Q-Mic QM-20 Pencil Mic Shock Mount - Tight Band Design

This is an Excellent and Durable "Double" Shock Mount...which means that it combines an outer spider web type shock mount with a grid-type shock mount within it. The grid-type shock mount is suspended within the spider web elastic bands. This helps to give you even better isolation, and is to the point that the actual attached microphone cable will transfer more noise or vibration to the mic than this mount will to the actual body of the mic. In use, they work very well to mitigate any noise or vibration picked up through the microphone body.The outer spider web uses cloth-covered elastic bands, whereas the inner grid mount uses uncovered rubber bands similar to rubber O-rings. The mounts themselves are made of tough, durable plastic that does not seem like it is brittle and would not crack easily. The shock mount has an infinitely-adjustable pivot (no teeth or graduated stops), which is secured by a small, positive-locking thumbscrew that works well and locks fairly heavy microphones in place without sag. (What I'd really love to see is a small ball joint, similar to a small camera tripod ball head, for ultimate positioning, similar to the Triad-Orbit microphone adapters).This shock mount has a standard 5/8" threaded female brass insert which is molded into the plastic in order to attach it to any standard microphone stand that uses traditional 5/8" male threads. The outer cage or frame is 4-5/8" diameter (O.D.). The inner cage/frame is 2-1/4" diameter (I.D.) by 2-3/8" tall. The inner rubber bands that cross where you insert your microphone form a 3/4" square in the center. The overall length from the end of the stand mount to the opposite end of the outer cage is 7-1/2" with the threaded mount in-line with the cage or "flat".I have used these mostly with my ~1" diameter SDPC (small diaphragm pencil condenser) mics such as the Lewitt LCT-340 (these are heavy for their size), the Shure SM-57, and some quite heavy 1-1/4" diameter Samar VL37 ribbon microphones. With the latter, I had just one side of the rubber bands securing the actual microphone body and the opposite bands were around the XLR Connector just at the base of the microphone. If I had pushed this microphone completely into the shock mount so that it fully held the mic body, the grid cage would obscure some of the microphone's grill opening near the bottom. The above technique worked perfectly to fully secure the heavy microphone in an upside-down, "hanging" configuration when set up as a Blumlein stereo pair.You could also hold smaller diameter microphones such as the Shure SM-81 SDPC by stretching the inner bands over to the opposite side of the mic. Read the other reviews here to see what other type and style of microphones that this mount will hold. However, I wouldn't recommend this mount for use with longer 10"+ shotgun microphones because it wouldn't offer good lateral stability, as the cage is too short. Buy an extended cage shock mount that is made for long shotgun mics if you will be using them exclusively or often.All-in-all, this is a very good, and very versatile shock mount that really does its job well. For the price, you simply cannot do better. And I don't know of any other shock mount at any price that would do a better job at isolation due to the "double" shock mount configuration. The double cage does make it large and maybe a bit difficult to place in some tight locations (drum kit, etc.), but it is no larger, and actually more compact, than most typical spider-type shock mounts. This is a great value, and I'll be buying 2 more as soon as I finish typing here! ;-)

These are great shock mounts! They remind me of the AKG414 shock mounts without the twist-lock piece in the inner ring. I think the inner bands make it even more versatile though. While the outer bands do seem a bit tight for vibration isolation, that's easily fixed by restringing the outer bands with your own elastic to taste. Did I mention the price? I've tried these on a few different mics to see how they hold/grip different size and weight mics:-The Oktava MK-012 is just slightly too slim to be gripped securely by the inner bands. It'll hold if there's no movement and the mic is held horizontally, but upside-down over a drum kit might be nerve racking. The solution; put a two rubber bands around the mic body near the inner bands and the mic isn't going anywhere, regardless of mount direction. The q-mic QM-10 (http://www.amazon.com/Q-Mic-QM-10-Shock-Mount-Black/dp/B004FTBYUM) is the obvious choice for these mics, however, the friction grip between the stand and the outer ring on those mounts is the cheap pot metal type. A mount using the outer ring of the QM-20 and the inner ring of the QM-10 would be ideal.-The Michael Joly MJE-K47H Capsule Head on the MC-012 body worked fantastic in this mount. With extra rubber bands around the body of the MC-012, the MJE body rested on the bands of the inner ring without contacting the plastic. This is the reason I bought these mounts. A mod I'm going to do is to make a 1/2" thick cork and felt ring to put on top of the upper bands of the mount and around the mic. Might dampen some vibrations to the capsule body, might not; it'll look nice and lux though.-An AKG-414-B-ULS works great in this mount if you remove one of the top inner bands. Again, the throat on the mic is just a bit too small to remain gripped by the lower set of bands. The solution is to put rubber bands around the throat of the mic to give some extra purchase the lower bands of the shock mount. Hanging upside down, ie; vox or ac gtr, seemed secure, but for cherry mics I'd recommend a few rubber bands around the throat to insure zero movement.-An Audio-Technica AT3035, with similar form factor to all AT LDC's, was held well by the mount if you remove one of the top inner bands. The mic was still insecure when mounted upside-down and shaken, but the rubber bands around the throat of the mic near the lower bands of the mount worked great for stability. The other similar mount offered by q-mic with the "wide band" rubber bands on the inner ring may work better for getting grip on these larger body condensers.-SM57 and 58 held great. Would work well in front of a wide-open Marshall Stack.-Shure Beta 87 held great near the capsule, but the tail of the body gets thin near the cable attachment. The lower bands weren't really stretched out and thus didn't really grip the mic.-A Sennheiser 421 simply wouldn't fit in this mount. I guess it's back to the built-in mount, pfff. I imagine a 441 would fit and have useable grip.-FINALLY, an Apex 460 (C12 body type). This mic is a heavy one, and this mount wasn't really able to keep up with weight using the inner rubber bands. However, I can see how using the outer ring of this mount and exchanging the inner ring for the felt-grip butterfly-type inner ring of the 460's provided shock mount would work. The constructed hybrid mount would be the best of both worlds, and Q-mic should TOTALLY OFFER THIS OPTION, same with SDC inner ring of the QM-10. Just a suggestion; I'll take 10%. :-)With the price of "pro" shock mounts, these mounts are a no brainer. While the butterfly-clip felt-grip mounts (http://www.amazon.com/Q-mic-QM-12-Shock-Mount-Black/dp/B004FVDU7A) work, the clincher is the angle adjustment between the stand and the outer ring of the mount. This one is a plastic-on-plastic friction mount versus the metal-on-metal friction mounts that just don't seem to be reliable. In my personal experience with cheap pot-metal friction adjustments, stripping or over-torquing the threads is easy, friction purchase can come and go with vibration and climate, and the "feel" is cheapcheapcheap. Plus, the included elastic bands tend to lose elasticity within a few years, especially with heavy use in a humid locale (East Coast USA).For $13 each, you could buy a new one for EVERY SESSION, give it to the paying artist, and still come out ahead 10 times over versus purchasing a singe $129 "pro" shock mount.

I bought a USB CAD Microphone that came with a really bad stand. I rigged a camera Tripod to fit as a mic stand. I realized that my tripod doesn't give off the professional look, I run a home studio and I cannot afford to give off such a cheap appeal. I have a low budget because I am spending more money then I can make :::REVIEW::::: I bought this shock mount with a mic stand for about $50 and I can proudly say that this shock mount was amazing! It fit my mic and I thought it wouldn't. I didn't push the mic all the way in because I was afraid to break it. It might be plastic but feels like metal material. Doesn't feel cheap and doesn't look cheap. I'm waiting till my mic stand gets here. FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING: The end IS a standard mic stand attachment. I was afraid it wouldn't fit on the mic screw on piece. It is perfectly and definitely worth the budget.

Very durable construction, nice quality for the price point. I've been using to isolate my portable digital recorders; the shotgun mic opening is the perfect size for those really strange handles/mic stand adaptors that screw into the bottom of the recorder. Eliminates the low rumble I can get from high-gain choral concert recordings. Can't wait to try with a pencil mic. Certainly worth the $20.

This shock mount fits my Blue EnCore 100i instrument mikes perfectly. It is also a good fit for the Behringer xm1800s mike. I use 2 of these mounts with On Stage MY-550's under my son's marimba to mike it for live performances. It does a fairly good job of isolalting the strike energy that is transmitted thru the keys to the frame of the instrument. Nothing is perfect, of course, and your experience may vary, but I find the sound acceptable, and in a 50-piece orchestra like ours, that is one the compromises that must sometimes be made.