U67 Style Microphone

Hope it works out for you Vincent. Look forward to your thoughts.  I know for sure I'd like a 2nd....

Very interesting, thanks.  There's a bit of level difference too.  How were they placed for this test, relative to each other and your position?  Am I recalling you are usually 4' back?

I'm usually about 2ft back, which I was in this instance.  The M49C was in the middle with the U67 and M269 to the left side next to each other and the MK67 to the right of the M49C. 

I did, but with my camera. I'll grab one when I get a moment and post it. 

I almost pulled the trigger on Roberts M269 a while back, but ran across a second-hand ADK Z-67 (which is in the M269 camp). I considered that both were using the same capsule, and probably sound very similar, since capsules tend to be the major sound of a mic. Nice sounding mic.

I was looking at the ADK, but I would drive myself nuts with all of the different transformer options. I would need to get in a room with various options of the 67 before I could buy it, but I'm a little OCD. That said, I'd loved to hear it.

I believe there's an X factor when it come to microphones. Hardcore engineers will argue I'm wrong, since two new mics made in consecutive order should sound the same.

Take any three brand new mics made at exactly the same time and place, try them all out. Wanna bet you prefer one to the others? So, even a great mic on paper may not be your forever mic. I've had two Neumann U47's in my house from the same studio that were purchased at the same time when new. One was tinny, one was pretty sweet, but there wasn't anything "wrong" with either one, they just sounded different. So even the benchmark mics sound can be elusive to pin down, no less clone.

I just finished a week with the lovely Chandler REDD mic. If I had the money for it, I would have bought the model I was using. I wouldn't want to risk there being the slightest difference between that one and another one. So I think you have to try the mic you want, and if it's right, don't let it go.

I'm not a huge C12 fan, but once, I used a vintage Telefunken C12 for a 5 song demo done in a great studio. If I would have kept that one, I wouldn't have bothered looking elsewhere, it was that good.

Not really countering your point but it’s worth pointing out that comparing two U47s that have been in service for 50+ years is a fundamentally different thing than comparing two mics right off the factory line. I bet those U47s sounded a helluva lot more similar when they were first made.

I knew that manufacturers KNEW that when I was sent a Audio Sputnik that I wanted to keep(buy) and they wouldn't let me....."that's our demo unit--we can sell you another one." No. Not with LDCs. Fail. When you see all the good press that mic got? That's how they did it--they selected some number of excellent specimens to send around. I bet Pat Leonard got to keep his....

Blackbird has an anniversary set of M149s....I used to rent one....and I can remember calling once and saying "I think you gave me the wrong one".....they looked it up and went--"sorry--we pulled the OTHER serial--but, they're a matched set!" Right. No such thing in modern LDC production, IME. I actually bought a Soundelux U95 (orig) based on how much I loved Blackbird's pair of early serials....Suzy Bogus has used "her" U95 for years....Pretty sure that's Great River's test set of mics....anyway--the one I ended up with? Not so lovely. Changed the tube hoping it was just that....it was not. Sold it.

It's why I never suggest anyone on a budget use them as a baseline of core mics. The idea of "I just want to buy one LDC for my home studio" is a great idea if you can afford a U67 (even 87i) or a C12a or whatever--but, once your'e talking about modern manufacture CLONES? Good luck. Timesuck.

Anyway--this is to say yes--you need to buy THAT unit if you love a mic. The amazingness of the old U87i, IME--is that over nearly 2 decades they remained INSANELY consistent unit to unit. I don't know how they did it, but the consistency waned in the AI versions to where now, some of them sound lovely and some are pieces of overpriced turd. Which is ALSO why there's so much Babel about the AIs--there ARE great sounding ones....that people might own....there are ALSO pieces of harsh spitty turd....thus--disagreement and this conflicting idea that they're the same as the older ones OR that they're really inferior to the older ones--because "the older ones" are actually a single entity that can be discussed, where the AIs are a crapshoot.

On the subject of mics sounding different I think the mid level AT & Shure condensers that where originally designed with automated manufacturering in mind have the consistency thing nailed. In my years at Full Compass with the power and ability to pull any mic at anytime I never remember a Shure or AT LDC not sounding the same as another.
The other day I was talking speakers and reject rates with some manufacturers, I was wondering how some of our more boutique mic builders deal with it. The big names in our business are not even a pimple in the world of electronics and don't have the power or relationships to return parts that don't meet their internal specifications. Dealing with the small order size and time line requirements means dealing with constantly using different vendors and parts. Add the fact that the center piece of any mic is an electro- mechanical device and yes always buy the one you like!

Larry's a nice dude. Their custom shop is here in Seattle and I tried out most of the Z Mods for a few days.

Just talk to Larry the owner.  He’s very helpful. Also, the Lundahl is the one that gets the Z-67 closest to a 269/67.