Word to the mutha effin' herd!!!!!!!!!!
Kinda proud of myself. Ran the 460/a60m/ck1's for 3+yrs.
Ha! Good ears! I guess that sound from that combo made quite an impression : )
Thanks for the clips. I will offer my guess.
Mic 1 is brighter and more harsh on the highs. I like mic 2 and think it is the stock 460's.
I was really impressed by the sound of the Stock 460s in this comp. Like I said before, it was really surprising how similar they sounded. I really expected there to be more of a dramatic difference. Interesting that the majority preferred #2 AND the majority also thought #2 was the mod!
I still prefer the mods, not necessarily based on this test, but based on a LOT of listening to shows on the Archive before I decided to do the mod, and based on my experience with both versions since.
Overall, I would describe the 2 this way:
MODS:
PROS: Slightly more detail and transparency (if you listen closely you can hear this in the decay in cymbals & toms, punchier bass, pluck of strings, and just in the overall "air")
CONS: Can sound overly bright sometimes, slight harshness in mids & highs, especially on certain playback systems
STOCK:
PROS: Nice overall tone, silky smoothness and nice fat, round bass, while still providing a nice amount of detail. A slightly colored sound, but in a good way
CONS: Not quite as much detail (example: cymbals can sound kind of "squishy", bass can sound a little loose and boomy)
Overall, to oversimplify I would say the stock 460s have more of a "classic" sound (probably due to the transformer mostly?), while the mods have more of a "modern" transparent sound. YMMV, of course (and obviously it does!)
Here are a few things I took away from this comp:
- The playback system made a big difference when comparing these mics. When I listened on my near field monitors (Alesis Monitor One Mk2 - very detailed & bright sounding), I actually preferred the Stock, mostly just based on the overall tone (some unpleasant harshness in the modded ones, while the stock sounded real smooth). When I listened with the diffuse-field headphones (AKG 240DF) or on my main playback system (Yamaha integrated amp w/ PSB Speakers) which are a bit mellower and have MUCH better imaging, I preferred the Mods. (side note: Aside from just subjective personal preferences, I'm thinking maybe that's why some people describe the highs in the Mods as "harsh" or "brittle", while others describe them as "detailed" or "lively")
- The Oade R-44 might be a better match for less bright sounding mics. I had never heard until now that the Oade mod might add some brightness - I've always thought it was just designed to add transparency and detail, and lower the noise, but some of you have suggested that there is a brightness factor as well. I had never really considered this, because I've always been pretty happy with my OCM R-44 recordings, but it might be a factor and may be why the Mods had some extra brightness and why so many preferred the Stock. Something to think about. It would be interesting to see this comp repeated with a stock R-44 or 744 or something.
I used to run 460/a60m/ck1 also. Loved them!!!!!!
I remember listening to a LOT of your 460/ck1 recordings... they definitely helped sway me when I made the decision to go the AKG route.