Superlux PRA 628 MKII

At this point in time, I've been working with several Superlux PRA 628 MKII microphones at several venues for about 1,5 years. From what I've learned in this time, is that when I'm miking a guitar amp for a concert, I usually pick this mic. I also did a video on several cheap mics on YouTube where this microphone is also featured: get one thing straight - this microphone is not a Neumann when it comes to clarity and overall sound quality, but for its price, there's nothing that can compete with it. The most obvious rivals to this mic includes Shure SM57 and Sennheiser E609, and for sure, you can get these mics and get very decent results. But when you compare the sound of the Superlux to these two, you can make at least two distinct observations. The Shure is very picky, and you have to be careful in placing the SM57 in order to make full use of it. As the E609 is more of a direct competitor to the Superlux, they both share same kind of properties. I usually aim both mics dead center on a guitar amp, and usually the results are very similar. The Superlux sounds a bit darker than the E609, but in my mind that's a really good thing. Some amps are way too bright to be useful in a live situation, and therefore putting a darker mic on a bright amp might compensate it in a nice manner.

One thing worth mentioning also, is the tight super cardioid polar pattern. It's an excellent choice for noisy stages, as it's easy to limit the amount of other instruments bleeding into the mic. Of course you're going to get some rumble, but it's way easier to gate away stuff that is way quieter than the guitar amp itself.

The odd thing about the Superlux is the accessories that come with it. The weird gooseneck mic adapter thingy has never been of any use to me, and I think most people would prefer just to have a normal vocal mic kind of an mic stand adapter as an accessory. In most live situations, I just let the mic hang from its XLR-cable in front of the amp. That way you'll free up one stand worth of space on the stage.

All in all, if you need to mic up your (bright) guitar amp, this is the mic to go for. It's hassle-free, simple and budget friendly. Why hasn't everyone bought this mic yet?

I use the product for live Guitar cab micking. I made a shootout against Sennheiser e609 that I also have. I was able to get fairly similar results with both mics with small placement change.
Superlux needed to be little bit closer to the speaker cone dust cap. After while I came to conclusion that I prefer the Sennheiser little bit more but the difference is small and now with digital mixer i can also tweak the eq per taste. Thus the difference in price is huge benefit for the superlux. Maybe with analogue mixer with 3band eq the more expensive mic gives better results with ?hang it and play approach?. If you have digital mixer buy this Superlux and use the saved money for better speaker if you have Some cheap stock speaker in your cab.
This is great for dual micking a cab. Inexpensive solution for that. That is actually now my use for this great cheap product. For stars for quality due to poor stand that was in the box. That is useless and so thight that is very very hard to mount and dismount the mic from it. Anyway these are best just to hang from the cord.

Ostin Superluxin mikrofonin kitarakaapin äänityskäyttöön. Oikeastaan aino kriteeri oli sen halpa hinta. Ajattelin, että voihan mikrofonia ainakin kokeilla ja varmasti sille on sitten edes kotiäänityksissä käyttöä, jos se ei aivan studiotasoisiin hommiin taivu. Käytin mikrofonia yhdessä 4x12" kaapin elementeistä ja muissa elementeissä oli muita mikkejä. Minusta Superlux kuulosti paljon paremmalta mitä olin osannut toivoa. Vertailin Superluxia äänityksen jälkeen muihin mikkeihin ja se kuulosti paremmalta kuin muut, jopa hieman tunnetumman valmistajan mikit. Kitaravahvistimen ääni tallentui hyvin. Oivaan lopputulokseen päästiin miksaamalla yhteen room-mikkinä käytettyä kondensaattorimikkiä ja Superluxia. Mikrofoni kesti myös hyvin todella kovan äänenpaineen, joka tuli kovaa soivasta kitarakaapista.

Aika näyttää miten superlux-mikki kestää käyttöä. Mielestäni laatu päällisin puolin näyttää hyvältä ja rakenne on tukevan oloinen. Mukana tullut pöytään tai vahvistinkaapin reunaan kiinnitettäväksi tarkoitettu ständi on hiukan rimpulan oloinen, mutta ajaa asiansa. Itse mikin pidike pitää tukevasti mikin kiinni.

Yhteenvetona voisin todeta, että mikrofoni on hyvä hankinta äänityskokeiluihin ja vakavampaankin nauhoitukseen. Hinta on sen verran halpa, että mikki sopii pienempään budjettiin. Uskon että se sopii myös live-mikiksi kitarakaapeille hyvin ja siinä se voisi toimia hyvin ilman ständiäkin roikkuen xlr-johdon varassa kaapin elementtiä vasten.

I use this microphone to record my guitar cabinets and bass amps for my home studio use. It works admirably. The Superlux PRA 628 MKII comes with an arm to position the mike to a desired spot (usually slightly off-center from one of the best speakers) but I usually just sling it from the cab/amp handle and let it dangle touching the baffle of the cabinet.

Like always, positioning the mike is crucial, two centimeters from the sweet spot will ruin the sound! Still this Superlux delivers! I've used both the standard (Shure SM57) and other microhones for amp miking, and Superlux is EVERY BIT AS GOOD as the others. The only thing that I have to do afterwards is that I usually boost some of the mid frequencies (and reduce bass) when doing the final mix, but then again, some fiddling with the parameters is what you have to do anyway to make all the instruments live in the same sound space.

To sum it up: For the money, it cannot be beat!