mojave microphone
Music Gear Reviews

Mojave MA-1000 Mic

This mic from Mojave’s Signature Series has the aesthetics of the old American-style classics. David Royer has consistently designed microphones that win awards and offer its users an experience of great clarity and an acoustic experience to behold. The MA-1000 pretty much falls into this standard from the get-go.

Features

  • Original new old-stock 5840 tube
  • 251-style capsule
  • Custom designed transformer by Coast Magnetics
  • Remotely controlled, continuously variable polar
    pattern selector, located on power supply
  • Switchable 15dB pad
  • Switchable Bass Roll-off
  • Internal switchable power supply voltage
  • American Classic Design
  • Comes with Sling-Shock® licensed from Royer Labs
  • Premium Cable made with Mogami Cable
    and Neutrik connectors

Image source: Mojave MA-1000

All ears

We thought the top end sound was ambient and sweet, with the mid-range section glassy and authoritative. The mic itself seems to have a tube that is old in appearance but modern in performance.

The 5840 tube, a capsule-based on the 251-style and a transformer built by Coast Magnetics combines to give true reliability and quality. We thought right away of the old Telefunken ELA M 251 microphone. A low-noise and high-performance mic that is perfect for any vocal genre.

We feel the MA-1000 will be popular because of its design and performance, which has the vintage sound of the old Telefunken. Of course, we know that microphone has been so popular over the years, there have been scores of similar models and designs sold in their millions for the last 25 years or so.

Applications

The MA-1000 is probably one of the more versatile microphones we have had the pleasure to come across. It works best with acoustic instruments. We used it with guitar, drums and pianos, as well as many vocal harmonies and voice-overs.

Indeed, the MA-1000 is good for most instruments but works best with the older sounding orchestras because of the vintage sonic texture and very low noise.

This mic has been made with some of the world’s best hands and designers. The Chinese-manufactured capsule, American-made old-school 5840 tube, and the constantly changing variable pattern. These features all combine to give an ultra-smooth frequency response.

We found many useful dynamics in the classic characteristics of the MA-1000. But that said: it is a thoroughly modern condenser mic that is worth 100 of those cheap import mics that so often flood the musical instrument market. Those are the ones with a price tag of around $200 or so. The MA-1000 maybe ten times the money, but we found it worth it.

The shock mount is impressive too. This has been tailor-made for Royer and allows for the microphone to be perfectly secure and offers a sound of immense isolation when needed. We’ll definitely be using the MA-1000 again in the future.

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