Hi all,
Well, now that I've run the Studio Projects C4's a few times I figured it was time to post a review. There aren't a lot of reviews on these mics out there, and there are none about field diffuse work.
A little background on SP: Studio projects, a subdivision I believe of PMI audio, is a fairly new group to microphone manufacturing, but don't let this fool you. These guys know whats up. Most of their mics are modeled after the top of the line German mics, especially their large diaphragms. The C4, however is a departure from their LD line and an entrance into the small diaphragm interchangable capsule line.
I got my C4's new for 300 bucks plus shipping, which seems to be about the going rate for a new pair now. Now I know what you are saying- 300 bucks, some 2 random mics from some unknown company- believe me I thought the same thing. I was pretty doubtful of this company since it was a company I knew little about and had little experience with SD mics.
Well, the mics came in a package that the USPS soaked in some liquid. No worries though, the mics were in a flight case that was wrapped in plastic. I tore the wet soggy box off and quickly opened the plastic. Inside the flight case, it was a nice surprise to find everything I needed. 2 C4's with Card and Omni caps, 2 windscreens, 2 shockmounts, paperwork confirming these are sequentially serial numbered.
Praise #1: Wonderful packaging with a nice selection of accessories.
Time to play. So I took the mics out first. The mics came with the omni caps on them already.
Complaint #1 - the caps arent marked. Rather they weren't marked. I spoke with the SP rep today and he said that it was an oversight in the earlier models, but all the current runs are marked on the side of the cap. The cap with the holes in it is the card cap, the one without is the omni.
I unscrewed the caps to see what the underside was like.
Praise #2 - If you've ever owned a pair or 4 of mics with interchangable caps you know how delicate those pins on the underside of the caps are. SP has solved this problem. One big mofo pin. Its a bit bigger than the tip of a ballpoint pen. It looks and feels sturdy.
Screwed the cap back on and looked at the body. On the body there is a switch for bass rolloff, no rolloff, and a -10db pad. It seems a bit odd to me that you cant use the 10db pad and the rolloff together, but I can't see a situation where I would need both neccesarily. If that situation arises I will add that to my complaint list.
Praise #3 - These mics feel well built in my hands. They feel like they are made of solid metal and have some weight. That means no cheap plastic in them- thats good.
Later that night I took these to a show. Went to set up and realized that the shock mounts are almost the exact same mount as that small profile shure SD mount.
Praise #4 - This company doesn't skimp on their mounts. This isn't a rubber band mount, this is a nice nylon cord mount. The cord is similar to the AT4010a.
I put on the windscreens.
Complaint #2 - The windscreens are thin and cheap. They dont hang on to the mic. You really need to buy a nice SD pair of screens for these, but I also can't name a single mic that comes with windscreens I would want to keep. Gotta cut costs somewhere if you want a 300 dollar matched pair of mics
FYI: Ran the C4's into a digi mod UA-5 into both computer and DAT simultaniously at 16/44
I ran the first night in ORTF. A really bad sounding venue, but these mics carried it nicely. Nice clear bass, the highs were clean, the mids were smooth. very very impressed.
Praise #5 - They made a bad room sound listenable. I don't want my mics to misrepresent the place I record- if it sounds bad, I like to remember how the place sounded. But, and this is a big one, I want my tapes to be listenable even in a bad room. Indeed this compromise is exactly what I got.
Second night I ran these in XY in an even worse sounding venue. This place might be one of the worst sounding places ever. I ran slightly off to the left, 20' back from the stage. While we were in there the music sounded ok, but you couldn't understand the vocals for the life of you.
Praise #6- Same as above, but these brought the female vocals through so nicely. I actually know what this band's lyrics are now.
Finally, I went back and listened to a few other mics in about this same price range (msrp of 520 bucks). I listened to some tapes made with oktava mk319s, some made with oktava mk012s, some akg 391s, and even a few tapes made with neumann km184s. Now I know I didnt go through every single mic in this price range, but even so, these hold their own. Id put them along the same lines of competition with the 391s, and above the oktavas for how they handle their bass.
All in all, I'll hang on to these mics for a while to come. For anyone looking at an inexpensive pair of mics, I say go for these. With products like these I think this is a company we are going to see around for a while to come.
Jonny
Topic: Studio Projects C4 Review (Read 9602 times)