Topic: Avenson STO-2

[bryonsos]

Hello. My name is Bryon, and I'm an omni addict. So much so, that I just bought a set of dedicated omnis:

http://avensonaudio.com/sto2/

I've been lusting after these for months, and couldn't resist the allure of the frequency response graph, and the many reviews that said they have an incredibly natural sound. Plus, for $500/matched pair, it seemed to good to be true. I've been really happy running Nak CP3s, which have a similar response chart, but alas the CP3s aren't mine so I needed something that I could be sure to run at any time. I looked around here, and couldn't find anybody that's seriously running these, so I looked over at Gearslutz and a few other places, and didn't see anything to discourage me. There were a few comments saying they found the mics "noisy" and "power hungry" but for the few samples I could find, I couldn't hear it, maybe it's a problem with quiet shows, but most shows that I tape are on the louder side. Power to me isn't a big issue, I'm also a battery addict, and can comfortably get through festys without a recharge, and have AC access for most local shows.

Anyways, I got them yesterday and ran them at Donna the Buffalo at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro NC. It's not a great sounding room in general, so I ran a matrix:

http://www.archive.org/details/dtb2012-01-26.bryonsos

I really wanted to post just the STOs since they sound AMAZING!, but the SBD brought a lot of vocal and guitar clarity that was lacking in the room, so I went with the matrix. The mics were FOB, slightly to the right, about 10-15' behind the sweet spot. Not ideal, but not bad especially considering you don't have to do much stand blocking from there. Here are some samples of just the STOs vs. the matrix. For the matrix, it's ~65% STOs, 35% SBD.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xlrhrdy4dp3wt

Like I said, I think these things sound amazing. The STO only source sounds pretty much exactly how it sounded at the spot we were recording from. I'm planning on running these 2-3 times more in the next few weeks, and I'll update this thread if there's interest. I also plan on doing a 1:1 comp against the CP3s -> R-44, and I can post that too. In the pics, you can see they have a very compact design, and FYI the screens are the ones that Church sells for the CA-11s.

[hi and lo]

Panasonic capsules?

[JD]

Great sounding mics for the money. I kinda regret selling my pair.

[bryonsos]

Panasonic capsules?

I don't think so. They're electret.

[Gutbucket]

Panasonic capsules?

I don't think so. They're electret.

Pretty much all of these small omnis are, including the Pannys.

[OOK]

Great sounding mics for the money. I kinda regret selling my pair.

I regret not buying them from you....they were smokin...... Some great stage lip recordings were done with these.  They were fat sound sounding. 

[hi and lo]

Panasonic capsules?

I don't think so. They're electret.

Pretty much all of these small omnis are, including the Pannys.

Yup. Pretty sure at least one of the earthworks omni's are pansonic electrets with a circuit in the body that brings down phantom voltage. I'm sure they do a bunch of other stuff (the housing alone has a large affect on frequency response) to make them sound amazing, but at their core their is a relativley common electret capsule.

[bryonsos]

Panasonic capsules?

I don't think so. They're electret.

Pretty much all of these small omnis are, including the Pannys.

Yup. Pretty sure at least one of the earthworks omni's are pansonic electrets with a circuit in the body that brings down phantom voltage. I'm sure they do a bunch of other stuff (the housing alone has a large affect on frequency response) to make them sound amazing, but at their core their is a relativley common electret capsule.

Did some looking around, and can't figure out if they're Panasonic or not. The diaphragms on the STOs are 1/4" (6.35mm), and the common Panasonic is 6mm. Maybe they make other sizes? Regardless, they sound fantastic!

[Hypnocracy]

Sweet...the Omni only clip sounds nice considering it is a room not known for it's sound

Bryonsos has been lusting over a pair of these for some time...I think I know why now...

[bryonsos]

Second outing with these:

http://www.archive.org/details/yarn2012-01-28.bryonsos

Great sound in a great room. I continue to be really impressed with these mics!

[bryonsos]

The observation that these mics are power hogs is confirmed. I've been able to run all my other mics off of a MixPre for 3+ hour shows with no issues with freshly charged Eneloops. On Friday, the batteries crapped out after 2-2.5 hrs. running these mics. No biggie since there were a bunch of other tapers there to get the show. I'll be running DVDs in the future though.

[Hypnocracy]

DVD should get you thru...There was a pair on eBay for $400 plus shipping...I pondered too long and they are gone...

[bryonsos]

DVD should get you thru...There was a pair on eBay for $400 plus shipping...I pondered too long and they are gone...

I've got several batteries and cables, but LMK if you find any too good to be true offers out there!

FWIW - I ran them at the Orange Peel for Railroad Earth. I knew the room could be a problem (it really does sound like a$$), but I also knew there would be 5+ tapers there. I wanted to see what to expect with the AAs, and was willing to punt the tape if the experiment didn't play out. I was warned about running omnis there, they were right, the tape sounds horrible and boomy, but it's the room not the mics. Even minus the battery problem, I wouldn't post it. jmbell posted a hyper pull that sounds pretty good.

[jbell]

^^ I ran MK4 cards Stu ran MK41 hypers, and I was real happy with my recording.

[StuStu]

^^ I ran MK4 cards Stu ran MK41 hypers, and I was real happy with my recording.

I was happy with mine as well.