Tubes for Groove Tubes MD1a?

[joel hamilton]

I've tried a couple of different tubes in my MD1a and eventually went back to the original Groove Tubes 12AT7.
The two 12AX7 (Mullard and Siemens) I've tried were distorting pretty early on loud sources and the NOS Valvo 12AT7 just sounded dull and lifeless.
A friend with a metal work shop built a shock mount for my MD1A which looks incredibly cool now. Since the current MD1B's body seems to have the same dimensions, you should be able to get a shock mount from Groove Tubes.
I've just bought a MD2A of ebay and can't wait to compare it to my MD1A.
Does anybody know if there are any major differences between the MD2 and the MD1 (apart from the capsule)?

From the looks of the guts of the reissue, and the different capsule, and the different power supply... it is not promising. I wish. I would have bought one already. I havent tried the new one yet, but if the one I love is made by GT and has a 3/4" capsule... and the new one is made by Alesis (right?) and has a 1" capsule (for sure) then it isnt the same mic, period. It might be a cool mic, but it is not the one I personally love.

[Max]

I've tried a couple of different tubes in my MD1a and eventually went back to the original Groove Tubes 12AT7.
The two 12AX7 (Mullard and Siemens) I've tried were distorting pretty early on loud sources and the NOS Valvo 12AT7 just sounded dull and lifeless.
A friend with a metal work shop built a shock mount for my MD1A which looks incredibly cool now. Since the current MD1B's body seems to have the same dimensions, you should be able to get a shock mount from Groove Tubes.
I've just bought a MD2A of ebay and can't wait to compare it to my MD1A.
Does anybody know if there are any major differences between the MD2 and the MD1 (apart from the capsule)?

From the looks of the guts of the reissue, and the different capsule, and the different power supply... it is not promising. I wish. I would have bought one already. I havent tried the new one yet, but if the one I love is made by GT and has a 3/4" capsule... and the new one is made by Alesis (right?) and has a 1" capsule (for sure) then it isnt the same mic, period. It might be a cool mic, but it is not the one I personally love.

Well, the MD2 isn't a reissue. From what I understand it's from the pre-Alesis era.
The guts of the two mics look fairly similar. The MD2 has a couple of resistors that the MD1 doesn't have, but the majority of parts inside the two mics look identical. It has the same power supply and a 3/4" capsule as well that had been designed by David Josepson from what I've read. The MD2 has a switch that changes the sensitivity of the capsule, but sonically the two are not too far apart from each other.
So far I've only used it as vocal mic but I think I prefer it to MD1, because it has slightly more top end and a tiny bit more detail without sounding trebly.
I'm happy to have both of them.