Topic: Mic Taste-test suggestion

[drowned_in_milk]

Everone (including me) is sort of subtly bitching about the lack of mic comparison resources, so I propose this:  Someone play a techincally-superb well produced album (i.e. Dark Side of the Moon or OK Computer), and record it w/ a bunch of diff. mics!  Just get a good stereo, crank it, stand back, record the same song with a bunch of diff. mics, and then people can hear a good comparison of where specific mics excel in some areas and lack in others.

[dmonterisi]

you may simply try downloading tracks of shows recorded with different mics off the archive.  your proposal has a big problem, people do not have the same home stereo setups and the sound they create, even at reference system quality, can be quite different.

[Brian Skalinder]

Great idea, d_i_m - let us know when you finish, and thanks for volunteering!

[ryz]

i just said it to ed yesterday, but i'll say it again. electronic musician did a cover story on small diaphragms under 1100 (2g pairs in other words.)  the guy who wrote it did, acoustic guitar, strings (violin and something else,) and just an album cranked over his monitors.  might wanna check it out.  they compared schoeps, akgs, ats, t.h.e, and a few others.

[dmonterisi]

Great idea, d_i_m - let us know when you finish, and thanks for volunteering!

:rotflmao:

[Chuck]

Everone (including me) is sort of subtly bitching about the lack of mic comparison resources, so I propose this:  Someone play a techincally-superb well produced album (i.e. Dark Side of the Moon or OK Computer), and record it w/ a bunch of diff. mics!  Just get a good stereo, crank it, stand back, record the same song with a bunch of diff. mics, and then people can hear a good comparison of where specific mics excel in some areas and lack in others.

While you are at it, record some test tones, pink and white noise for comparison as well. I did this when evaluating the Dorsey mod for the Oktava MC012's. As others have suggested... This is highly subjective. Your "good stereo system" may be very different than someone elses.

Put a Shure SM57 over a snare drum and it sounds great... Use that same microphone to record a concert in the tapers section and the results will be less than great.

There are occasionally good opportunities to run different microphones through the same pre-amp and converter at the same concert in the same configuration and in almost the same space. The recorded results are a very good way to hear what different microphones sound like. When I'm looking to upgrade, this is the kind of comparision I like to hear.

[drowned_in_milk]

Well I still think hearing one album over a set of mics on diff. stereo systems could be easier than a bunch of mics from totally different areas in totally different venues recording totally different shows... and I AM trying to get songs off the archive!

[peterbilt]

elctronic musician comparison

[Sugarite]

Keep in mind music venues vary even more widely than people's home stereos.  No one mic is going to be ideal for every situation.  That's why I recommend versatile mics instead of high-end specialized mics.

One thing that's common to virtually all venues with sound reinforcement is the grainy brittle sound of compression horns, which is why I favor my Rode NT4, which has a smooth de-emphasized high treble quality to it.  Virtually all other small diaphram condensers are designed to tweak the high treble, sometimes aggressively, like Audio Technicas.

[F.O.Bean]

i think youre being a lil pushy bout this too, not many ppl have schoeps, akg's, neumanns, b+k's, etc laying around, not NEARLY as plausable as it seems, get the archive sources and decide for yourself, i mean, id love to have all of thgem laying around, but we DO have budgets

also, taping conditions have MANY obstacles to get TO the microphones, temperature, humidity, distnace from the sopurce, actual;ly, the stereo tests tell NOTHING what the mics can really do, but give you an idea of soundstage, which patterns to use, see how your levels may react and a general overall good idea to testing out equipment

but for comparisons, its simply not a good idea