Alec Martin
May 5, 2008

Rating: 9/10

With regard to my proper review, please note I made an error on the page and rated it as 8 when I in fact meant 9! I would have rated it 9.5 if I could have done!

Alec Martin
May 5, 2008

Rating: 8/10

I bought this unit from Dolphin purely on reading the limited reviews available on the net, and because as \'B stock\' there was over £100 off the current price. I\'d heard of Violet Design microphones, but never actually heard one live, so it was purchased by and large on a whim.
This could have been an expensive mistake...but I\'m pleased to say it wasn\'t.
I\'ve used countless microphones over the years, playing acoustic solo gigs, running an open mike session (The Buskers Ball of Bolton, England, and playing in my heavy blues outfit Night Train. My current mic of choice was the EV Cardinal, which was, and still is, an excellent microphone however the addition of another guitarist(loud) in the band made the EV prone to feedback at the levels we had onstage. What attracted me to the Grand Pearl was the claims that it had a high feedback threshold so when the box arrived (and I must say if Dolphin hadn\'t told me this was \'B stock\' I\'d never have known it wasn\'t 100% brand spanking new) I was raring to go.
We actually had a gig the day it arrived, so I was first at the venue, set up the PA (Dynacord amp/Bose speakers) and nervously turned up the volume. And then I turned it up again... and again...no feedback! Was it actually working?
A visit centre stage and a quick \"One Two\" confirmed it was. I\'m not kidding, the volume I could achieve without feedback was just phenomenal.I was actually asked by the people behind the bar to turn it down :o)
OK, what\'s the quality like then?...well the first word that springs to mind is sumptuous.It really produces superb vocals, just making your voice sound...well, just better! Its a top quality studio microphone that you can use \'live\'. As a vocalist I\'ve always tried to put over subtle nuances, but never managed to do so till this baby came along. It is remarkable.
At the end of the gig people were congratulating me on my vocals..even the venue owner came over to me asking what mike I used!
The next day I tried it out at my \'open mike\' session where I do a mixture of folky type things and whilst I was doing my bit, I actually found myself listening to what I was singing...really subtle...for the first time I can recall, my voice sounded like the vocals you hear on a well recorded track through an expensive hi fi. I was quite virtually hypnotised. As host of the Buskers Ball its usually been the case where I just do 3 songs then get someone else on, however since using this mike, its such a pleasure,you can\'t get me off! When I eventually decided to finish my spot and get someone else on, I took the mike with me and let them use my EV (can\'t have everyone sounding as good as me :o)
Thanks Dolphin for introducing this mike to me, its made singing a real pleasure...and worked wonders on my reputation as a vocalist!
All in all I\'d give this 9.5 if I could (I\'d never give anything 10). On a similar scale I\'d rate an SM58 as 5, and the EV as 7.5.
Trust me on this, these are very very very good microphones for both acoustic music and heavy rock live performance.I haven\'t done any recording with it yet, buthave no doubts whatsoever about its capablity as a recording tool. And if you buy one and don\'t like it (believe me you will!)well, I\'ll buy it off you!