The Mojave MA-200
// May 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // General
It isn’t very often I run across a mic I’m blown away by, but the Mojave is high on my list. I was introduced to the Mojave MA-200 during a Grammy P&E event at Luminous Sound last year. I thought well it’s under a grand so why not try it out for a while. Well it turned out I’ve used it on just about every vocal session I’ve had since that time. This mic has blown me away on many occasions. I have access to mic’s that our worth $5000 and above, but I keep going back to the Mojave MA-200. It has character for days and reminds me of one of my favorite mic’s the U67. I have found whether it be male or female vocals it really let’s the voice sit nicely in the mix. I rarely even Eq it if any on the vocal. I’ve been matching the MA-200 with a V72 Mic Pre and either an Avalon 2044 or LA-2A. It has a smooth top end, nice mids, and good low end.
I recently got back from a session in L.A. with Erykah Badu at Red Bull Studios. We had the whole band setup live which is 11 people. I remember the last time I did a setup like this was on the “Mammas Gun” album about 10 years ago and we use to use either a Neumann U67 or a Telefunken U47. I thought just for an experiment I would try the Mojave Ma-200. We had a 47 available if it wasn’t working. The first day we were still dialing in headphone mixes and getting sounds. The second day Erykah came in sat down “The Mic sounds great” and we had a great session. Believe me she will let you know if a mic isn’t working for her. This particular session I was running it through a Neve 1081 to an LA-2A, into a Tube Tech PE 1c. Just barely adding some more air to the sound.
But vocals aren’t the only thing it works well on. I’ve so far used it on Cello, Piano, Drums, Percussion, Choir, Upright Bass, and Harp. So if you’re in the market for a large diaphram condensor tube mic, and you’re on a tight budget, the Mojave MA-200 would be my first recomendation.
