Hey, what do you guys think one of these should fetch on the used market? The one I'm looking at picking up is in good shape, comes with the cable and the outboard preamp unit... but from what i understand it is the fourth version of the outboard unit which apparently is the "not so good" or "not so reliable" one. I really don't know much about them.

What do these go for? Does anyone know more about these and their history? I bet Steve does.

mike

MTAR wrote:Hey, what do you guys think one of these should fetch on the used market? The one I'm looking at picking up is in good shape, comes with the cable and the outboard preamp unit... but from what i understand it is the fourth version of the outboard unit which apparently is the "not so good" or "not so reliable" one. I really don't know much about them.

What do these go for? Does anyone know more about these and their history? I bet Steve does.

mike

It's Calrec, just in case you're Googlin' it.

I have no idea what they are worth, but I think they're pretty great mics. As I recall, it's really more a SYSTEM of miking using M-S encoding/decoding to create a steerable stereo image.

Super clean and neutral sounding. Wide frequency response and damn flat. They use some EQ scheme to get rid of the phase shit that you might otherwise have to deal with.

If you record using all four capsules, you can 'steer' the image during mixing using the outboard unit. It's fuckin' cool.

We used this mic on Couldn't You Wait and Grotto of Miracles on the SKWM album Libertine. The drums are a kick mic and the Soundfield, in a very dead room. That's it!

Check this link out!

If you don't buy it, pls let me know. I would be a little tempted at the right price, even though I don't have any money.

Probably a year ago or more I saw just the mic going on ebay for 500$.

If neither you and tim are interested, I'd like to see if I can buy it.
Good luck with it!

thanks tim

i've used the one at Electrical, and I've also used the one that im going to buy from Indiana University, which is why I'm so eager to pick one up... they sound incredible! The one Im trying to buy is a Mark IV, and I've heard rumors that this version might be a little unreliable, so im trying to see if anyone can confirm these speculations. I know they came out with a Mark V, and the it supposed to be the cream of the crop.

I'm offering them 2000 in trade for the mic, cable and matrix. I think this is quite a deal. The other cool thing about the matrix (other than being able to virtually position the mic) is that i has the mic preamps built in. Also, you can use the B-format outputs for stereo surround, but i don't see myself ever using that feature practically, although i did use it for a surround project I did back in school.

I sure hope the deal goes trough!

best,
mike

sounds good mike!

Offer them less than 2000, they'll probably take 1500. no?

I think steve probably knows what is the price for this system nowdays.

If you see two of these, count me in for one.

Shit, $2000 for that mic?

Shit!

= Justin

MTAR wrote:I'm offering them 2000 in trade for the mic, cable and matrix. I think this is quite a deal.

I think you're right. I've never seen one sell for less than that certainly. What specifically have you heard about the reliability of the MK IV decoder?

Wow that is a really good price.

Good luck MTAR.

That's a good deal. I think I paid $4k for each of mine like 15 years ago. I rarely use them now, but when I do I'm all "fuck me I need to use these more."

Ours are MkIV, so you can talk to Greg about the maintenance history. Had some work done on one recently.

The matrices are uniquely calibrated to each mic, and while any "will work" with any, you get microscopic precision of the stereo field with the matched mic.

yo.

this forum stopped sending me messages when things get replied to.

but thanks for the info. it's good to know yours are also the MKIVs cause i thought the one i used in B sounded really nice.

still haven't bought it, but i plan on it.