Manufactured in Sweden, the VIP-60 is an upgraded version of the company's classic VIP-50 that came out 37 years ago! Milab's classic and unique rectangular shaped capsule is also used in their DC-196, DC-96C, and SRND 360 mics. I am familiar with this design from using two DC-96C condensers for drum overheads. Like the DC-96C, I was equally impressed with the VIP-60 for vocals, acoustic guitar, and drums.
A rectangular capsule does not have the resonances common to circular capsules. It is less sensitive to offaxis sound particularly on the short sides of the capsule. While in cardioid and vertically oriented, I found the polar pattern to be slightly narrowed causing more rejection of off-axis sound coming in on the short sides (top and bottom) of the capsule. The long sides behave like a circular-shaped capsule. The edge-terminated capsule has Mylar diaphragms deposited with aluminum.
The 48-volt phantom powered VIP-60's front panel has switches for: five polar patterns, flat, and very smooth 200Hz and 500Hz (-20dB at 40Hz) high-pass filter switches. I liked that, being on the front of the mic makes them easy to adjust even after the mic is positioned. There are also: 0, -10dB and -20dB attenuator positions for up to 138dB max SPL.
I think the VIP-60 is an excellent studio microphone; it's very versatile and excellent for any recording chore. Placing the mic in either the vertical or horizontal plane offers two distinctly different sonic captures of the same source. You could record an acoustic guitar in vertical orientation then rotate the VIP-60 horizontally for the double-track.
Since I was not at all familiar with the Milab brand, this is an unexpected discovery and gets a "big thumbs up" recommendation! The VIP-60 comes in an SKB 3i waterproof carrying case along with a Rycote InVision USM shock mount, individual frequency chart, and instruction manual. It sells for $3,025 MSRP.
