... and they already sell dirt-cheap mics for people who don't have the experience (or need) to hear the difference between different quality tiers of mics. It's the "...and amazing" part of your post that keeps that from happening. Amazon's race-to-the-bottom model is antithetical to someone like Guosheng of 3U, who seems to care much more about quality than quantity.

The whole point of 3U, and really everything Kidvybes ever posted about, is affordable tools that can really make great-sounding recordings. It isn't just that they're inexpensive (and 3U are far from the least expensive mics, to be sure), it's that they can be used in sessions alongside Neumanns without any issue. And that's literally true, I've done it many times. The nature of the technology involved with LDCs will make that impossible for anyone, even Amazon, to do that with a $40 mic, particularly with today's issues with supply and transportation cost.

Speaking of race to the bottom, here’s a $14.99 mic to replace all your neumann’s. I’m sure it sounds TOTALLY AMAZING for less than a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_...=220605_sunday

As I've noted before, Chrissie Hynde recorded the vocals for some of her recent materiel on her iPhone - which proves gear is almost irrelevant. Yes it matters to us gear heads listening out for every subtle perceived "issue". If the performance is good then you can make a record pretty-much regardless of the gear. Yes the producer/mixing engineer will have a job to do - but a cleanly captured vocal on budget gear and even iPhones as discussed will sound fine in a mix as long as there are no glaring major recording issues.

No piece of gear will make a hit or break a hit. The vocal performance is 90% of what makes most hits a hit. Mr average just doesn't care about sound as much as we think they do.

OK! i think i might need an education haha. your well recieved and passionate post are evidence that i do! (p.s i own 3u mics, behringer mics, akg mics, ev mics, neumann mics, isk mics, audio technica)

@ Scragend has witnessed the truth!

"$40" microphones?

Some existing opportunities to get a fine used dynamic microphone, at even under $60-$70...
Including shipping cost/etc.

Usual suspects include AKG's D770/D790,/D8000 type series.
Some sound great on used 57/58's.

Also IMHO the Shure SM48 is underrated.
Occasionally for sale IIRC at $40 (or less) at Musicians Friend/GC.

Some nice used condensers come up too.
Besides 3U CM-1's...
SE X1/AKG P120/Blue Spark/Studio Projects B1.

A (previously posted elsewhere at GS) cell phone...
"One take/off the cuff" Practice Vocal below.

It was recorded on a beautiful day outside, on a park bench.
It's part of an old Traffic song I love.
Getting a bit Psychedelic here.
Chris
P.S. Originally recorded in glorious Samsung MP4!

Wow! Almost ribbonesque silky while totally open/transparent... just beautiful. And if desired with a tube pre, something with an xformer, a bit of EQ etc - make your own vintage grail... thought came while listening to the comparison with the more expensive Neumann, which was the only one i might prefer in some situations to the Weissklang 13 (the other contenders were an AKG 414 and a TLM 103).

The real question is, was it rerecord after on proper equipment, was it stylized in a way low fidelity vocals worked, or did it sound like it was recorded on a cell phone? A really good example of the first one I can think of is fake BTS stuff from TV and movies that use voiceovers where they something like an MKH416 or another shotgun mic, but actually record the audio with U87ais (like pre-lay animation voiceover they show with already animated clips in a way that looks like they're doing ADR).

I'm guessing D, they probably weren't Pretenders on Chrissie's cell phone vocals.
And it will get a good reception.
Chris

Hey Chris - I dug the record out - I didn't realise it was you!

Anyone had experience with OPR (Open Plan Recording) Microphones from Australia?
https://www.openplanrecording.com/product-page/opr-87

These sound really really killer too.

Will be interesting to pit them together with the 3u Audio stuff.

I love that! Didn't realize I paced it well, with the actual recording.
Many thanks!!
Chris

Glad you're still here Chessparov!

We are too spoiled for choice these days!

I record all my songs and song ideas on an iPhone 11. More often than not, I like the performance better on the iPhone than the 24 track gloriousness that is my studio. I use this free app called Mic'd. It and the iPhone has some very musical glue.

I just made a review of the Warbler Mk1 on my YouTube channel that some of you may find helpful. It's got audio examples on drum overheads, acoustic guitar, and vocals along with some comparisons against the sE 4400a and the Lewitt LCT640 TS.

Nice video! Thanks for taking the time to do it!