I should come clean about this. I’ve been a fan of David Royer long before he founded Royer Labs in 1998, back to the mid-1980’s, when he was a one-man shop, building and modding tube microphones, preamps and compressors for a select audience of audio engineers in Southern California. And his career has always been about uncompromising excellence and new ideas, such as founding Royer Labs in 1998 to create modern, word-class ribbon mics — which garnered him both a Technical Grammy Award and a TEC Awards’ TECnology Hall of Fame induction for essentially bringing ribbon mic technology into the 21st century.
But David Royer was never one to sit still. Although the original R-121 is still popular and remains in production more than two decades later, he expanded his ribbon franchise with the stereo SF-12, models with active solid state and tube electronics and the R-121 Live and R-122 Mk II ribbon mics targeted for live sound users. And in 2005, he launched Mojave Audio, a company specializing in affordable, high-performance condenser microphones.
I’ve always liked Mojave Audio mics, and over the past eight years or so, I’ve been bugging David Royer and Mojave Audio president Dusty Wakeman to consider doing a live vocal mic. Hey, it didn’t seem so hard to me — just modify or use one of their condenser capsules — perhaps based around their small-diaphragm MA-101fet design — put it in a handheld body and off you go. But David Royer was never one to take the easy path, and when Mojave finally announced the MA-D, its first handheld mic, it was a DYNAMIC design.
Enter the MA-D
Now available for a street price of $159, the MA-D is hardly the “usual” vocal dynamic. Unlike the so-familiar presence bump found in most handhelds, the MA-D has a mostly flat frequency response that gives the mix engineer the option of EQ’ing it to suit the performer’s vocal timbre — or not. This characteristic also opens up using the mic on other sources, such as guitar/bass amps, drums and brass, where a presence boost is not necessarily welcomed. And the MA-D’s 160 dB SPL handling definitely opens it up on these instrument miking applications.
The mic is finished in non-reflective matte black, and physically, it’s eight inches long and weighs in at 11.9 ounces. That puts the MA-D on the upper end of the scale (in comparison, a Shure Beta 58A is 6.25 inches and 10.2 ounces), yet the mic balances easily in the hand and never felt “heavy.”
The mic ships with a padded vinyl carry bag and includes an effective and secure mic clip, but there were some fairly sharp molded edges along the top of the clip, which could lead to an unpleasant surprise to someone trying to put the mic back on the stand on a dark stage. Fortunately, this could be remedied in a few minutes with a few strokes of some 125-grit sandpaper, but it’s something to be aware of.
In Performance
Over a period of weeks, I had the opportunity of using the MA-D on a number of live applications. On first listening, the MA-D’s mostly flat response is immediately noticeable, presenting a naturalness that’s smooth and uncolored and ideally suited for female vocals. On the male voice, if you feel you’re missing that midrange bump, adding a touch of EQ is a quick process, but in the case of the MA-D, you have full control of exactly how much presence to add, depending on the mix, the instrumentation and the musical style.
The capsule is protected under a tough steel grill with a foam insert that removes easily for cleaning. The foam and grill combination does a great job of stopping plosives and breath pops. Meanwhile, the elongated grill shape puts the edge of the front mesh about an inch from the capsule, which was a perfect fix for one particular male vocalist that always insisted on “lipping” the mic. Problem solved!
The MA-D has an “integrated pneumatic shock mount” designed to reduce handling noise, but in the hands of a very fidgety performer, some finger bumps do come through. This is not an issue when the MA-D is stand-mounted, but here, a few words with the artist can make a huge difference.
Actually, without having to swallow the mic, the MA-D exhibits a very nice, and not overwhelming proximity effect when used within four inches of the front grill, which presented a rich LF fullness on male or female voices. The cardioid response is well controlled, remaining consistent at all frequencies, which helps reduce feedback. And, the width of the cardioid pattern is just about right — not too wide to pick up too much stage noise, nor too narrow that a vocalist who moves around a little won’t create inconsistencies in level. In terms of the off-axis space, the MA-D’s pickup is gradually attenuated outside of the sweet spot, yet the response is uncolored.
The Verdict
In developing the MA-D, Mojave Audio and David Royer have broken out of the “me too” dynamic mic mold and have developed a great-sounding tool with a lot to offer both the serious performer and engineer interested in creating a winning combination. As for me, I’m definitely “MA-D” about this mic.
At a Glance:
First Time’s the Charm
A legendary designer takes his first shot at creating a dynamic mic — with great results.
Mojave Audio
MA-D Dynamic Vocal Mic
PROS
- No presence boost
- Equally useful on instruments
- Smooth uncolored response
CONS
- No presence boost
- Sharp edges on mic clip
STATS
- Capsule Type: Dynamic
- Directional Pattern: Cardioid
- Frequency Response: 60-10k Hz (±2.5 dB); 30-15k Hz (+2/-6 dB)
- Sensitivity: -53 dB (re 1V/pa)
- Max Peak SPL: 160 dB
- Output Impedance: 600 ohms
- Weight: 11.9 ounces
- Street Price: $159
Manufacturer: Mojave Audio
More Info: www.mojaveaudio.com
