GLS Audio mics?

dwasifar · #1 01-20-2020, 04:14 PM

So here is GLS Audio making bold claims about their Shure mic clones:

https://www.glsaudio.com/Microphones_c_760.html

My experience in life is that you mostly get what you pay for, but I've seen occasional exceptions. GLS would like you to think that's the case here. Anyone here have experience with them?

shufflebeat · #2 01-20-2020, 05:02 PM

I bought one, it sounded pretty good for a few weeks, then died. How important is reliability in your situation?

dwasifar · #3 01-20-2020, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

I bought one, it sounded pretty good for a few weeks, then died. How important is reliability in your situation?

I would be buying it purely as a backup. So it would get toted around a lot, but not used much.

Bob Womack · #4 01-20-2020, 06:39 PM

I just can't for the life of me figure out why someone would scrimp on something as basic and vital as a vocal mic. The originals are robust and worth the investment.

Bob

RedJoker · #5 01-20-2020, 06:55 PM

As a casual beginner, I scrimped on a mic because I didn't know if I actually had a use for one. In fact I bought a GLS and haven't a single issue. It's perfectly fine for my use case. Were I someone trying to make money from performing, I might think different.

dwasifar · #6 01-20-2020, 08:54 PM

BTW, I am reluctantly using the now-dominant spelling "mic" even though my sensibilities revolt. I grew up spelling it "mike."

MikeBmusic · #7 01-21-2020, 08:48 AM

I bought 2 GLS 57 clones (at $27 each, how could I resist?) The sound is completely comparable to the Shure mics. I only used these in the studio as they do not seem as robust as Shures (of course not), one died for no reason, the other is going strong.
I use the GLS cables, which are good for the price. Got a whole bunch of tweed jacketed cables in the last year, will see how they hold up over time (using them for gigs/open mics, so they get a regular workout).

James May · #8 01-21-2020, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwasifar

BTW, I am reluctantly using the now-dominant spelling "mic" even though my sensibilities revolt. I grew up spelling it "mike."

nouns "mic, mics", and verbs "mike, mikes, miked, miking " is considered best practice, at least here in the US. I think...

RedJoker · #9 01-21-2020, 11:36 AM

We should all just use the formal name: Michealrophone

B. Adams · #10 01-21-2020, 12:32 PM

I'm guessing those are the same rebranded Chinese mics that a million companies sell. Mics like that usually sound fairly OK, but typically have higher handling noise and lower reliability than the real thing.

If you just need something for around the house, I suppose they'd do fine. If you need to rely on it for a performance or any business use, I'd recommend getting something better.

I bought some super cheap XLR cables from GLS about 15 years ago. They worked great for a few years but then I started having issues with the connectors. I replaced them all with Neutrik and they're still going strong. They're not my main cables anymore, but they still get used regularly.

dwasifar · #11 01-21-2020, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James May

nouns "mic, mics", and verbs "mike, mikes, miked, miking " is considered best practice, at least here in the US. I think...

Depends on who you ask. Common parlance is more "mic." Linguists and word experts are pretty united on "mike." The AP Style Guide started accepting "mic" about 10 years ago, if memory serves.

"Mike" is older, dating back to the 1920s, whereas "mic" dates to the 1960s but is pushing out "mike." It's probably driven by the markings on equipment: "MIC."

The argument for mike (I'm going to stop the quote marks at this point) is that when an abbreviation would change the obvious pronunciation, the abbreviation is usually spelled differently to convey the intended pronunciation. That's why the abbreviation for Coca-Cola is Coke and not Coc.

Mic looks like it should be pronounced mick, not mike. Every other word spelled like that is pronounced with an -ick: hic, tic, pic, Bic, sic. Even NIC, the nerdy acronym for network interface card, is pronounced nick. Mike conveys the correct pronunciation.

Even the mic people acknowledge this implicitly by preserving the K in the verb forms. "Miced" looks like it should be pronounced like diced. If the K is useful in the verb form, then even if the other arguments against mic are not convincing, we should still spell it mike just to keep the noun and verb consistent.

Stepping down off my soap box now. *mick drop*

James May · #12 01-21-2020, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwasifar

Depends on who you ask. ...

The argument for mike (I'm going to stop the quote marks at this point) is that when an abbreviation would change the obvious pronunciation, the abbreviation is usually spelled differently to convey the intended pronunciation. That's why the abbreviation for Coca-Cola is Coke and not Coc.
...

The above argument is certainly compelling. Good info, thanks for educating us. I would also vote to use mike. Perhaps we could start a counter-movement?