It was Michael Aarvold who got me interested in this microphone. I didn't know he had until some months later when I began looking for another pair of mics and thought again about the 196s. I started reading reviews about the DC-196. Each of them, in magazines I trust (such as Sound On Sound) was very complimentary. So I bought a pair. Here is a first impression.
They are great little mics!
I didn't know what to expect. I'd never heard any Milab mics except maybe once thirty years ago. Those were the 96s as I recall. They were fine but I was never dying to own them. Now many years later, here is the 196 and I believe it to be quite a leap forward from that previous experience.
I've only been able to hear them using my voice but I think they would sound good with a number of instruments and could quite possibly be an oft-chosen vocal mic. As my initial thought, I would describe the mics as crisp but without a harsh high frequency response. There is a certain smoothness to them as well. The bottom is good and proximity effect is well-controlled.
All three patterns (omni, cardioid, figure-8) seem to be quite useful. I can imagine using these mics for acoustic instruments, but am eager to hear them especially on choir, which I record a lot. Each pattern has its own sound of course (as is typical of so many microphones if not all of them), but I believe a very good recording could be made with the 196s in spaced omnis, X/Y, M/S and Blumlein. Unlike many other microphones possessing a roll-off in both the highs and lows in figure-8, the 196 maintains its bass and treble. This should result in quite a nice, full sound with M/S or Blumlein. I'm not sure there is enough side rejection in figure-8 but more experimentation will determine that.
I *think* I read somewhere around this site that Milab EQs their mics to maintain the high frequency response. If so, they've done a good job. Again, the top end is crisp but not unpleasant. A C12 for instance would probably possess a sweeter top, but I'm confident it also doesn't have the clarity, low noise and low distortion the 196 has.
And although you might believe from a picture the mic is the size of a U-87 (especially given the 196's shape), it is actually *very* small. It's a little bit bigger than a KM 84 (184, 140). But it has some heft to it for its size and is obviously well built.
I ordered a matched-pair and Milab didn't disappoint. Both mics came with their own frequency plot and a third plot showing how closely the mics match -- and they do match quite closely. Because Milab doesn't manufacture microphones on the same scale as Neumann, Schoeps or Sennheiser, making a match took a few weeks, but it was well worth the wait.
The mics come in a nice, black "leatherette" box, which is foam lined inside. Accessories include a mic clip and foam wind screen, as well as some literature. A pleasant surprise was finding a beautiful postcard of Sweden with a charming note from Mattias Str