darrin_h2000
Banned
I suppose you only get to record perfect voices, which is great for a clean pre, the colored ones add that 2nd harmonic that I prefer on vocals only. Thing only get muddy after you put on many layers of color.
DJL said:You said Harvey gets free stuff from Alan for trying it out and reviewing it.
Harvey said that's not ture. Sorry chessrock, but I believe Harvey -- unless you can prove otherwise. Truth -- post the facts.
chessparov said:On the other hand Harvey has had a great deal of experience with mic pre's to compare a VTB-1 (or anything else) to.
Chris
chessrock said:You know, you're right. I'll admit sometimes I make generalizations, and in the process I may tend to distort the facts. In the spirit of being factual, here goes . . .
<snip>
DJL said:Fact: I think you owe Harvey an apology.
DJL said:You said "Harvey gets free stuff from Alan for trying it out and reviewing it.". When I asked you what Alan gave Harvey free for for trying it out and reviewing it -- you never answered the question.
chessrock said:I just happen to have my own beliefs about human nature, so I've chosen to take those factors in to at least partial consideration when judging someone's comments abouit a product. That's all.
chessrock said:Sorry if I haven't made myself clear. In June of last year, Alan sent one of every mic Studio Projects had made up to that time. What Harvey has received is free usage of these mics for the past 10 months and counting.
Yes, we've had them here that long, but they've been sitting in their boxes, waiting till I had the time to test them. They weren't being used. After the tests, I think Alex has used the B3 a couple of times on guitar cabinets, but the rest aren't being used, and haven't been used in our recording sessions. The mics we use are listed on the equipment page at our website.
I was innacurate for implying that these mics were simply given to Harvey for free -- When in fact they were merely loaned to him indefinitely . . . and without any payment terms. My bad. Guess I should get my facts straight next time, DJL.
The mics weren't loaned to me "indefinitely, or without payment terms" - both were spelled out quite clearly by Studio Projects when I first received the mics, and Alan has asked me to return the ones I don't want, and to pay for the ones I do want.
The fact that I can't find my initial test notes has delayed the process, and Alan has been very forgiving in not pressing the return issue. And the mics are all back in their boxes, where they've been since the tests.
I've asked Alan for more time because I want to repeat the tests to be fair to Alan, since the first B1 we received didn't work, and I need to compare the B1 to the other SP models, and to some of the other manufacturer's mics, to give people a proper basis for comparison.
The payment terms (as per the invoice I received with the mics) are pretty simple: I pay full suggested retail.
I would like to reiterate, again, that I don't see anything wrong with Alan sending them, and certainly nothing wrong with Harvey accepting them for this rather generous trial period.
Let me set this straight, once and for all time: Alan called me and asked me to evaluate his mics, because he apparently trusted and respected my judgement. I didn't call Alan and ask to test his stuff. It wasn't a "trial period" - it was a test, plain and simple. And I told Alan up front, I'm slow to test this stuff and it might take some time, and Alan was fine with that.
The way I test mics requires two people, and Alex and I have been working our asses off in the studio 6 and 7 days a week, recording groups, which is what we do for a living.
After a 12 hour session, both our brains are too fried to try to evaluate subtle mic nuances. Finding the time to set up and test 10 different mics at one sitting is an imposing task, not to be taken lightly.
We test for noise, level matching, polarity, pattern control, proximity effect, air blast sensitivity, distortion, and tonal color. I'm in the room with all the mics, listening over headphones, while Alex is in the control room listening over the large speakers. We compare every mic to other similar mics and to our TLM103, which is our control mic.
We take frequent breaks to keep our ears fresh, and we often go back and repeat tests to see if we get the same results, to avoid the possibility of personal bias in our tests. We do all this shit for free, but yes, sometimes we find something that we want to use for the studio.
In the next few weeks, I'm getting the new AEA R84 ribbon mic in from Wes Dooley at Audio Engineering Associates, which I'll be testing. But it won't be on loan to me - I'll be paying full price for it, in front, because I already feel that it will be a useful addition to the studio. If not, I'll send it back to Wes.
I also apologize if I've implied that this affects Harvey's objectivity. I just happen to have my own beliefs about human nature, so I've chosen to take those factors in to at least partial consideration when judging someone's comments about a product. That's all.
Harvey Gerst said:It's the other shit you implied that pissed me off. It's just not true. I didn't ask Alan to give me this stuff for an "indefinite trial period" so I could have the "free use of all the mics". Alan asked me to test them.
I just don't like the implication that I'm doing this stuff to get free use of the gear, or that I'm somehow trying to garner favor with manufacturers by giving them good reviews.
Hell, dbx doesn't mention the 242 anywhere on their website. Even Tom Cram at dbx first learned about the damn thing from reading my comments about it.