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Enhanced Audio -
M600 Universal Mic Mount
The first time I saw
this sucker, I was a little skeptical.
Why does just about every large-diaphragm
condenser mic come standard with a suspension
shockmount ? Because a shockmount isolates
the mic from vibration and therefore "enhances" the
mic's performance… or so I thought.
The M600 takes the opposite
approach. It uses six screw-down clamps
to hold the body of a mic solidly within
the center of two low-resonance aluminum
rings. This thing is massive. (You need
a serious mic stand to hold it up.) And
even though you're only finger-tightening
the clamps, the mic ain't goin' nowhere.
Even the assembly to adjust tilt is super-solid.
Once you tighten it, the heaviest of
mics will stay in position. My only gripe
about the physical design is that even
with two hands, it's hard to get all
the clamps aligned onto the mic body
(being careful not to use too much force).
Even the tilt control requires the finesse
of both hands. But once it's all adjusted
and you've got your mic in place, get
ready for a serious revelation.
My first use of the M600 was
to hold a Groove Tubes GT50 FET in front
of my studio kick drum. I was blown away
by how tightly focused the thump of the
kick sounded and how nicely the drum
resonated. But still skeptical, I carefully
marked the position of the mic and swapped
out the M600 for the GT50's
suspension mount. A good deal of clarity
went away. I switched back to the M600,
and that focus was definitely back. My
skepticism disappeared. I should state
here that I was using a Seventh Circle
Audio A12/SC25 mic preamp and listening
on ADAM S3A monitors with a Bag End InfraSUB‑12
Pro subwoofer in my well-tuned control
room. The other thing I noticed was that
I could turn up the volume much higher
before the Bag End's dynamic filter kicked
in because there was less infrasonic
energy (below 20 Hz) in the sound.
I tried further tests with a GT60 tube
condenser on vocals, and again, I could
hear a difference in focus. Bass and
guitar amps? Yup. I also did some comparisons
with non-suspension mic clips, and here
too I could here a difference, although
the change in clarity was a bit more
subtle.
I think that the M600 is accomplishing
two things. First, it prevents the mic
from vibrating infrasonically due to
extreme changes in air pressure or even
from direct blasts of air. This prevents
smearing (modulation) of the frequencies
the mic is supposed to be picking up.
Second, it prevents the mic from resonating
at frequencies within the range of the
sound it's capturing, thereby reducing
mud. So there is some real science behind
it, but your first reaction after seeing
the $275 street price might be that science
doesn't come cheap. Well, think of the M600 as
something that can upgrade the sound
of every single mic in your cabinet,
and you'll realize what a great deal
it is!
Andy Hong Tape Op Magazine No. 53 May/June
2006
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