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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Soviet-American Audio Systems, Music production studio, 1021 S. Walnut Street, Bloomington, IN.

A reliable resource for rare, obscure, and esoteric vintage microphones and audio equipment with a primary focus on (but not limited to) Soviet and Japanese designs (ie LOMO, Kinap, IRPA, Oktava, Sony, Toshiba, Aiwa, etc).

05/01/2025

Been working on some cool posts, videos and mic samples. Like a comparison between six of the rarest Japanese 77D-type microphones, some of the weirdest soviet dynamics, and a LOMO 19a14 vs a rare nickel-capsule Sony C107. I'm grateful that there are people besides me that find this stuff fascinating.

04/01/2025

The MD38SH is an omnidirectional dynamic microphone manufactured in Soviet Russia in the 1960’s. As with many of these super rare Soviet mics, it was made in very small quantities and usually for a very specific purpose. In this case, it’s an acoustic measurement microphone. We’ve only ever seen four of these fellas, and three of those passed through our doors. Aside from its looks, what’s most impressive about this mic is how it sounds. It’s surprisingly useful and musically flattering while maintaining a very colorful character that I’m refraining from describing as “lo-fi” since it sounds pretty darn good. But yeah, still kinda lo-fi just a very useable way, which makes it quite useful in our mic locker. Listen to a whole damn song recorded with one on our website,
at the link in our bio.

03/31/2025

We haven't run out of mics to post - we've just run out of time to prepare the posts. But I made time to present an exceedingly rare and impressive Soviet ribbon microphone, the MRTP ML11B.

The ML11B is a unidirectional ribbon mic developed and produced by MRTP (Ministry of the Radio Engineering Industry). These were manufactured in very small quantities using the finest components, designed for the most important and demanding applications within the Soviet Union. It's estimated that only around one hundred of these mics were ever made. This particular ML11B will turn 70 years old next year.

There are other ML11 models, all unidirectional ribbon microphones, but with different bodies, internals, ribbon sizes, and made by different departments (swipe to see them). The most "common" is the Oktava ML11m, while the rarest one we know of is the IRPA ML11 - one of the last Soviet ribbon mics we have yet to hold in our hands. Got one? Get in touch.

Swipe to see video of a drum recording using our pair of ML11Bs in a Glyn Johns configuration to record Jacob of Evening Standards, or head to the link in the comments to hear an entire song recorded with only a pair of them.

12/27/2024

The National WM-730a is a high-end Japanese made large diaphragm condenser from the early 1970’s. The microphone has a unidirectional polar pattern and a 3-way high pass filter switch

The microphone's capsule is very unique - the diaphragm is attached to the perforated metal cap - which really freaked me out when I removed it for a look. I quickly replaced it, worried I'd messed something up - I hadn't.

This was National’s answer to the Sony C38 FET, and was the more expensive option at the time. It’s a brilliant sounding mic that has a little more top end zing than the C38b, without being too harsh or strident. It’s a great vocal mic, and also fares well as an overhead, snare mic, or guitar mic. National rebranded the WM730a for Technics as the Technics RP3880-C which differed mostly in appearance. Swipe to the last few photos for some side-by-side comparisons, inside and out.

Like many other Japanese condensers, the WM-730a is powered using a 9 volt battery but does not accept phantom power. I used to think that sucked and would modify mics that only took 9V, but then realized that the batteries actually last a very long time (hundreds of hours of use), have a more stable voltage and lower noise floor. You can also get rechargeable batteries for them, eliminating the most annoying part of a battery powered mic - running out of batteries and money. The mics also have a really neat voltage meter in the front of the body to check your charge.

If you’d like to hear the WM730a used on a vocal, head to the link in our bio. And if you'd like to see all the new mics and outboard we've listed for sale, visit the link in the comments.

10/25/2024

Tons of exquisiye mics for sale. Rare, obscure, classic old, and new, and all of them working as their designers intended. Here's a smattering of what's available, but I'll try to post one mic that we're selling every day, or at least every other day. In the meantime scroll through or visit the link in our bio.

Full list is posted below, message me for more details and info about anything you see that is of interest.

You can buy directly from the site, or send me a DM with an offer. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

TUBE MICS:
Neumann SM69 Tube - $16,000
LOMO 19a18 - $2,500
3 x LOMO 19a4 - $2,500/each
2 x Gefell CMV563 - $7,500/pair

CONDENSER MICS:
Sony C37p #1046 - $2,100
Sony C37p #1055 - $2,400
Sony C37p (both) - $4,200
Sony C48 - $1,600
2 x Schoeps CMC-5 w/MK4, MK41, more - $2,800 total
2 x Sony C500 Consecutive Pair - $4,600/pair
2 x Soyuz Bomblet - $1,000/ea
Technics – RP3800 (National 730a) - $1,100
LOMO UM51 NOS Stereo Pair - $1,800/pair
LOMO UM51 NOS Deluxe Set - $1,200

RIBBON MICS
RCA BK5b w/windscreen - $1,500
AEA R88a Active (stereo) - $1,800
AEA R84 - $750
AEA N22 - $750
2 x AEA R92 - $650/ea
Toshiba Type K - $1,900
National VM-1 - $750
Soviet M.D.L. - $3,000
Fostex M88rp (like new) - $750
NHK/Toshiba RU4 Consecutive Stereo Pair - $2,200
Oktava ML19 NOS Stereo Set - $1,250/stereo set
2 x NHK/Aiwa RV-1a $3,000/pair, $1,600/ea
Toshiba G-Type - Consecutive Stereo Pair - $3,000
2 x Oktava ML11m - $1,000/ea, $1,900/pr
Oktava ML17 (mint) - $800
Oktava ML16 - Mint, Tan in Original Suitcase - $800
Oktava ML16 – NOS Mint Green in Suitcase - $1,000
Toshiba Type C w/Cinemag Transformer – $650
MRTP ML15 - very rare “LOMO/KINAP” Version - $1,800

DYNAMIC MICS:
Yamaha MZ-Series Drum Mic set of 5 - $1,250
Sony F-V300 (w MD409 capsule) - $650

OUTBOARD
2 x 60U261 LOMO FET Compressor Pair - $3,000
Gyraf Ambler Tilt EQ - $2,750
Iron Age V2 EQ – $1,400
2 x Buzz Tonic 500 Series EQs - $600/ea
2 x Drawmer DS-101 500 Sereies Gates - $300/ea
4 x AWTAC Compresors - $700/ea
4 x Pultec EQP-500x - $1,200/ea
2 x Vintage Langevin 117a Program/Mic Amps - $1,250/ea
4 x LOMO 60U-127 Passive Tube Tilt EQs - $1,250/ea

10/21/2024

After 15 years of searching, we've finally found not just one, but two LOMO 19a33s. I wouldn't know this mic even existed if it weren't for an eBay listing from the mid 2000's. All I knew is that it had two capsules and that strange PSU. So naturally I assumed it was a stereo mic. Now I know it's not (for now).

It's a solid state mono condenser microphone with two small diaphragm capsules positioned at a 120 degree angle. The PSU/control box powers the mic and provides remote control over the mic's utility. The 19a33 was designed to be used on a stage where there may have been multiple soloists or a moving target, like in opera or theater, by having the ability to be "turned" anywhere within a 120 degree span without having to move the mic itself by blending between the two capsules with the remote/PSU. The big dial on the front of the control box smoothly adjusts the blend between the capsules, effectively allowing you to point the mic without having to move it. Turn it 120 degrees left and the mic only picks up from the left capsule, turn it to the center and it picks up both capsules front and center, and turn it all the way to the right and it picks up at a 120 degree angle to the right of center. The switches on the top allow you to hang the mic upside down or right-side up and flip left and right accordingly.

Personally, it seems like some complicated and well-done engineering for something that doesn't seem particularly useful, but the mic sounds incredible. I've used one for vocals and the pair for acoustic guitar with great success so far. I'm interested in modifying the supplies to be able to output each capsule's signals separately for stereo use, or better yet, modify the dial to control stereo width from 120 degrees wide stereo to mono.

Audio samples pending.

10/07/2024

This is an IRPA MK3 large diaphragm tube condenser microphone from the1950's. The few MK3s that have surfaced (three that I know of) have always been referred to as a LOMO 19a7, including the one we have pictured here. I recently uncovered some original documentation and some photos that bust that myth once and for all. You can see a complete original MK3 set and some original documentation by swiping through the photos.

The original MK3 used a copper diaphragm (much like the Japanese Tsushin Kogyo CU-1 from the same era, which I posted about last week), but our MK3 arrived with an M7-style MK13 capsule. The MK3 microphone has no output transformer in its body because it is located in the power supply (also like the CU-1, and many other Soviet and Japanese tube mics). You can see the original PSU in the later photo as well, and it looks quite impressive. We had Greg Norman of Electrical Audio rebuild the sh*tty home-brew PSU our MK3 came with about 10 years ago. Greg reused the same little output transformer in his PSU, and I suspect that it's this transformer that makes the mic sound wrong. I'm almost certain that if I paired it with the same output transformer and coupling capacitor from the 19a9 PSU, it would start to sing. I'll try it and record before and after clips for all you nerds out there.

09/30/2024

This is number twelve of twelve Tsushin Kogyo CU-1 microphones ever made. Commissioned by NHK in Japan in the 1950s, this was the very first iteration of the iconic Sony C37a microphone. This historically significant microphone uses the same amplifier circuit as the C37a with a 6AU6 in a cathode-follower configuration. Our CU-1 is paired with a CP-2, but the original was paired with, you guessed it, a CP-1, which is next to impossible to find. I have included a photo of another CU-1 (serial #9) along with its original CP-1 PSU for reference. In that photo you can see the original NHK letters that were glued to the body, and on our CU-1 you can see the glue that was left over from the letters which are now long gone.

The CU-1 had a proprietary capsule that was quite different from the C3 capsule found in the C37a, C37p and C37b. It was cardioid-only, had a fascinating clamping resonator ring, and used a 45-micron thick copper diaphragm which you can see in the last photo. The original diaphragm was very noisy and unusable, so we sent it to John Peluso to see what could be done. Using a typical 3-6 micron mylar diaphragm wouldn't work, the capsule sucked it through the backplate. Instead, John sourced a 40-micron thick conductive aluminum sheet which he used to make a diaphragm for the mic and installed it with the same tension as the original. And believe it or not, the mic sounds absolutely incredible! We were shocked to find out that despite its low output (which makes sense since the diaphragm is so thick), it’s not only full range, but also pretty impressive sounding.

And yes, you can hear it used to record a full song where it was used on every instrument at the link in the comments below.

09/16/2024

This is an Oktava MD44 dynamic microphone manufactured in Soviet Russia in the middle of the last century. The MD44 isn’t a particularly rare or coveted microphone, but this particular example is just beautiful and we've never seen one quite like it, with the Soviet mint green, the matching tabletop stand, the build-in shockmount, and overall elevated build quality compared to others we've seen. Its diminutive size is incredibly eye-catching. It’s a cardioid dynamic, likely designed for voice amplification for town halls and speeches. Despite its limited frequency response, it sounds pretty good on its own or as a fun option as a room mic, a color mic or a blend-in mic on drums, vocals, or guitar amps.

Listen for yourself at the link in the comments below. It's an entire song recorded with an MD44 without any processing of any kind.

08/22/2024

Today I’m sharing another exotic Soviet ribbon microphone, the KINAP 9a1. Built in 1948, this is the second oldest Soviet mic we’ve seen. As usual, this mic is exceptionally rare - we know of only four 9a1s in the world, though I would guess there may be more laying around in a closet in the lower level of a former Soviet cinema studio. On first glance you wouldn’t be crazy to think that this was the USSR’s answer to the ubiquitous RCA 44BX. As it turns out, the 9a1 was a Soviet spy because under that convincing facade is something else entirely, because not only is it far different from a 44BX, but also from just about any other ribbon mic of that time period. Since it was developed by KINAP, the mic was most certainly designed and manufactured specifically for Soviet cinema, Lenin's most treasured art form.

The mic was serviced by and he was pretty blown away by what he discovered, “Yeah, (a) very unique motor! For such a large microphone you’d expect a wide ribbon, but the width of the ribbon is very small for the size of the microphone. And the dual horseshoe magnets are pretty unique!”

And as you can see from the photos, a lot of care and attention to detail went into the construction of this microphone, which translates into the sounds it reproduces. The result is a microphone that is detailed, refined, luxurious, and impressively hi-fi. Truly unlike any other mic in our locker.

07/12/2024

If you are in or near Nashville, TN tomorrow, Saturday July 12th, stop by at the Quonset Hut from 10 am until 5 pm for the 2024 AES Audio Gear Sale Extravaganza. I'll be there with all this stuff and I want to go back home with none. Swipe through to see event details.

Can't make it? Most/some of this stuff, including all that cool Soviet Mic merch, is available in our store (link in comments).

06/25/2024

I am excited to present a bonafide unicorn, the Soviet MLS-1. Discovering, acquiring, and listening to the most exotic and rarest Soviet microphones has been one of my greatest obsessions. And over the past 20+ years I’ve discovered and learned about dozens of the most obscure Soviet mics by pouring over old documents, papers, historical photographs and brochures or by stumbling across them online and through friends in Russia and Eastern Europe. There are a handful of mics that I like to refer to as Soviet Unicorns - these are mics are the rarest of the rare, sometimes less than a dozen manufactured and only a few left in existence. These are the ones that I don’t expect to ever see in person, maybe only in an historical photo or an acoustic journal. The MLS-1 is in the top three rarest Soviet Unicorns I’ve ever come across, after seeing one in the photo of Yuri Gagarin in the last slide (we’ll get to that second mic another time).

There is no greater pleasure than to hold one of these mythological devices in my hands, see the immaculate craftsmanship that went into each handmade microphone inside and out, and then put it in front of a sound source and listen to it transduce sound for the first time. I have been in this privileged position many times, and not just with Soviet mics but with other classics like the AKG C12, Neumann M49b, RCA PB-31 and countless others, and I can count on my hands the amount of times that the myth of the mic matched the sound that it produced. Too many times have I been unimpressed if not underwhelmed by the experience, but not with the MLS-1. It may be the only mic I’ve heard whose sound exceeded its excalibur status and surpassed my expectations of what a microphone could sound like.

I know that I’ve really built this up but I’m going to have to let you down because I do not have a recording sample for you to listen to at this time. I promise that there will be a follow up post about the MLS-1 that will be accompanied not only by an entire song recorded with it, but also with a dramatic story and some exciting news.

Address

1021 S. Walnut Street
Bloomington, IN
47401

Telephone

+18123277939

Website

http://eepurl.com/hgUZg1

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