MXL Releases Anniv editions and mobile mics

January 2014, At Winter NAMM in Anaheim, the MXL division of Marshall Electronics rolled out a line of 20th anniversary microphones and new products for the mobile marketplace. Working with their distribution partner, Muscian’s Friend, they introduced 3 new anniversary edition microphones. These models, to be sold exclusively through Muscian’s Friend, are identified by their Pearl White body and 24K Gold accents.

Their major announcement was the introduction of their products for the mobile marketplace. The adoption of mobile devices – phones and tablets, as the new recording platforms for both audio and video, has given rise to a huge increase in content creation. However, these products are primarily designed for voice capture from a 2-6” distance to a fairly limited capability microphone. To address this market, they have taken their extensive history and experience in the condenser microphone market and developed some new products just for this space.

MXL MM-130 Phone and Tablet Recording Microphone

Their main introduction was the MXL MM-130 handheld microphone. Designed for podcast and video interview applications, this professional quality microphone has a full metal body, is selectable between omni and carotid patterns and also a high/low gain switch. Designed specifically for the mobile market applications, even though the microphone sports an XLR connector, it is not a standard XLR jack and will not work in standard audio mixer applications. The device has been impedance adjusted for optimal use with the mobile devices and to support a monitoring connection. The packaged unit includes alow noise 6.5ft XLR to 3.5mm cable that has an integrated monitor headphone (also 3.5mm) connector. The microphone kit includes a mic stand clip, carrying case, cable and microphone. As it is being used with portable devices, the microphone does not require phantom power nor an internal battery to operate.

To introduce the product, Taz Goldstien the author of Handheld Hollywood, showed off the mic. He prefaced the intro with an explanation that audio is almost ½ of a good video production. This intro also lead to overview of the Iographer products which are series of holders for the iPad products with integrated microphones, and connectors for headphones.

At the show, Marshall Electronics was also showing their line of Mogami “studio level” professional cables. These have been a dominant cable in the recording industry for decades, and they continue to expand to support the audio needs of the fixed location and mobile studio.