Mic stands are one of the parts of owning a studio that is not cool or fun. You need them, but they are often abused and constantly need repair. Cheap stands never last, and expensive stands are, well, expensive – and who wants to spend money on something that just gets abused? It's more exciting to buy a new compressor, right? However, good mic stands not only make your session set up go faster, but they protect your mics. You won’t end up with unexpected negative sonic surprises when your boom arm droops and the snare mic lands on the drum halfway through a take.
I’ve used several cheap stands over the years plus some nicer, pricier stands from companies like Atlas and Triad-Orbit [Tape Op #104, 130, 131, and 135]. These high end stands make session set up much faster and easier, especially with bigger, heavier ribbon and tube condenser mics. Now, Base 4 Stands is making a new entry to the mic stand market and completely re-engineering and re-imagining the mic stand.
To draw a bicycle analogy, most mic stands are refinements of a classic design, much like the lugged chromoly bike frames we all know and love and that riders and racers both used for decades – and still use. The Base 4, however, is similar to when companies like Cannondale and Klein introduced aircraft aluminum frames to the industry – it set off the technological revolution that you see racers riding in the current Tour de France-type circuit races.