During that time, we were part of a team that created one of the most intricate acoustically driven ribbon microphones of the modern era. Its sound came from the air pathways carved inside it. Every detail shaped how the ribbon received the world. That project taught us something that changed our thinking forever. The body of a microphone is an instrument in its own right. Beauty is engineering. Engineering is beauty.

Once we understood that, mesh felt impossible. Mesh was a wire fence. It was accidental, flat, uninspired. It ignored everything we had learned about the acoustical architecture that shaped the early microphones in that museum.

So we began drawing, cutting, and testing different patterns. We tested around forty designs. Some looked beautiful but sounded terrible. Some were engineered to fail but taught us something anyway. Some sounded almost right but lived too close to each other in tone. Bit by bit, we learned how pattern families behaved. Which shapes opened the sound. Which shapes focused it. Which shapes balanced the air.

From that long process, we arrived at the five screens we make today. Not because they were pretty. Not because they were simple. But because each one carried its own voice and did something none of the others could do.

Those forty tests taught us something else. They taught us how small changes in structure shape the nature of how a transducer receives sound. They taught us that the first moment of contact between air and metal reveals the true character of a microphone.

When you build gear long enough, you have probably done the same thing we once did. You take apart the inner mesh of a cheap head basket to free the capsule and hope it finally breathes. Because that is all the world gives you when you start building mics yourself. Mesh and more mesh.

I could not accept that. I could not give our microphone a piece of mesh and pretend it was enough when I knew how much the initial hit mattered. The first interaction between air pressure and structure is where the personality of the microphone begins.

Back when we built ribbons mostly, we once saw a forum post where someone dismantled one of our mics to remove an internal part that shaped its tone. They cracked it open, voided the warranty, and did it to get more bass. They were chasing the sound of a microphone that cost hundreds more. I think about that moment even now. Not because they were wrong. They understood something true. Small structural choices change the sound. But it revealed how the industry quietly trains people to buy the next model up instead of teaching them what those differences actually are.

That moment pushed us farther. If a small detail could shift the sound that much, then people deserved access to it. They deserved to understand it. They deserved tools that let them shape it themselves.

This led us to the next leap. What if you could have a forever mic. A microphone that you could modify whenever you wanted. A microphone that made you more dynamic as an engineer or producer because it invited you to experiment. If structure changes sound, then structure should be yours to change.

This is why we chose magnets. Not only because screws look terrible, though they do. Magnets meant ease. Magnets meant ownership. Magnets meant you could change the screen without fear or special tools. Magnets opened the system.

There was a bigger belief underneath it. Sound should not be locked behind gatekeeping. Sound should not be reserved for those who can afford the next price tier. Sound should open, not close. If someone has the patience, the curiosity, and the desire to learn, then the tools should welcome that effort.

This philosophy is why our ribbon and condenser have the same price. We do not stack hierarchies. We do not pit one sound against another. We see every tool as equally important in an artist’s hands.

We knew this approach would be an uphill climb. The industry has not given people this invitation yet. But once someone experiences the system, once they hear how a pattern shapes the initial hit of the air, the logic becomes clear. Your tools can evolve with you. Your microphone can be a living part of your craft.

In the end, what we built was inspired by those museum mics. By the metalwork that once felt natural to the people who made them. By the belief that expression deserves tools shaped with the same care as the art itself. So we created a system that lets the microphone meet the artist with intention, not compromise. A microphone that remembers its lineage and offers it back to you.

For Swapping Season, you can choose one free set: Motif, Stripes, or Windows with any mic purchased through December 2nd.

Each set matches your mic’s finish and can be swapped in seconds.This offer applies to both ready-to-ship and custom microphones.

Happy swapping!