This has been out for a while but I can’t seem to find many reviews, except for a few YouTube videos. I’m thinking of grabbing a stereo pair for overheads and acoustic guitar, and overall as a general workhorse LDC pair.

How do they compare to the other usual suspects? I’ve used the modern C414 XLS and it does the job just fine, but I like transformers in my mics and Warm Audio seems to be doing a fairly good job on all these recreations.

I just wanted to see who’s been using them and what your opinions are?

Thanks for your help!

+1!
I have the same interest and questions. In my experience, clones are not very exact copies of the target mics, but sometimes they are very good microphones and are in the target’s general sonic ballpark. And Warm has a reputation for using good components, including name brand transformers.

Subscribing to the thread. This mic has been out for a while and allegedly is modeled after the presumably sought after C414EB, but has few reviews on retailer sites or other forums and not many demos on Youtube or elsewhere. My interest is primarily male vocals and acoustic guitar.

Hopefully some people will chime in with their experiences, but I just stumbled across this review in the current issue of TapeOp:

Warm Audio: WA-14 Condenser Mic | Tape Op Magazine | Longform candid interviews with music producers and audio engineers covering mixing, mastering, recording and music production.

Thanks for posting this.

bump time......

The WA-14 owners were probably busy recording and this thread slipped by. Hopefully they see it this time

I have 2 wa-14s.
I initially bought a lauten audio la320 and a wa14, both $499. Ran them into my Clarett 8preX through Cubase out to Focal Alpha 80s. On acoustic guitar, the 320 was brighter and boomier where the 14 was more midrangey and smoother on the hi and low end. Both sounded nice but having different characteristics.The 320 comes with a nice case where the 14 doesnt. The metal housing on the 320 was a bit thin compared to, say, an SE2200a whereas the wa14 is a little chunk being larger than a standard akg 414. The 14 is multi-pattern and the 320 is cardioid only. I bought two 14s to have a pair of edge terminated capsuled multi patterned mics. If I wasnt looking for edge terminated capsules The SE4400As would have been considered instead.
When I ran the 14 through my PreSonus RC500 channel strip at a higher gain, it really opened up. My comments are based on a short time frame comparison and nothing more.

Curious if you kept the LA 320. I'm building out on mic collection and have been looking at getting one or two LDC. I'm pretty sold on picking up a WA14, but would consider buying an LA320, or 220, down the line. I have a pair of Lauten's SDC and really like them, so I'm interested in other mics from them.

The wa14 is a nice all rounder mic and great for stereo mixing. It is based on the original brass capsule 414, not the later 414s. It is thicker sounding than 414s with an emphasis on the low end (which all of warm’s Emulations seem to do.). I find this “warmth” helps with digitalitus, esp in home studios without any nice transformer coupled hardware.

I'm also surprised by the lack of accolades I see here about this mic. Most reviews I've seen about it say that it's virtually indistinguishable from the brass capsule 414, which now goes for several grand and has quite the reputation for being a great workhorse. A few say it surprised folks more than the WA87. I just ordered one based on the reviews. I guess I'll find out soon if it lives up to that.

Cool! Have you received your WA-14?
What are your first impressions?
Cheers!

Unfortunately it’s going to be a little while before I have the opportunity to put it through the paces. I want to build some acoustic panels for my room first, and I’m not sure when I’ll have the time to do that. I hope soon!

I love mine. Have a pair, it's a good mic to have.
Probably by now I have all the Warm Audio mics... They are fun. I think the WA14 wasn't their best selling mic although it is a very good one at what it does. Drums, percussions, horns and acoustic guitar duties for me.

Thanks for the feedback!

Does anyone use this mic as a main, all-around LDC? I'm looking for something more full-frequency and suited for general use than my stock Oktava MK319.
Would this be a good option?

I'll preface this by saying I'm not exactly the most qualified mic connoisseur to answer this question. With that said, yes I use it as my main all-arounder. And yes I'm pretty happy with it. For what that's worth, which may not be much

Goat, as you may know...
I think Bill Sitler is still modding the 319.

I have a 319 however, that's a terrific vintage character mic though. So leaving it "as is".

The 219's and 319's run a sonic spectrum from "warm/clear", to very "dark"-like my 319.
If you post a vocal clip, I probably can tell you where yours lies.
Chris

Late to the party since I was recording

Here's a demo I did of the WA-14 pair in XY on acoustic guitar. I'd been looking for a 'workhorse' pair of LDCs to replace my odd selection of budget LDCs and these have totally fitted the bill. Warmer than the regular/new C414s I've tried, and closer in character to the older C12A I've twiddled with at Rockfield.

Really responsive. Have used them as my main goto LDC pair across the board with zero complaints. YMMV

Anyone using these for overheads?

Took mine to a friend's commercial studio (Drumsound's "Oxide Lounge") where he placed a WA-14, an AT Pro 37a and an sE T2 over his personal kit and played.
He said he liked what he heard from the WA-14.
Do a googlish search and you will find a number of folks that use them as overheads.
I've seen some positive WA-14 overhead comments elsewhere here in GS.

Calling @ Drumsound

That beautiful performance does not hurt the cause.

I’m by no means a mic expert or drum recording expert. With that said I’ve been using my WA-14 as an overhead a bit recently and have been happy with the results. For whatever that’s worth!

Good Call!

I would consider that to be a rock solid endorsement. Tony knows his stuff, and takes his drum recording techniques very seriously.

Hopefully I'll remember and pull up those files and post something here. I remember doing it, and liking at the time, but I can't even recall what it sounded like.

I have a folder called TESTS that has all kinds of stuff like that. I should revisit it more often.

I don't know about that Mic, but I bought a WARM 47 Jr. Just for the hell of it.


NOT a good mic.

When a product's online reputation seems oddly inorganic, that's because it is.

Nobody markets anything these days without an online brand manager (Hit squad) whose job it is to create an artificial public opinion about it.

When there is a lack of info PERIOD, that tells me more effort has been put into having things removed than into Astroturfing fake reviews.

I'd say about 50% of the poster here on GS are paid Astroturfers.

For instance......see how long it is before this post vanishes,

Ah man, you got me! I’ve been posting on GS for over ten years with a posting history you can easily access, but it was all just to sell a few WA-14s. All of the other stuff I’ve talked about was just part of the long con. Now that my decade long master plan has been discovered I guess I better vanish for forever. But first I just want to commend you on your masterful detective skills. Bravo.

Memory problems at your young age!?!
;-)