I've been using an MXL R77 for about two years now, both for vocals and for violin and other string instruments.

I could not be more happy with it.

The aesthetics were clearly as important to the company as the performance, but don't be fooled--this is a nice, relatively affordable ribbon microphone that looks great in live performances and does not disappoint in the studio. There are cheaper ribbon mics out there, and there are a LOT more expensive ones, but for its price range, the R77 performs admirably.

I originally bought this to use at my wedding in 2014, so I wanted something that looked good as well as sounded good, and it has since become my primary microphone for all of my home recording (displacing a Cascade Knuckle Head and an assortment of condenser and supercardioid mics). It has a nice, clean sound, slightly more detailed than you might expect from a ribbon mic due in part to the wider frequency response range, but it still gives you that nice rounded sound you expect from a ribbon. And as with any ribbon mic, off-axis rejection is great (I've even made clean recordings with a dehumidifier humming away in the next room). It is important to get the mic positioned correctly, have a quiet enough preamp that you can set the gain fairly high, and get in fairly close to the mic.

I use it with a Korg D3200 studio recorder, which provides plenty of power for a good, clean recording. However, it may be a bit taxing on lesser hardware, so make sure you have a good preamp.

The carrying case is nice, though I wish it was designed to sit upright so that the mic would not lie on its side in storage. It also comes with handling gloves and a polishing cloth, as well as a decent XLR cable. Unfortunately, the included cable has a straight plug rather than an angled one, so the microphone is not completely free to pivot when it is plugged in.

The mount is my only serious complaint. It does its job, but there is ZERO shock absorption (I've ruined a few takes by bumping the mic stand, which transfers straight from the pole to the mic and fills the track with a very robust THUD), and straight-plug XLR cables prevent the mic from pivoting past the arm.

Very, very nice microphone for voices, horns, guitar amps, anything that may sound a little harsh in a condenser mic. Good price, although I am going to buy a mic preamp that specifically has a setting for ribbon mics -- not very much gain. But a great ribbon mic for the money.

Absolutely sublime sound - I used this on vocals and stock audio interface preamps. I did have to turn my pream gain to 100% in order to get a decent signal for vocals, which raised the noise about 25dB. Recommend a decent preamp (something like a Cloudlifter CL-1) in addition to your audio interface if you're preamps aren't up to task. That said, this is not the fault of the mic!

Finish is 100% class, and it shipped with white gloves to handle the mic without getting finger prints all over it. Wood storage box is very nice, although mine had a small knick in one side (not a deal breaker) and the velvet lining has threads starting to unravel inside and the velvet layer on the lid seems like the glue could have been done better (again, not a deal breaker but worth mentioning).

I got the Lundahl transformer version and it's worth the upgrade. Recordings are noticeably better sounding than the stock Chinese transformer.

Highly recommend the R77L from MXL - it's solid, feels great in your hands, has a classic look, and even more classic sound, and just exudes class in your studio. Vocalists will love looking at this!