Recording - November 2016 - 32

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Mojave Audio MA-50

A respected mic maker reaches a whole new audience

Mojave Audio started out in the Fullerton, CA,
garage of famed microphone designer David Royer.
While Royer Labs is David's outlet for his ribbon mic
designs, Mojave handles his condenser creations.
Mojave's mics have made quite an impression in just
under a decade; many well-known engineers such as
Sylvia Massy, Joe Barresi, and Ross Hogarth being
fans. Other happy users include Recording's Editor At
Large, Beto Hale, who sung the praises of Mojave's
MA-200 tube mic on electric guitar cabinet in his July
2015 article "My Mics, My Sound".
Designed in the USA and manufactured overseas,
Mojave Audio mics offer a lot of bang for the buck in
both build quality and sonics. The cardioid MA-201fet,
reviewed by Dave Martin back in December 2009,
streets at $695, and the multi-pattern MA-301fet that I
reviewed in October of 2012 is $895. This puts them
on the "step-up" side of the microphone scale, and
these are just the company's solid-state mics-their
beautiful tube designs carry higher price tags. With
that in mind, Mojave set out to build an entry-level
solid-state Mojave mic and bring it in around $445
street, perfect for project studios.
The result is the new MA-50. Unlike the 201fet and
301fet, it is a transformerless design. Mojave President
and audio engineer Dusty Wakeman challenged David
to design a transformerless circuit that did not sound brittle and sizzly, a common problem in many low-cost transformerless mics... and some mid-level mics, too.
Meet the MA-50
Starting with a good foundation, the MA-50 is built around
the same cardioid capsule as is found in the MA-200 tube and
MA-201fet models. It is a 3-micron thick 1" K67-style largediaphragm capsule. This is married to what Mojave calls a
"thoroughly modern, very low noise, transformerless circuit,
designed to produce clarity and realism." Internally it is a very
simple, minimal, and cleanly laid out design.
The MA-50 measures 75/8" by 2" and weighs 1 lb. It is
housed in a thick, heavy black-coated brass body with a
chrome mesh head basket. The mic also features the
company's new look with a classy, red enamel
Mojave badge. It comes in a standard kit with an
aluminum flight case complete with a "vintage"
Mojave luggage tag and a rubber-banded
shock mount.
Facts and figures
Specs of the MA-50 include: 20 Hz-20 kHz
(±3 dB) frequency response, -40 dB (referenced to 1V/Pa) sensitivity, 140 dB maximum
SPL, distortion of <0.5% @140 dB SPL, <100 Ω
impedance, and <16 dBA self-noise.
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RECORDING NOVEMBER 2016

Frequencywise the mic is surprisingly similar to
the MA-201fet, being on the flatter and more neutral side. It has a slight low bump around 90 Hz, a
quicker peak at 1.5 kHz, a 5 dB rise around 8 kHz
to 18 kHz, and a gentle rolloff thereafter. Given this
frequency response, it would appear that the MA-50
accomplishes David's goal of avoiding stridency
and sizzle.
Sound
So, how did the MA-50 fare in my studio? First of
all, I can say that the MA-50 is on the clean, open
and natural side, but it is not harsh or spitty at all. It's
not billed as a clone of any particular mic, but to my
ears it does fall more in the U87 world than, say, an
AKG C414 or anything vintage/tube in nature.
It does lack the transformered sonic weight of its
big brothers, for obvious reasons. As such, it gently
tilts a little more to the vanilla side of the solid-state
scale with less sonic girth than the MA-201fet.
In use
Before you shy away from the use of the word
"vanilla"-for a small studio, this can be a great
thing! It allows this mic to do many things well.
Compared to many of today's ultra-transparent or
heavily vibey mics, it's good to have a solid, affordable mic that falls in the middle and can be a true
workhorse.
In session, I found the MA-50 to do a formidable
job on drum overheads, percussion duties, piano, and acoustic
guitar as well. It helps vocals cut nicely through a mix without
being shrill or unpleasant, and it's also adept at voiceover
work, with just enough proximity effect to fill out the voice nicely, but not so much as to be thick or dense. A pair of MA-50s
also work well as affordable "set it and forget it" room mics.
About the only source that I did not enjoy the MA-50 on was
electric guitar cabinet. There, I did miss the transformer weight
of the MA-201fet, or better still, the tube tone of the MA-200.
Conclusion
With this remarkable little mic, Mojave has done
a great job of achieving its dual goals of previously-untouched price point and beautifully flexible sound. At under $450, the MA-50 will be
a great choice for anyone wanting an affordable sonic step up from the world of $100
and $200 beginner mics.
Price: $445
More from: Mojave Audio,
www.mojaveaudio.com

http://www.mojaveaudio.com

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