måndag 21 december 2009

Milab down under

Microphone Solutions Australia, the Milab distributor for Australia and New Zealand, just launched their new website. Check it out at: www.milabaustralia.com

fredag 18 december 2009

Winter in Sweden

Winter has hit our part of Sweden really hard. I still had to drive up to Gothenburg yesterday (about 2 hrs) to pick up our new stereo cases for matched pairs. They look fabulous!

On the way, I personally delivered three LSR-3000:s to the singer/guitar player from all girl band Face 84 - an up and coming band who are making a name for themselves. They've been getting some attention on both Swedish and Norwegian TV lately. It's a sign of class that they are willing to invest in proper vocal mics - too many bands just go with the standard dynamics. I suppose many singers don't realize how big the difference really is. Try a high-end condenser and you will never go back!

It's been very intense for us the last few weeks, but the guys in production have been just amazing! Orders have been shipped all over the world - US, Japan, Australia, Germany, Italy, Norway etc...

Our Australian distributor is about to launch a brand new website at: www.milabaustralia.com. I'll let you know when it goes public - hopefully this weekend.

I will get some days off around christmas, but I've got loads of gigs booked for 2010, starting already January first. And we already have several orders that have to be delivered in January, so it looks like 2010 will be busy!

Merry christmas!

måndag 7 december 2009

Pernilla Andersson nominated for Grammy


Pernilla Andersson (whom I've written about before) used the DC-196 for "almost everything" on her latest album - Ashbury Apples.

Pernilla has just been nominated for Best Female Artist at the Swedish Grammy Awards. All of us at Milab are keeping our fingers crossed!


onsdag 2 december 2009

Rod Stewart and the LSR-2000

There were several Milab LSR-2000:s on stage for Rod Stewart's world tour in 1992. Rod's mic is covered in white tape to match the stage design.

If you're used to dynamic mics and how you have to press the microphone against your lips when singing, notice how Rod doesn't have to think about the distance to the mic. Sometimes it's 10 inches from his mouth - without any real noticable change to the sound. Yet another reason to go for a condenser.

And I guess Rod didn't know that we accept custom orders (if he wanted a white LSR-2000). We delivered custom silver LSR-2000 to Swedish band Melody Club earlier this year.


Updated FAQ

I just added some questions to the FAQ page on our website:

www.milabmic.com/faq.asp

tisdag 1 december 2009

Wisycom and Milab

Ever heard about Wisycom (Italy)? They are a very exclusive manufacturer of wireless equipment, including wireless microphones. State-of-the-art stuff!

They don't make their own capsules though, and after years(!) of testing they have now been using the Milab VM-44 capsule for their top model - MTH300 - for about a year. It is available both with the VM-44 cardioid capsule (MCM302) and the VM-44 omni capsule (MCM304). The microphone has gone through rigorous testing in both Italy and Sweden and has been approved by both Milab and Wisycom.

This means that there finally is a wireless option for all you hardcore Milab fans. The MTH300 with the MCM302 head is as close as you get to a wireless LSR-3000.

Check out the Wisycom website.

Website visitors

We now have about twice as many visitors to the website when compared to the same period last year. The increase from the US and Canada is huge - and I assume we owe most of it to our fabolous new North American distributor - FDW-Worldwide. You are doing a great job guys!

tisdag 24 november 2009

Flux plug-ins

Many of the best products on the market are made by small manufacturers who don't get the amount of attention that they deserve - just like Milab.

If you're into high-end plug-ins you should really check out the french company Flux. They remind me of our company - tiny manufacturer but the products are amazing.

http://www.fluxhome.com/

tisdag 17 november 2009

Email problems

I've recently discovered that we've been having some problems with our outgoing email and that many of the emails that have been sent from the office never reached their target.

The problem has been solved now, but I'm afraid it is impossible for me to find out which emails have gotten lost. I normally answer emails within a day or two, so if you've been waiting for a reply longer than that - please let me know.

måndag 16 november 2009

FDW-Worldwide booked for NAMM

Milab distributor for North America, FDW-Worldwide, is booked for the 2010 NAMM show in Anaheim, California (January 14-17). Booth number 6630.

måndag 9 november 2009

Tim de Paravicini, Ear Yoshino - update

I have written previously about Tim de Paravicini's custom valve microphones with Milab rectangular capsules, but I have not seen before that there is more info about them on the EAR Yoshino website.

http://www.earyoshino.com/pdesc.php?pid=27



Gig with Bose L1 system

I had a small gig this weekend at a library (!). I have a duo with my cousin and we tried out the Bose L1 compact system for the first time. Setup: Piano (Yamaha S90ES), acoustic guitar and two vocal mics (Milab LSR-1000 and LSR-3000 condensers).

It was surprisingly easy to get a good sound. The piano sounded a little bit synthetic, but still very good - the guitar was great and the vocal sound was absolutely amazing - and I didn't even touch the EQ, except for the 80Hz high pass filter. But then again, many people underestimate the difference you will get with proper vocal mics.

tisdag 3 november 2009

Michael Jackson and Milab


People ask me every now and then about Michael Jackson's use of our mics. I thought I'd just put what I know in this post and you can google your way here.

This is what I've been told: Bruce Swedien and Quincy Jones apparently liked the VIP-50 and used it for several projects in the late 80's and early 90's. One was as vocal microphone for Michael Jackson's Dangerous album. There is even a thank you note to Milab in the album credits. I don't know if they also used other Milab models - I would guess so, considering the thank you note, but I'm not sure.

There is also a thank you note to Milab in the credits for the Thriller Special Edition, and I'm guessing they used the VIP-50 for some additional recordings for that album. The original Thriller album was released before the VIP-50.

Rodney Holmes

I've been working on a Milab artist feature on the website for some time. The first to be published is drummer Rodney Holmes.

http://www.milabmic.com/milab_artists.asp?artist=r_holmes

More artists coming soon...

onsdag 28 oktober 2009

BDM-01 review

Thanks to Brad Watts of Audio Technology I finally got a copy of the first BDM-01 review. And I've been smiling all morning!

We may not be the largest microphone manufacturer on the planet - and we don't launch new products every other week. But when we do, we try to make sure they are something special. Therefore, this kind of feedback is great motivation for us to keep developing new models.

Read excerpts from the review here.

Read the entire review here.

måndag 19 oktober 2009

BDM-01 reviewed - finally


Our latest product release, the BDM-01 bass drum mic, has exceeded all expectations and sold more than we had planned for. Therefore it's been hard for me to get demo units to send out for reviewing. But finally, there is a proper review in the latest issue of Australian Audio Technology (issue 70).

I've had not had a chance to read it myself yet, but according to our Australian distributor, Darren Halifax of Microphone Solutions Australia, it is really good. Thank you Darren for setting up the review.

As soon as I get a copy of the review I will tell you more.

There are more reviews of the BDM-01 in the pipeline, with several prestigious magazines waiting for a demo unit.

torsdag 15 oktober 2009

Tape Op SDC shootout revisited

Thanks to Laura Thurmond of Tape Op magazine, I was finally able to get a copy of the magazine with the extensive SDC shootout (Tape Op No. 72 July/Aug 2009, pages 56-58).

As I've written before, the two Milabs in the shootout (VM-44 and DC-96B) both made the cut, as decided by the very prestigious 21-member panel. It was also nice to see that the author of the article, Mike Jasper, picked both Milab mics among his personal favourites.

So what can we learn from this? Choosing your microphone is mostly a matter of taste, but it is clear from a test like this that buying a microphone from the company with the biggest marketing budget or the best known brand name does not mean you will get the best product. Dig a little deeper, make your own blind tests and make sure that you get a microphone that is right for you.

lördag 10 oktober 2009

Up and running in New York

The first day of the AES Convention was a success. The booth looks really great and stands out from the rest (the image below shows the booth just before they let the public in). The people at FDW-W have done an amazing job creating marketing material in such a short time. Everything looks amazing.

We had so many people talking about the products all day and it was hard even finding a little time for lunch.
In the evening we had a press party at the Marriot to celebrate the inclusion of Milab and Audient in the "FDW-W family". This too was a success with many guest, great food and wonderful entertainment.

måndag 28 september 2009

Visit us at the AES convention in New York

Milab will be exhibiting at the AES convention in New York City, October 9-12. We will be in booth 673, hosted by our new distributor for North America - FDW-Worldwide. Most of our models will be on display.

I will be going to New York myself, so if you would like to book an appointment, please contact me: mattias.stromberg ( at ) milabmic.com

onsdag 23 september 2009

Pernilla Andersson

Swedish multi-talented (singer/musician/song writer/producer) Pernilla Andersson just released her new album Ashbury Apples yesterday. Her Milab DC-196 was used for "almost everything", i.e. all vocals, guitars etc. The first reviews have been great, including a 4 (out of 5) rating from Sweden's leading daily newspaper - Dagens Nyheter.

Here is a live performance of a duet with Dregen from her last album. The vocal mics are Milab LSR-3000 and LSR-2000.


torsdag 10 september 2009

Milab at MIAC in Toronto

Thanks to our new distributor for North America - FDW-Worldwide - Milab was represented at the MIAC (The Music Industries Association of Canada) tradeshow in Toronto recently.

Only the DC-196 and VM-44 were shown, but for the AES show in New York, Oct 9-12, all the important Milab products will be on display. Visit Milab and FDW-Worldwide in booth 673 at AES.

Images from Toronto:






tisdag 1 september 2009

Rare golden VIP-50 on Ebay

There are several Milabs on Ebay at the moment. Some CM-22:s that have been in the Australian parliament house and a couple of VM-44:s, but most interesting is this golden VIP-50.

There are only a few golden VIP-50:s out there, and as far as I know all or most of them were made as awards for the Golden Microphone Awards that Milab used to hand out to audio professionals.


onsdag 26 augusti 2009

The Grateful Dead

Richard Links of California has been kind enough to share some information about The Grateful Dead and their use of the Milab LC-25. I'll repost his email here (with Richard's permission of course):

---------------------

My curiosity began when I recently picked up a video of The Dead at Alpine Valley (1989) and in it, you can see that nearly each vocal is captured by identical microphones on stage. This got my curiosity and I felt I had seen that distinct pick-up structure previously. Then, when I Googled further, I found out that Dan Healey, the former sound engineer for The Dead, commented about their use of the LC-25 for vocals. BTW, I have actually met Dan in-person, since he is also a member of our local California Historical Radio Society. He has a massive collection of antique radios!

Here is just one of numerous clips (Not Fade Away), in which these very Milab microphones are visible:





Richard Links
Links Sound

tisdag 25 augusti 2009

SDC shootout in Tape Op Magazine

There is an extensive SDC (Small Diaphragm Condenser) shootout in the latest issue of Tape Op Magazine with as many as 92 microphones included - very stiff competition indeed with AKG, Neumann, DPA, Josephson, Gefell and many others.

21 jury members selected 15 mics each and all models that received more than 7 votes made it to the "most picked" category. The test was only made with acoustic guitar.

Two Milab models were in the shootout (DC-96B and VM-44) and both were selected as "most picked". Neumann had 9 models with only 1 selected, AKG 9 models - only 1 selected, Schoeps had 6 models - only 1 selected, Josephson 3 models - none selected, DPA 3 models - 1 selected, Shure 5 models - 1 selected, Gefell 4 models - none selected etc...

Mics in the shootout:

3 Zigma CHI
AKG Blueline 391
AKG Blueline 393
AKG C 1000 S
AKG C 480 B
AKG C451b
AKG C451EB
AKG C451EB
AKG C460B
AKG D224e
AT 4021
AT 4031
AT 4041
AT 4051
ATM450
AT-Pro 37R
Avantone CK-1
Avenson STO-2
B&K 4011
Beyerdynamic M201
Beyerdynamic MC930
CAD GXL1200
Charter Oak M900
Crown CM-700
DPA 4006TL
DPA 4011TL
DPA 4099
Earthworks QTC40
Earthworks SR30
Earthworks TC30
EV RE15
Fouxman MCA SP-1 mod
Fouxman MK012 mod
Fouxman MXL 603 mod
Gefell M296
Gefell M300
Gefell M70
Gefell M94
Heil PR-35
Jim Williams MCA SP-1
Josephson C42
Josephson C617
Josephson e22s
JZ BT-201
Kel Audio HM-1
Mercenary KM-69
Milab DC-96B
Milab VM-44 Classic
MXL 604s
MXL V67N
Naiant X-M
Neumann KM 130
Neumann KM 143
Neumann KM 184
Neumann KM 83
Neumann KM 84
Neumann KM 85
Neumann KM 86
Neumann KM 88
Neumann TLM50
Nevaton MC49
Oktava MC012
Oktavamod MC012
Oktavamod MCA SP-1
Oktavamod MXL 603
Peluso CEMC6
Rode NT5
Samson CO2
Sanken CO-100K
Schoeps CMC5 with MK5 capsule
Schoeps CMC6 with MK4 capsule
Schoeps CMT 30 FNU M 934 b
Schoeps CMT 30 FNU M 934 c
Schoeps CMT 30 FNU MK241
Schoeps CMT 341
Schoeps/Strasser CM60
SE Electronics SE1
SE Electronics SE3
Sennheiser 421
Sennheiser 441
Sennheiser e914
Sennheiser MKH 8020
Sennheiser MKH 8050
Shure KSM141
Shure SM137
Shure SM57
Shure SM7
Shure SM81
Sony C-535p
Studio Projects C4
T.H.E. KA-04
Violet Finger

Most picked (in alphabetical order):

AKG C451 EB
AT 4021
B & K 4011
Beyer MC 930
Charter Oak M900
DPA 4099
Jim Williams-modded AKG C 460 B
Mark Fouxman-modded Octava MK-012
Mercenart Auio KM-69
Milab DC-96B
Milab VM-44
Neumann KM 184
Nevaton MC49
Rode NT5
Sanken CO-100K
Schoeps CMC/MK5 omni
Shre KSM141
Sony C-535p
Violet Design Gold-Finger

----

I have not seen the actual article - I've only read about it in forums - but I will try to get a copy of the magazine.

torsdag 13 augusti 2009

Back at the office

I apologize for my lack of blogging the last few weeks. I'm back at the office now after my vacation and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year.

There are several exciting things happening in the near future: We are launching some very promising distributors (USA, Singapore and Sweden) and there are some interesting magazine reviews in the pipeline. We are awaiting the first reviews for the BDM-01 - and the SRND 360 will be reviewed by an american magazine for the first time.

måndag 6 juli 2009

Visit from Down Under

Last friday we had the honour of being visited by Mr. Darren Halifax of Microphone Solutions Australia (MSA), the Milab distributor for Australia and New Zealand. Darren has done a terrific job promoting Milab Down Under. Thanks to MSA there are now several respected artists who are using Milab mics live and/or in the studio, and I'm convinced that many more will follow.

Darren is also the owner of Satellite Recording Studio in Perth, one of the finest studios in Western Australia.



Me and Darren

tisdag 23 juni 2009

CM-22

I've been getting several emails lately regarding the Milab CM-22. It was custom made for the Australian parliament house in the 80's - a very big order for a small company like Milab.

The CM-22 is a gooseneck model made specifically for speech. The gooseneck itself can be removed and the front screws directly onto the XLR amplifier.


The CM-22 was not designed for music recording, but as long as the SPL:s are not too high it will make for a different microphone with a unique "colour".

We still carry some spare parts for it.

CM-22 info

tisdag 2 juni 2009

SRND 360 review in Resolution Magazine

The Milab SRND 360 has just been reviewed in the excellent UK pro-audio magazine Resolution. Read more in the news section at the Milab website.

Tim de Paravicini, E.A.R and Milab

I'm getting questions from time to time regarding the custom E.A.R microphones that Tim de Paravicini built for Kavi Alexander, most famously used for Ry Cooder and V.M. Bhatt's A Meeting by the River.

The microphones were custom made tube mics with Milab 2700 rectangular capsules (the same as in the VIP-50). We normally don't sell capsules separately and I'm not sure how Tim de Paravicini were able to get hold of them, but I suspect that legendary engineer Kavi Alexander (of Water Lily Acoustics) had something to do with it.

If I'm correctly informed no other microphones were used for A Meeting by the River than two E.A.R/Milabs. The album won a Grammy and is widely considered as one of the best sounding recordings ever made. Just read these quotes:

"I'm here to tell you that 'A Meeting by the River' is just flat-out astounding, one of the most uncannily real recordings I've ever heard. I haven't heard the LP yet, but the CD is a mind-blower: mastered directly from a CD-R transfer of the analog master, this is the best-sounding acoustic guitar recording I've ever heard. From the most subtle string-scrape die-offs to the unleashed dynamics throughout "Ganges Delta Blues," the sound just breathes life into the room and makes the best-sounding discs in my rack sound grainy and flat by comparison." - Corey Greenberg, Stereophile

"The splendor of the music is aided in its transmission by the fact that, like all Water Lily Acoustics releases, this album is masterfully recorded; each instrument is clear, distinct, and three-dimensional sounding. A Meeting by the River is a must-own, a thing of pure, unadulterated beauty, and the strongest record in Cooder's extensive catalog." - Daniel Gioffre, Allmusic

Interview with Kavi Alexander where the microphones are discussed.

måndag 25 maj 2009

Andreas Scholl and the Milab SRND 360

Andreas Scholl is widely considered to be one of the finest classical singers in the world. He is also the owner of a Milab SRND 360 surround microphone.

Andreas was kind enough to write a personal review of the microphone. You can find the review on the Milab website:

Here is a video of a unique recording made with the Milab SRND 360.

tisdag 28 april 2009

Martin Taylor endorses Milab

Martin Taylor, one of the greatest jazz guitarists in the world, now publicly endorses Milab Microphones. Martin, who is more or less always on tour, uses a Milab DC-96B for his guitar - both on stage and in the studio.

Martin has (among many other awards) won the British Jazz Awards for best guitarist no less than 12 times and is widely considered as one of the finest jazz musicians on the planet. We are very proud to be associated with him.

We are working on a new feature for the website with artists who are endorsing Milab. We are starting out with just a few, but highly respected artists, who have what it takes to be "Milab artists". Stay tuned and I will reveal more names...


tisdag 21 april 2009

Melody Club on tour

Swedish pop/synth rock band (according to Wikipedia) Melody Club starts their spring tour on friday at KB in Malmö, Sweden. FOH engineer Oscar Söderlund uses mostly Milab mics as usual.

For this tour we have even made some custom designed mics to fit their theme.

http://www.myspace.com/melodyclub

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody_Club

tisdag 7 april 2009

Home sweet home


It's been a very intense week with too little sleep and a lot of work, but still a lot of fun.

It was my first Frankfurt fair and I am of course at awe - it's enormous. I had some really good meetings and I'm glad to say that the BDM-01 got a lot of attention. We've produced it mostly because we felt it was missing from our product range, but we never thought of it as a big seller. But seeing that the first batch was sold out even before we went to Frankfurt, I may have to take back those words. There are not so many high-end bass drum mics around, so maybe this was something that the market was waiting for. Only the future will tell.


I'd like to say thank you to all the people who visited us and who took the time for a proper meeting - a couple of which will result in some very exciting news in the near future. Stay tuned and you will learn more soon!

måndag 30 mars 2009

Next stop Frankfurt!

After a period of intense preparations for the Prolight + sound fair, we are finally off to Frankfurt tonight.

If you are visiting the fair, please pay us a visit and have a chat with me or our R&D manager, Per Ove. Also take the opportunity to be the first to see the BDM-01 IRL.

We are exhibiting together with our german distributor, FBM Audio, in hall 8.0 - booth C05.

See you there!

onsdag 18 mars 2009

Hand held condensers continued

I'll keep ranting on about hand held condensers a little bit more.

I'm a musician myself and back in the days bought one of the "standard" dynamic mics that everyone else uses. It wasn't until I started working closely with Milab that I realised there was a whole world of microphones to choose from and much better models than the "standard" choice. I find it a bit strange that most musicians spend a fortune on their instruments except for singers, who in many cases just buy a 100$ mic without even testing the competitors. Even a world class mic like the LSR-3000 is still much cheaper than a decent guitar.

I've used the LSR-1000 for a while now and couldn't go back to dynamic again. On one of the first gigs a did with it, I played outdoors on a summer wedding and performed a duet with a female vocalist (we both had LSR-1000:s). After the ceremony a man came up from the audience and told me that it was the best vocal sound he had ever heard and wondered what mics we were using. In 20 years of live performances, that had never happened to me before.

Someone wrote in a musicians forum that condensers are for big artists on big stages with good engineers. I would say the opposite - a condenser often needs less eq and cuts through the mix much better than a dynamic. It makes a real audible difference, even (or especially) if you are performing on a sub-par PA system. That's why, wherever I'm performing, I always bring my own mic.

tisdag 17 mars 2009

Historic models

As you may know, the history of Milab is a bit complicated; It started with PML in 1941 and resulted in two separate microphone companies in the late 70s. I often get email regarding information on older microphone models. We've decided to put only the models who have carried the Milab name on the "Historic models" page on the website, but if you have questions regarding older models just drop us a few lines and we will help you with more info.

We also perform service and maintenance on most older models. Many old Milab/PML mics are still hard currency on ebay and other "used gear-sites". You are always welcome to to send us your used mics for a check-up and lab test. For a small fee we run them in our lab and send them back with a new frequency curve.


Just last week we performed service on a rare VIP-501 (the image), which is basically a VIP-50 without the filters.

måndag 16 mars 2009

Local fair and handmade guitars

I attended a local fair this weekend in Helsingborg, our hometown. In the booth to our left was an interesting guitar builder, Michael Sandén, who makes acoustic guitars entirely by hand. It is always nice to meet other manufacturers who really care about the details and quality of their products - just like we do.

Sandén guitars recently celebrated 25 years and released a CD with several highly respected guitarists playing Sandén guitars. One of the guitar players was demoing guitars at the fair and I had a word with him. He told me that he used two Milab DC-96B:s for his track on the CD. They were kind enough to give me a copy to take home and listen. It sounds absolutely wonderful.

måndag 9 mars 2009

VIP-50 - a classic Milab

The VIP-50 is arguably the best known mic ever produced by Milab. It was first released in 1985 and became a big success, despite (or maybe thanks to) it's strange appearance. Ray Charles, who called our american distributor himself to order his unit, used it for vocals on at least three albums.

I've been told that Quincy Jones and Bruce Swedien absolutely loved it, which is why it was used for Michael Jackson's voice on the Dangerous album, and on several other Quincy-productions. Chaka Khan, Manhattan Transfer, Michael McDonald and several others also used it, and I read somewhere that Tori Amos used to bring her own VIP-50 to the studio when recording.

The VIP - as we call it - is still in wide use in studios around the world, and for good reasons.

fredag 6 mars 2009

Hand held condensers

There are still many misconceptions about hand held condensers. I challenge anyone who thinks dynamic is the only option for live vocals to try an LSR mic. You'll be blown away.

I read in a big scandinavian music magazine recently that hand held condenser started coming out 6-7 years ago - around 2002 I guess. But it should probably be interpreted as when the "big" companies launched their hand held condenser.

Milab did it 25 years ago. The LC-25 was way ahead of it's time and was (and is) used by many great artists. It's been replaced by the LSR series now, but after 25 years we are still getting requests for it and manufacture it on demand. But the LSR-1000 is pretty much the same construction.

This is a clip from the classic Rod Stewart MTV Unplugged concert in 1993. Rod is using a Milab LSR-2000. And this is almost 10 years before "hand held condensers started coming out"...

torsdag 5 mars 2009

Early Michael Ruff. Great hair! Great outfit! Great microphone!

Take a look at this Michael Ruff performance from the 80s. You have to digg that hair and the outfit - and of course the Milab LC-25 mic he is using.

Swedish super drummer Per Lindvall in the background.

Planning for Frankfurt

As you may already know we are exhibiting at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt in the beginning of April. I'm going together with our R&D manager Per Ove Almeflo and we will share a booth with our excellent german (and swiss) distributor - FBM Audio.

We will bring most of our products along and the spotlight will be on the new BDM-01 - our first dedicated bass drum microphone. But the SRND 360, DC-196, LSR-3000, VM-44 and other models will also be on display.

You will find the Milab/FBM booth in hall 8.0 C05.

Welcome to the Milab corporate blog!

This is the first post for our new corporate blog. My thought has been to create a more informal forum for connecting with customers, potential customers, distributors, partners etc, than the official Milab website, but also to provide information that doesn't quite fit our official news page.

The official Milab Microphones website is here: www.milabmic.com

/Mattias Strömberg