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Violet Design Ltd. Flamingo Standard

Cardioid Tube Condenser Microphone

Violet’s “Flamingo” line consists of four microphones:

• Flamingo Standard
• Flamingo Vintage (described below)
• Flamingo ME
• Flamingo Junior

Here we’ll describe the Standard and Vintage models; follow the links above to read about the others.

The Flamingo Standard is a tube condenser with a fixed cardioid pickup pattern. The capsule is a dual-diaphragm 26mm design; the mylar membrane is sputtered with a proprietary gold alloy designed for “faster transient impulse response, minimum sound coloration, better low frequency response,” and higher SPL handling.

All Violet capsules are tested by hand in anechoic chambers prior to microphone assembly.

The Flamingo mics have multiple internal shockmounts, designed to individually isolate the capsule, head, electronics, and tube. In addition, the mic ships with an external shockmount.

The mic’s internal preamp is a Class ‘A,’ discrete circuit and designed to provide clean output and an uncolored response. The vacuum tube is a 6267 and is mounted inside a heat sink.

A built-in humbucking transformer isolates the microphone from external interference and adds “analog warmth” to the sound.

The included power supply accommodates 100/120/220/240V environments and offers some unique features; it ramps up the voltage to the microphone slowly to protect the tube, and the microphone’s output (which like all tube mics is wired through the power supply) is muted until full voltage has been reached. An LED on the power supply case provides a voltage readout.

These mics ship in wooden boxes with a power supply (and cable), a shockmount, and printed manual.

The Standard Flamingo model is finished in violet.

The Flamingo Vintage differs from the Standard in only two respects:

1. The capsule is tuned differently, to provide a warmer vocal sound with diminished highs (reminiscent of vintage tube mics), and
2. the body is painted matte black instead of purple.

The Violet Design Ltd. Flamingo Standard is also known as: Flamingo.

The mic was released in 2007.

Specifications

Frequency Response - CardioidClick Graph to Compare!

Pickup Patterns	Pads & Filters
Cardioid (27 mV/Pa; 20 - 20,000 Hz)

Capsule Dimensions	Impedance	SPL/Noise
Diaphragm diameter: 26mm	200 Ohms (Low)	Max SPL: 134 dB

Weight	Length	Max Diameter	Interface(s)
1300g (45.86oz)	307mm (12.09'')	68mm (2.68'')	3-pin XLR male (1)

Power Specifications
Includes tube power supply

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