Heavyweight Blue Microphone Body - The Good, The Bad, and The Lousy.
I purchased a new microphone body with a matte blue body tube and chrome head basket. It feels very substantial and my first impression was it would be fairly durable over time. Its tapered inner frame is approximately 110 mm long, 40mm wide at the top, and 32mm wide at the bottom. It has two sets of mounting screws more or less midway between top and bottom, which are, oddly, the same distance (29mm) apart. This differs from a typical BM-700/800 with mounting holes approximately 30mm apart. The body tube measures 2.5mm thick, which is relatively thick compared to a typical BM-700/800 body tube which measures 1.2 mm thick.
Photos depict the actual item I received, captured in haste in my ersatz home photo “studio.”
[Note: All measurements are approximate and highly suspect given the low cost of my lab equipment, while providing a useful basis for comparison.]
The GOOD:
Body and head basket are heavy and substantial. The frame is medium gauge, slightly heavier duty than a BM-800 frame, but lighter than some other microphone bodies. Both body and head basket are slightly longer than typical BM-700/800 parts. The chrome base is very thick, heavy and nicely finished – as long as you look out for burrs inside the ring left over from the manufacturing process. The item arrived carefully wrapped in light duty bubble wrap.
The BAD:
The wire grille is only lightly pressed into place – not soldered or glued. It can easily be removed and misaligned with fairly light finger pressure. The round top end separated easily from the other bit. The tapped threads for mounting the head basket to the frame are not exactly the same size, so I had to try several screws before I found one with a good grip. (Parenthetically, my young bride often says I “need to get a grip…” - but that can wait until another day!)
The DOWNRIGHT LOUSY:
(1) The microphone arrived wrapped in plastic bubble wrap which allowed condensation causing the grille to oxidize/rust. The author removed the oxidation with a high grade, low abrasion metal polish. Time will tell if it recidivates. The Seller quickly offered a substantial discount to remedy buyer disappointment. The original head basket is cylindrical. The author swapped it for an angled example from a BM-700 body.
(2) Worse yet, it “pings” and rings like a church or school bell, even gripped by a shock mount and when gripped firmly in the hand. The attached audio file corroborates the point comparing it with another body acquired on eBay.com, an MXL-880, and a typical BM-700, respectively, all of which fared better than the new blue body. Play the file and judge for yourself.
View attachment thumping 1 .wav
MY CONCLUSION: GAME OVER. While I was looking forward to a good experience, I am, in fact, rather disappointed and unable to recommend or promote this as a good option. Of course, this is solely based on my brief experience with just one example, so, perhaps, your mileage may vary. I have already taken it out of service. Would anyone like to buy a low mileage, nearly new microphone body going cheap? . . . . . / James
I purchased a new microphone body with a matte blue body tube and chrome head basket. It feels very substantial and my first impression was it would be fairly durable over time. Its tapered inner frame is approximately 110 mm long, 40mm wide at the top, and 32mm wide at the bottom. It has two sets of mounting screws more or less midway between top and bottom, which are, oddly, the same distance (29mm) apart. This differs from a typical BM-700/800 with mounting holes approximately 30mm apart. The body tube measures 2.5mm thick, which is relatively thick compared to a typical BM-700/800 body tube which measures 1.2 mm thick.
Photos depict the actual item I received, captured in haste in my ersatz home photo “studio.”
[Note: All measurements are approximate and highly suspect given the low cost of my lab equipment, while providing a useful basis for comparison.]
The GOOD:
Body and head basket are heavy and substantial. The frame is medium gauge, slightly heavier duty than a BM-800 frame, but lighter than some other microphone bodies. Both body and head basket are slightly longer than typical BM-700/800 parts. The chrome base is very thick, heavy and nicely finished – as long as you look out for burrs inside the ring left over from the manufacturing process. The item arrived carefully wrapped in light duty bubble wrap.
The BAD:
The wire grille is only lightly pressed into place – not soldered or glued. It can easily be removed and misaligned with fairly light finger pressure. The round top end separated easily from the other bit. The tapped threads for mounting the head basket to the frame are not exactly the same size, so I had to try several screws before I found one with a good grip. (Parenthetically, my young bride often says I “need to get a grip…” - but that can wait until another day!)
The DOWNRIGHT LOUSY:
(1) The microphone arrived wrapped in plastic bubble wrap which allowed condensation causing the grille to oxidize/rust. The author removed the oxidation with a high grade, low abrasion metal polish. Time will tell if it recidivates. The Seller quickly offered a substantial discount to remedy buyer disappointment. The original head basket is cylindrical. The author swapped it for an angled example from a BM-700 body.
(2) Worse yet, it “pings” and rings like a church or school bell, even gripped by a shock mount and when gripped firmly in the hand. The attached audio file corroborates the point comparing it with another body acquired on eBay.com, an MXL-880, and a typical BM-700, respectively, all of which fared better than the new blue body. Play the file and judge for yourself.
View attachment thumping 1 .wav
MY CONCLUSION: GAME OVER. While I was looking forward to a good experience, I am, in fact, rather disappointed and unable to recommend or promote this as a good option. Of course, this is solely based on my brief experience with just one example, so, perhaps, your mileage may vary. I have already taken it out of service. Would anyone like to buy a low mileage, nearly new microphone body going cheap? . . . . . / James
