REVIEW IN RECORDING MAGAZINE (July 2015)

Copperphone Mini on cover of Recording Magazine Smaller

PLACID AUDIO COPPERPHONE MINI – SPECIALTY MICS DON’T GET MUCH MORE SPECIAL THAN THIS!

Placid Audio is a microphone company well known for the Copperphone, a microphone? with a homemade handyman look and distinct lo-fi sound. Justin 
Peacock reviewed the original back in August of 2008 and his conclusion was that it “inspires creativity” (in addition to frightening airport security personnel 
because of its superficial resemblance to a pipe bomb). 
This month we are looking at the Copperphone’s baby brother, the Copperphone Mini.

Before we begin our review, let’s look to the original for some context. The Copperphone was invented by Mark Pirro, the bass player for the indie music 
collective/band The Polyphonic Spree. Mark invented the mic out of old communications components and stuffed them into a copper pipe—this was steampunk 
before it was a trend. 
The first one was made for the Spree’s lead singer to use live for lo-fi, old school radio and telephone effects. The original was a cardioid patterned dynamic mic
 with a Frequency Response of 200 Hz to 3 kHz with a 150 ohm impedance. Sonically it was distant, resonant, hollow, band limited and essentially 
insta-old-timey-vintage. If you wanted that sound, no plug-in or effects processor quite matched the rich character of the Copperphone!

IN USE
In his review of the Copperphone, Justin called the original a one-trick pony. The Copperphone Mini certainly is as well, but it’s a beautifulpony that does a very 
cool trick!My point here is that this is not a mic review where I can say that it was good on this source and bad on that one. I can only say that it has a unique 
sound of its own, one that’s distant and almost ethereal. Anything you record with it will sound like it came through an old radio, or off of a vintage 78 played
 on a windup Victrola with a horn for a speak- er… minus the static, clicks, and pops. All of this is the cool and creative part of this mic!

So far in the studio, I have used it as a room mic on drum kit, as a second mic on a guitar cabinet, on acoustic guitar, and of course on lead and backing vocals.
 Not only is it great for the obvious “let’s make this part sound old” trick, but it is actually great for blending with other mics. The blend provides unique tonal 
results at the source rather than adding EQ and filters later in the mix. Wait, that’s a second trick… I also used it at a live electronic music festival in Asheville,
 NC recently, where it was my only mic for adding singing bowl, shakers, wind drums, and claves into a live loop in a big reverb. What I liked was how the sound
 in the reverb had a distant nostalgic vibe to it that really sat back in the space.
 And yes, it looked really cool on stage; I got a whole lot of “Wow, what is that? It looks amazing!” from my fellow musicians and festivalgoers before my set…
and more significantly, after my set, where I heard a lot of the same statements, but now with the words “it sounds amazing” at the end.

Specialty mics don’t get much more special than this! Now let’s meet the Mini… The Mini was originally conceived as a handheld harmonica mic, which it can
 still be thanks to an included conversion kit, but Mark decided to make it a full-on Copperphone in its own right and placed it into a vintage-style spring 
suspension mount that looks really cool! I leave it out on my mixing desk on a tabletop stand at all times, just because it inspires conversation.

It is smaller and shorter than its big brother and does away with the original Copperphone’s internal resonant chamber in the process. This makes it more 
direct-sounding, but as you will see, Mark made it even more band-limited than its larger sibling. It measures a tiny 1.75? x 2.25? and weighs 12 ounces;
 the shockmount measures 6? x 0.75?.

It is a dynamic cardioid mic, but as mentioned, it has a 200 Hz–1.4 kHz frequency response and 150 ohm impedance. While it’s a bit more band-limited
than its predecessor, it has a more modern mic element, making it more sensitive than the Copperphone was.

PHONE IT IN
The Copperphone Mini is a very inspiring mic, just as its big broth- er was; It truly does make you want to find uses for it. At $299.99, it is about the same 
price as an upper-tier dynamic mic, and while it may not be as universally useful as a Shure SM7B or a Sennheiser MD441 or an Electro-Voice RE20, it has
 a charm all its own. Its greatest trick is how it manages to sound vintage and lo-fi, but not crappy and cheap!

The fact that it can be dismounted from its suspension ring and can double as a harmonica mic is just icing on the cake. If you want something truly unique
 in your mic locker that’s as musical as it is unusual, check out the Copperphone Mini.  – Written by Paul Vnuk Jr.