Recording Gear Review: MXL V63M Studio Mic

We recently had the opportunity to record an audition CD of our youngest, playing violin, for a nationally-known summer music camp. In preparation for said audition, I pulled out our trusty Fostex portable studio, mics, and other necessaries and packed them for the trek to a local chapel with wonderful acoustics. I thought all was ready only until we arrived.

Once there, I was given some excellent advice by someone who really, really knows sound…along with the use of a mic that made our current mic setup seem rather sad. This was way, way past equipment envy; it was clear an upgrade in our personal recording arsenal was in order. Which brings us to this article.  :-)

Let me first state for the record that I’m not a sound/recording engineer. I know just enough to be dangerous, making clean, passable recordings for personal use, audition CDs, and limited distribution runs of our family’s musical treasures. But having played trumpet for years and having a house full of violinists, I can say that I have a good ear…and I’m a life-long technologist to boot. Dangerous, yes…but not completely devoid of clue.  ;-)

My quest for a mic similar to the one we used for the recording led me to the MXL V63M, an omni-directional mic available from Musician’s Friend and other fine musical gear establishments. It’s pictured in all its beauty below.

MXL V63M Studio Microphone

The V63M comes with a shock mount and a regular mount, along with a nice synthetic leather zippered carrying case. It looks nice, has a reassuring heft to it, and gives every indication of a mic that means business.

I won’t go into tech specs, as they’re available on the vendors’ sites. What I will tell you is how it performs: magnificently.

After unboxing the mic and attaching the fixed mount to it, I spun it onto the mic stand, hooked up the cable to mic and studio, and…nothing. This mic (like many others) requires phantom power to drive it, but a couple of button punches later and we were in business. The sound was full, rich, and powerful through the new Sony headphones (which will be reviewed in a subsequent article, I promise)…but I’ll admit I was curious to know how it would sound after the track bouncing, conversion, CD-burning, and all of the other magic that enters the picture between giving the “go” signal to the performer and handing off the CD.

I baselined this mic against a setup with one of our Shure-clone studio mics, then again with two mics positioned strategically for best sound (our usual configuration). I ran multiple recording passes with the same instrumentalist playing the same pieces in the same room. After all, how can you gauge performance without a good baseline?

The verdict? Jaw-droppingly clear and ringing sound make the V63M a must-have, in my opinion. And at the amazing price we paid of $69.99 – yes, you read that right – my deepest regret is that we didn’t buy this mic years ago. Better late than never, I suppose, but if only…

If you’re in the market for a great mic, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. Between the quality and the price, you’d be very hard pressed indeed to beat it.

And if you are going to be in the market, please consider visiting the Musician’s Friend site by way of the ad link to the right. Doing so helps support your PartTimeMusician.com site and still nets you the same great price from our friends at MF! Just click the ad, type V63M into the search box, and check it out yourself. But whether you buy from MF or not, whether you go through PTM or not, you owe it to yourself to check out this mic. It’s a keeper.  :-)

All the best,
Mark

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Treatment for Tinnitus

I ran across this news item and wanted to share it with the greater PTM family. Some of us “more experienced” musicians may suffer from tinnitus, or a constant ringing in the ears. If this is you (or someone you know) there may be a fairly inexpensive way to combat it.

Researchers have determined that playing several hours a day of music that has been specially-adapted to remove the frequency of the ringing eventually leads to the tinnitus sufferer being better able to “tune out” that distracting and frustrating noise. This BBC news article gives more details, but here are a couple of particularly exciting tidbits:

Participants listened to the music for an average of 12 hours a week and by the end of the study, those who had been given the tailored music reported a significant drop in the level of the ringing they heard compared with those listening to the dummy version.

“The notched music approach can be considered as enjoyable, low cost, and presumably causal treatment that is capable of specifically reducing tinnitus loudness. It could significantly complement widely-used and rather indirect psychological treatment strategies.”

This treatment isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a relatively inexpensive helper treatment that has already achieved significant results. If you or someone you love has tinnitus, don’t let it stop the music; use the music to fight back. Keep that music coming!

All the best,
Mark

For more information, please also see this Daily Mail article.

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