recordinghacks

MXL 3000

Cardioid Condenser Microphone

The MXL 3000 is a large-diaphragm condenser with a transformer-coupled output circuit. It is part of MXL’s 900 series, an OEM series of mics for Guitar Center and affiliated companies.

Its capsule is MXL’s standard 32mm K67-style, a large-diaphragm center-terminated capsule with a pronounced high-frequency peak.

The circuit is a 2-stage transistor design with a low-ratio output transformer. It is nearly identical to the MXL 2001 / V67G circuit, with a 2SK170 JFET and 2SA1015 transistor driving the the transformer. However, the MXL 3000 version of the circuit is upgraded in at least two significant ways from the 2001/V67G:

1. the capsule is directly coupled to the JFET input, with no coupling capacitor. In contrast, the 2001/V67G use a cheap ceramic coupling capacitor, which is the first thing any modder would upgrade.
2. the output capacitor is an oversized MKT metallized polyester film cap, rather than a small tantalum capacitor.

This circuit almost certainly has negative feedback, as found in the 2001/V67G, to perform corrective EQ on the capsule.

As with the 2001/V67G that we’ve seen, the 3000 uses a polarization voltage of +35VDC. This relatively low voltage level is a result of the mic’s lack of a DC converter/multiplier; the 48V phantom supply feeds the two transistor stages, and what is left (~35V) is what biases the capsule.

The MXL 3000 ships in a variety of packages. Some include a hard mount and flight case. Others forgo both these in favor of a shockmount and metal-mesh pop filter (as found in MXL’s “Vocalist Studio Recording” package, also billed simply as the “MXL 3000 Bundle”).

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Specifications

Pickup Patterns	Pads & Filters
Cardioid (16 mV/Pa; 20 - 20,000 Hz)

Capsule Dimensions	Impedance	SPL/Noise
Diaphragm diameter: 25mm Capsule diameter: 32mm Diaphragm gauge: 6 microns	200 Ohms (Low)	Self-noise: 19.0 dB(A)

Weight	Length	Max Diameter	Interface(s)
430g (15.17oz)	215mm (8.46'')	50mm (1.97'')	3-pin XLR male (1)

Power Specifications
Requires phantom power Phantom voltage: 48±4v

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