variation between 2 md421 II mics?

[sixstringking713]

bought both these mics on ebay and I'm confused why one of the mics is reading 3dB higher?

LITERALLY everything held constant except for the microphones. Both set to "M"

my setup:
*recorded me playing an open D, A, E on a boss loop pedal
*boss loop pedal played thru splawn QR thru marshall 4x12
*same mic stand, mics switched out
*same XLR cable
*same port on focusrite 18i20
*brand new tracks in cubase with same input and no gain differences, no plugins
*recorded them one at a time

really confused why one mic would read so much higher than another?

other than the volume difference, they seem to have a similar freq output.

the serial numbers are:
*205XXX (one i've been using for years)
*177XXX (one i just bought off ebay and is reading 3dB higher)

is that much gain varation normal??

 

[tschrama]

That would not be normal. I have three MD421s from different priods even, that have some tonal differences, but overall are pretty much the same sensitivity.

 

[Revson]

My first thought is that the quieter mic has a broken solder lead to one of the XLR pins.