Topic: Proof that Church Audio mics are freaking awesome!!!!

[jcrab66]

24 Bit MK4 Sample

[Church-Audio]

24 Bit MK4 Sample

I think its kinda hard to compare 24 bit to 16 never mind my mics to Schoeps but the differences were not as great as one would expect. I guess it goes to show you that any good mic placed properly will sound good. I think my self the Schoeps sound a little better.. But for the price difference they better!

Chris

[heyitsmejess]

^^^modesty is a great personality trait!^^^

[rowjimmy]

I guess it goes to show you that any good mic placed properly will sound good.

I offered this comp on another board as a discussion of "high-end mics" and "what rig is best" was starting and I wanted to nip it in the bud. My contention was pretty much what Chris wrote and, the board's split decision on which source was 'better' demonstrated.

+T to atx for the comp (again) and to you, Chris. I'm thinkig about a low-pro rig and you'll be my first stop.

[spreetaper]

its always interesting comparing mics with that big a price difference
as a buddy of mine always points out...

if a pair of mics (A) are 200

and

if a pair of mics (B) are 2000

is (B) going to sound 10 times better than (A) if they are in the same spot etc etc
just about never in my opinion.. sometimes 1-2 times as much and sometimes 3-4 times but thats about it

of course this is just an example and i am not picking on anyone who owns nicer mics..
i myself own nicer mics and less expensive mics .. so i appreciate what each can do and has to offer

[Church-Audio]

its always interesting comparing mics with that big a price difference
as a buddy of mine always points out...

if a pair of mics (A) are 200

and

if a pair of mics (B) are 2000

is (B) going to sound 10 times better than (A) if they are in the same spot etc etc
just about never in my opinion.. sometimes 1-2 times as much and sometimes 3-4 times but thats about it

of course this is just an example and i am not picking on anyone who owns nicer mics..
i myself own nicer mics and less expensive mics .. so i appreciate what each can do and has to offer

The one thing I have learned and maybe this is why a lot of people like my mics.. Its pretty simple to make a good mic once.. Its another thing to make a good mic again and again.. I have found a way to test my mics and make sure they fall in line with the last pair I made. So when someone buys my mics they are always going to produce the same sound quality pair after pair..

[landshark]

That brings up Mike's Corrollary:

... 15 feet of better mic position is worth $2,000 in gear....

 

Mike

[Arni99]

lots of mics sound good BUT have a different colouration of sound.
this colouration is another subjective taste.
some like more bass, some less, some detailed high frequencies etc.
personally I prefer the Audio Technica sound over the church cards sound. I just like the colouration of the AT´s more. more detailed in my subjective opinion.
the HLSC MKE40´s sound completely different compared to the AT´s or church cards.
less bass and a very specific sound.
I am sure each of these 3 mics are a good investigation .

[Church-Audio]

lots of mics sound good BUT have a different colouration of sound.
this colouration is another subjective taste.
some like more bass, some less, some detailed high frequencies etc.
personally I prefer the Audio Technica sound over the church cards sound. I just like the colouration of the AT´s more. more detailed in my subjective opinion.
the HLSC MKE40´s sound completely different compared to the AT´s or church cards.
less bass and a very specific sound.
I am sure each of these 3 mics are a good investigation .

I have always looked at microphones as paint brushes.. Some paint a wide line some a thin line. They are tools, when you use them properly you end up with the sound you want. I agree its very subjective.. I like AT mics too I think they sound great.. There are things I dont like about them, Just like there are things I dont like about my own mics... In the end both will do a good job of capturing audio. Its just a matter of personal taste if the person listing to it likes the end result.

Chris

[jcrab66]

24 Bit MK4 Sample

I think its kinda hard to compare 24 bit to 16 never mind my mics to Schoeps but the differences were not as great as one would expect. I guess it goes to show you that any good mic placed properly will sound good. I think my self the Schoeps sound a little better.. But for the price difference they better!

Chris

the 24bit was posted because someone asked about it. As for the sound, listening via my cheap little cambridge amp and alesis monitors i can tell enough of a difference to know which one i like better regardless of the source. IMO the CA source sounds too thin but then thats just my listening preference. I have a feeling that if it were a blind comp there may have been some different results...

[Church-Audio]

24 Bit MK4 Sample

I think its kinda hard to compare 24 bit to 16 never mind my mics to Schoeps but the differences were not as great as one would expect. I guess it goes to show you that any good mic placed properly will sound good. I think my self the Schoeps sound a little better.. But for the price difference they better!

Chris

the 24bit was posted because someone asked about it. As for the sound, listening via my cheap little cambridge amp and alesis monitors i can tell enough of a difference to know which one i like better regardless of the source. IMO the CA source sounds too thin but then thats just my listening preference. I have a feeling that if it were a blind comp there may have been some different results...

What I should really do one of these days is make a phantom powered version of my mics. So you guys can use the same signal chain.. Its not really a fair comparison but still the results were interesting. I think that if the mics were placed in the "exact" same position with the same preamp I am sure the Schoeps would have come out much more on top then they did. I just want to be truthful in saying there is no way one can compair the two.. But I guess if this comp shows anything it shows what I have said before mics placed well will sound good..

Chris

[SparkE!]

24 Bit MK4 Sample

I think its kinda hard to compare 24 bit to 16 never mind my mics to Schoeps but the differences were not as great as one would expect. I guess it goes to show you that any good mic placed properly will sound good. I think my self the Schoeps sound a little better.. But for the price difference they better!

Chris

the 24bit was posted because someone asked about it. As for the sound, listening via my cheap little cambridge amp and alesis monitors i can tell enough of a difference to know which one i like better regardless of the source. IMO the CA source sounds too thin but then thats just my listening preference. I have a feeling that if it were a blind comp there may have been some different results...

What I should really do one of these days is make a phantom powered version of my mics. So you guys can use the same signal chain.. Its not really a fair comparison but still the results were interesting. I think that if the mics were placed in the "exact" same position with the same preamp I am sure the Schoeps would have come out much more on top then they did. I just want to be truthful in saying there is no way one can compair the two.. But I guess if this comp shows anything it shows what I have said before mics placed well will sound good..

Chris

Chris, the way I read it, both sets of mics were on the same stand, nearly co-located.  So the differences are not as much mic placement as they are actually representative of the signal chains that were used.

[Javier Cinakowski]

The MKE40 has something that Church and AT don't have:

SILK

The AT's and Church's sound damn similar.  The AT's are slightly more detailed, but churches mics remind me of analog warmth...
Both great products.  AT's had a leg up with the modular capsule system, but it seems Chucrch is all over that.  Now he just needs a Sub-Card cap, a mini-shotgun and a figure 8!   Woot!

[illconditioned]

lots of mics sound good BUT have a different colouration of sound.
this colouration is another subjective taste.
some like more bass, some less, some detailed high frequencies etc.
personally I prefer the Audio Technica sound over the church cards sound. I just like the colouration of the AT´s more. more detailed in my subjective opinion.
the HLSC MKE40´s sound completely different compared to the AT´s or church cards.
less bass and a very specific sound.
I am sure each of these 3 mics are a good investigation .

I've tried the same mics... and more.

As I said in an earlier thread, there are several things that mics can do: color the sound (ie., different frequency response), lack detail (sounds washed out), add distortion (eg., extra simbalance that was not there in original show).  There are probably other things too, like coloration of soundfield coming from different incidence angles, etc.  My (informal) observation is that detail is ranked as follows: MKE40>AT853>Church, but coloration ranks Church>AT853>MKE40.  Distortion probably ranks MKE40> (Church ~= AT853).  So it is a toss up.  But, for the money (!!!) and reliability (no distortion), and simplicity (standard, 2wire battery box), Church's mics are excellent.  I was skeptical at first (used to love AT853), but now I pick Church's mics if I want a miniature directional mic.

Personally, I'm beginning to prefer omni recordings, usually from up front to get a good soundstage.  But sometimes I run cards, esp. if the room is noisy (like a stage at one end and a *loud* bar at the other...

It is very informative to run a set of accurate omnidirectional mics beside your "go to" rig.  Even a pair of Panasonic WM6x will work well.  Take them home and compare the recordings.  You'll hear more "room sound" in the omnis, but it will probably sound clearer and less distored too.

  Richard

[SparkE!]

Richard, if you run baffled omnis (J-disk or similar), you're going to like the omnis even better.  Beyond the accurate, flat frequency response you get from omnis, when you run them in a properly baffled configuration,  the acoustic delay between the mics will be similar to the delay you get between your own ears.  The result is a recording that sounds good over speakers or over headphones.  ORTF or DIN-A cardioids will do that too, but you get more coloration with the directional mics than you do with baffled omnis.  Moke has some good examples if you search for "baffled omnis".