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Innertube's unique tube mic
provides illuminating sound quality.
By Bobby Owsinski
There are not many products that come along that garner instant attention based just on their unique looks, but the Innertube MM-2000 "Mag Mic" is one of them. For instance, when I first brought the microphone to Front Page Recorders and showed it to owner Biff Vincent, he immediately grabbed it from my hands and took it to each of the three studios for one and all to see. And not only that, every one of the producers, engineers and artists were so intrigued by the interesting look that they all clamored to try the mic first.
Why, you might ask? Because the Mag Mic is a good old-fashioned large-diaphragm tube microphone built into the casing of a two-cell Mag Light flashlight. The brainchild of Innnertube Audio's Stayne McLane, the MM-2000 is an offshoot of some of his other products: the Atomic Squeeze Box compressor, the "Tube 87" tube retrofit for Neumann U 87, and the "450-Tube" tube electronics retrofit for AKG 450. But even if the packaging is irresistible, it still has to hold its own sonically, which the MM-2000 does very well indeed.
The Specs
Well, there aren't many specs actually. With a veritable museum of old tube gear to compare his creations to, McLane is an inventor of the old school in that he keeps working until it sounds right, not specs right. As an example, his first attempt in tube mic design used the venerable 6072 tube, but when he went to make a second one, he inadvertently mis-wired the tube socket. After noticing the mistake, McLane decided to experiment with a tube that might be a direct fit in the mis-wired socket and found a 6DJ8 (very popular with hi-fi people since Marantz used it in preamp circuits in the '50s). Although the new tube fit, McLane never had any luck with it in previous experiments. Turns out the new tube sounded great while the previous 6072 sounded broken in comparison, and a new circuit version was born. Now McLane uses a NOS (new old stock) Phillips 6922, which is pin-for-pin compatible with the 6DJ8.
If there's anything to the Mag Mic, as well as McLane's other products, it's the "less is more" philosophy. Most Innertube products use a minimum of circuitry and only the highest-grade hand-selected components he can find. And if he can't find a product of high enough or consistent enough quality, he has them built, as is evidenced by the specially wound output transformer in the MM-2000.
In fact, the MM-2000 features that rarest of animals, the high-gain, yet low-noise circuit, that actually puts line level out directly from the mic. Because of the high output, there is a three-position switch on the power supply to attenuate the signal if necessary. This provides full output, 10 dB, or 24 dB of attenuation. A 20 dB pad is also located on the mic itself to attenuate an excessively hot signal if needed, although this seems unneeded thanks to the high headroom of the circuit.
The MM-2000 comes with an internally regulated outboard power supply. As with most tube microphones, the polar pattern control resides on the backside of the supply and is continuously variable from omni to cardiod to figure-of-eight. Regarding the large diaphragm capsule, McLane is somewhat close-lipped, stating only that it is of "European origin".
As for the unique packaging, McLane states that it came about out of necessity after spending large sums of money on custom metal work and dies for his previous products. "Where else can I get a highly machined, anodized, serial-numbered device in two colors any time I need it?" he laughs. "I have a reputation for stealth packaging. My personal Mag Mic uses a Superman lunch box for the power supply. People get a kick out it."
In Use
I used this mic on a variety of acoustic sources with great results. On acoustic guitar it had the typical quality of a good microphone in that it made a mediocre instrument actually sound great, in this case much bigger and brighter sounding than the actual instrument really was in the room.
I used it outside a kick drum in place of what would normally be a U 47-FET (about 1 foot outside the cutout of the drum head), again with excellent results. The mic has tremendous headroom and the line-level output was such that no mic preamp was needed. The end result was enough bottom that no additional EQ was required while the top end remained clear and clean. Set on cardioid, the focus was distinct enough to pretty much isolate the kick from the rest of the kit as well.
On vocal again the MM-2000 rose to the challenge of both a screamer and a soft singer. The mic handled the screamer from a foot away with no hint of overload, while on soft vocals the sound was again huge while retaining the high-end clarity so often missing with expensive large diaphragm mics. While trying a variety of mic amps (Avalon, Hardy, even the on-board preamps of the SSL G+), all seemed to couple well with the MM-2000 as long as the pad was inserted, but the unit sounded best connected directly into a compressor then right into the recorder.
The MM-2000 is available directly from Innertube audio for $3,000. A stereo version (in a three-cell Mag Light case) is also available. Try a Mag Mic. It'll definitely throw some light on your recording.