Topic: Earthworks SR71?

[twoheadedboy]

I just downloaded a Built to Spill show from Minneapolis this year (on Dime right now) recorded with these mics, and I have to say that it sounds FANTASTIC. My question is what you guys think of these mics in general? My goal is someday to pick up a pair of mics like these to be able to make matrix mixes with my Sonic Studios DSM's at shows where I'd have the chance to do so. The only thing is that the bass in these microphones might be lacking a little, as I'm listening on my PC speakers and it sounds about right...my PC speakers are VERY bass heavy, so usually something that sounds "good" will be too bassy on these speakers. This is not a problem for my purposes though, as the Sonics tend to have very good bass depth; these definitely sound superior on the higher end (I do have a small sample size, however).

[BC]

IMHO: clean and open, not much in the low end which makes them sound a bit on the bright side.

[RebelRebel]

for loud, rock shows?? great. for acoustic material??not so good because the self noise is a touch high. the low end shyness is more due to the nature of the polar pattern than the mic manufacturer, imo.

go to archive.org and type in w.brisette , zaxxcom deva or wendt x4..Mr. Brisette does 4 mic mixes with those often...his recordings are phenomenal.

[jlykos]

I am not a fan of these mics, but Wayne does make some incredible tapes with his, so look to him for better answers.  As others have stated, the low end is lacking on the cards; I think that Wayne mixes them with Earthworks omni mics to fill it in.  Too bright and voiced too squeakily for me.

[twoheadedboy]

Considering a pair is $800 MSRP (I'm guessing there's deals to be had if you look?), are they pretty good, or are there superior mics in this price range?

I should say that I have a have a preference for "bright and crisp" and against what most people call "warm". As I stated in the subject, I'd probably end up getting a pair of mics to matrix with my DSM's so I'd definitely want something with crisp, bright, clear high mids and highs since the the Sonics are very warm to me and especially have great definition in the low mids and bass range.

[Ryan Sims]

I always have liked the way these sound for concert tapes.  However, they're not made new anymore, and I've not seen a pair hit eBay or for sale here, else I'd likely have jumped on them.  So best of luck finding a pair. 

[jlykos]

I always have liked the way these sound for concert tapes.  However, they're not made new anymore, and I've not seen a pair hit eBay or for sale here, else I'd likely have jumped on them.  So best of luck finding a pair. 

I'm not so sure if that is correct.  I was looking at prices of these mics the other day and places like micsupply.com and Sonic Sense are still selling them.  Micsupply had a special on them with a new price list.  They are very expensive now, however, much more so than I remember from several years ago.  A new pair is about $1500 now, if memory serves me from the price list.

[scb]

i always thought the 77s sounded better than the 71s.  the 71s are basically 77s that didn't meet the 77 spec, so they were sold for less money as sr71s

and the price has increased DRAMATICALLY for the entire earthworks line.  i bought a new pair of sr77s for 855 shipped in september 1999. i think they're 2x that now

[Ryan Sims]

I always have liked the way these sound for concert tapes.  However, they're not made new anymore, and I've not seen a pair hit eBay or for sale here, else I'd likely have jumped on them.  So best of luck finding a pair. 

I'm not so sure if that is correct.  I was looking at prices of these mics the other day and places like micsupply.com and Sonic Sense are still selling them.  Micsupply had a special on them with a new price list.  They are very expensive now, however, much more so than I remember from several years ago.  A new pair is about $1500 now, if memory serves me from the price list.

Huh.  I've never seen them and I looked pretty long and hard for them.  I don't find them on the micsupply site either, but I wouldn't doubt them having jumped up in price in the least.

[Thom Joad]

FWIW

I tried selling my SR71's on here ~2 years ago.  Didn't get any response at all, so I went to Gearslutz and sold them in 2 days for my asking price of $400.

for loud, rock shows?? great. for acoustic material??not so good because the self noise is a touch high....

I ran them all the time for acoustic music (mostly onstage ORTF) and never noticed any noise.  Actually, some of these recordings are still among my favorites.  YMMV

[beanstalk]

Earthworks makes a great product...

[jlykos]

I always have liked the way these sound for concert tapes.  However, they're not made new anymore, and I've not seen a pair hit eBay or for sale here, else I'd likely have jumped on them.  So best of luck finding a pair. 

I'm not so sure if that is correct.  I was looking at prices of these mics the other day and places like micsupply.com and Sonic Sense are still selling them.  Micsupply had a special on them with a new price list.  They are very expensive now, however, much more so than I remember from several years ago.  A new pair is about $1500 now, if memory serves me from the price list.

Huh.  I've never seen them and I looked pretty long and hard for them.  I don't find them on the micsupply site either, but I wouldn't doubt them having jumped up in price in the least.

This may help:

http://www.micsupply.com/earthworksmic.htm

$2100 retail for a matched pair of SR30 (formerly SR77) in a box.  Even at the 20% off special, that is a hell of a lot of money for that microphone.

[Ryan Sims]

OK, I see what you were saying now.  I saw the 30, but I thought you had specifically found the 71s.

[ramallo]

SR71 = SR69  =SR20

The SR69 are equal to SR71 (The SR69 have a wind screen), and now is the SR20. The SR20 are very close to the SR30 (the former SR77).

I have the SR69, SR25 and SR77.

[BC]

Considering a pair is $800 MSRP (I'm guessing there's deals to be had if you look?), are they pretty good, or are there superior mics in this price range?

I should say that I have a have a preference for "bright and crisp" and against what most people call "warm". As I stated in the subject, I'd probably end up getting a pair of mics to matrix with my DSM's so I'd definitely want something with crisp, bright, clear high mids and highs since the the Sonics are very warm to me and especially have great definition in the low mids and bass range.

You might want to check out the AT small-diaphragm condensers, not sure of the model #, 4051??

[BC]

The AKG 391 (blue line series) and oktava MC012 could be up your alley. Might be able to pick up some used MBHO's at this price also??

[RebelRebel]

The AKG 391 (blue line series) and oktava MC012 could be up your alley. Might be able to pick up some used MBHO's at this price also??

I say KEL Audio P-1s would be exactly what he is looking for. They have a really nice high end bump, and sound really clean and hifi.

http://www.kelaudio.com/P-1.html  there are sound clips on that page.

[wbrisette]

Well, since I'm mentioned in this thread, I'll respond from the road (I'm in Toronto at the moment).

Self-noise; there is some self-noise as Teddy mentioned, however for most things, including acoustical, this doesn't present problems. However, if you are trying to make nature recordings or record where there will be lots of silent passages, then you might want to forgo these mics.

Price; there was a huge price increase when the investors of Earthworks took over and kicked Eric out. This was a huge mistake in my opinion, but according to a couple of people I know who claim they have some inside skinny on things, they looked around and saw that the mics they wanted to compete with were priced much higher, so they decided to price the new EW mics in that same price range.

Sound; as mentioned when recording with these mics, you can get some fabulous recordings, or some real duds. The reason is the low end drops off at around 100 Hz by about 6 dB, and continues to fall. At loud rock venues, I find that this can sometimes be a blessing because the bass always seems to overpower the recording. But, sometimes you end up with recordings that just lack enough bottom end to make a recording sound great. When I ended up doing to fix this was use a pair of QTC-1/QTC-40 along with the SR-77's and mix those with the SR-77s. I did this with initially with a field mixer (Wendt X4), today I run multi-track and mix back home where I can really monitor things in a better environment.

Are EW mics worth it? I'm the poster boy for them, I own 4 sets of their mics (2 QTC1/QTC40, and 2 SR-77/SR-30 sets), plus I bought a pair of thier Sigma 6.2 studio monitors. I think their results speak for themselves, but I also think EW made a bit of a mistake with the new pricing structure. They use to be the best bang for your buck. Today I wouldn't say that is accurate, but they still make a great product that can compete with some of the bigger names in the business.

Wayne