Price Increases
The production cost of Roswell microphones rises continually. There are no "economies of scale" in boutique microphone production. We continue to do all design, assembly, soldering, testing and tuning in-house. These are not production-line mics. We build these in small batches, with many steps of manual QC along the way. it would be easier to outsource production to China or Vietnam, which is what most microphone companies do. The Roswell "Mini K" mics are probably the only sub-$500 models on the market that are NOT produced in China.
Our process delivers a superior product, but that comes at a cost. Taxes continue to rise. Real estate costs go up. Payroll costs climb steadily.
We constantly evaluate new components, circuit tweaks, even changes to the housings -- anything that will improve performance, we will do that. But even if we never upgraded the products, the cost would still go up. Here's an example: we launched the Colares at $1259 in 2017. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, $1259 in 2017 is worth $1636 today. That's a 30% increase that doesn't account for the improvements we've made to the Colares over the past 8 years (see a partial list below).
Here's another example: we ordered custom switches in 2024, to be shipped quarterly over a 12-month period. The switch company is in Minnesota. Our February shipment had a $1300 invoice: $1100 for parts, and $200 for tariff. Do we tariff parts from Minnesota? Apparently those switches are made in China. We didn't know. The May shipment's invoice was for $2600 (!). That was $1000 for parts, and $1500 for tariff. Said another way, our cost on this component doubled in 3 months. We're getting the same parts, but paying twice as much, because somehow this is good for America (?).
Here is an abbreviated list of the upgrades we have made to each of our mics since introduction:
Colares: significant component upgrades resulting in improved bass response, lower noise, better reliability, reduced EMI/RFI sensitivity. Redesigned shockmount offers superior isolation, ease of use, and reduces risk of drop damage. Upgraded case. (The mic's price was held for 8 years despite the doubling of production cost.)
Delphos: redesigned circuit to add a 3rd polar pattern. Larger mic body. Improved shockmount. Upgraded case. (The mic's price has not ever changed.)
Mini K47 & Mini K87: completely redesigned circuit (2019) with significant component upgrades resulting in reduced noise, reduced distortion, smoother response. Process upgrades (2021-) deliver more consistent voicing across mics. The shockmount and case were upgraded.
All Mini K mics: we are in the process of upgrading to all-steel mic bodies as a further improvement to EMI/RFI shielding.
Amnesty pricing
For the next 48 hours, roll back 50% of the recent price increases.
- Mini K47: use code amnesty47
- Mini K87: use code amnesty87
- Colares: use code amnesty-colares