hey scott, nice to see you over here!!!
bri, et all, i will be doing comparisons with the tubes in february and will make sure you guys get copies.
from what i have "listened" to so far...i have not yet done any testing myself...i would say i like the v3 better. to me, the v3 has an amazing high frequency extension...which imo compliments schoeps microphones very well. the mids were silky smooth and crisp, and the v3 has a nice solid bottom end. i wouldn't describe it as warm, but it definitely has presence. i thought the v3 had an amazing 3d soundstage. i could hear a seperation of instruments that just made my jaw drop. really impressive how detailed and accurate the v3 is!
the mini me has a characteristic apogee warmth to it. i like that! i don't think it performs as well in the highs. kinda sounds like the sound is rounded off at the top to me. the mids were crisp and very well definied, and the low end, well it was fat. imo, however, it wasn't as great of a difference as i thought it may have been. the v3 definitely held it's own in the lower frequencies. it's just a matter of if you want that trademark apogee warmth or how the sound was actually at the show. i choose the latter just because that is what i like. i think the mini me did a better job of removing some of the room from the recordings as well.
again, these are just my initial thoughts from listening to different comparison tapes that scott and a few other people have done. i can't wait to test them both out with my tubes in february!
a big THANKS to tim and scott for letting me use their gear to do these comparisons!!!!
dave