Mic shootout - MXL 603 vs MXL 770

[hairylarry]

Mic shootout - MXL 603 vs MXL 770

I have read that these mics have the same capsule. The 603 is a highly regarded inexpensive condensor mic in a pencil format. The 770 is a side address mic. Looking a the capsules they do appear to be identical.

I decided to record the same acoustic guitar part on both mics. I ran them both through my M-Audio DMP2 and recorded them on my Fostex VF160. I added my Superlux CM-H8C in cardiod pattern and my Audio Technica AT4054 to the test. These mics ran through my Fostex preamps. This way you can compare the MXL mics to each other and to a couple more well regarded mics.

Since the 603 has no bass rolloff switch I left the 770 and the Superlux flat. The AT4054 is a vocal mic with bass rolloff built in so there is no flat position. It would have been better to use an AT4055 which has extended bass but I don't have one so I couldn't.

All mics were about three feet from the guitar at the outer edge of the near field.

Since I wanted to allow downloads I wrote my own song and named it "An Underground Tune" after undergroundtoon, my buddy on the homerecording.com bbs. I posted it to archive.org here.

http://archive.org/details/An_Underground_Tune

I compressed to mp3 with Exact Audio Copy using lame VBR encoding. Some versions of Media Player do not support VBR. Archive.org derived ogg and 64K mp3s. For best quality I recommend the VBR mp3 or the ogg versions.

Archive.org also provides zip libraries of the songs if you want to download them all at once.

I recommend that you download and listen first before reading on so you can form your own opinions uninfluenced by mine. Please feel free to disagree with me in the comments.

Here is my take on the shootout. Soundwoman also listened and her opinion is similar to mine.

On this particular test I could tell no difference between the 603 and the 770. I would play back the tracks on my Fostex and punch between them. Sometimes I punched so smooth that Soundwoman couldn't even tell I had switched tracks.

The Superlux sounded very similar on guitar but I could clearly hear more bass in my foot stomps.

The AT4054 sounded amazingly similar to the MXL mics. After repeated listenings I convinced myself that the 4054 was a little smoother, kind of silky compared to the others. I don't think it sounds better just very slightly different. When I compared the 770 and the 4054 in a smaller harder room the 4054 was definitely better so like in all mic shootouts the room, the instrumentation, and the performance all play a big role.

After I gave each track slight compression and normalized them I made a CD and put it on loop and shuffle. The only mic I could reliably pick out was the Superlux and that was because of the bass response.

Usually when I run mic tests I can really hear the difference. In this case all four mics sounded remarkably similar.

Since the 603 and the 770 were exactly the same to my ear I recorded the song again in XY stereo. The stereo version is also available on the same page at archive.org.

These cuts are all licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license which means you can mix them into your own projects if you want to. I definitely intended for the song to have a cartoony feel with the tension provided by the C7 chord in the key of E. And when the C7 resolves to the B7 it does that funny musical thing where it goes down and up at the same time.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry


I posted this article at homerecording.com bbs and at my blog, MixRemix.

[asulger]

Not saying it's better, although it has that untizzy, scooped out character I kind of like. But on my monitors (wharfies) the 770 sounds entirely different than the others.
It's fun listening to tests like this. Thanks,
Art

[hairylarry]

Originally Posted by asulger

Not saying it's better, although it has that untizzy, scooped out character I kind of like. But on my monitors (wharfies) the 770 sounds entirely different than the others.
It's fun listening to tests like this. Thanks,
Art

Art,

I guess I left out my monitors. I listened through my AR hifi speakers and my cheap Sennheiser headphones.

As far as the scoop goes I often find cutting a few db around 2-3K really opens up the high end detail in acoustic guitar. I do this when I hear what I call thick or hard mids. Of course in the shootout I didn't do any EQing. Just the slight compression and normalization.

Wharfedale monitors are on my wish list. I can't believe the reviews they get at their price.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

[travelin travis]

Hairy Larry, if you can, encode the mp3's at a higher bit rate. I'd go with 128 minimum but 192+ would be nice.

[hairylarry]

Travis,

They are encoded in Variable Bit Rate which varies between 128 and 320 using as much bandwidth as necessary to preserve CD quality.

If your media player won't play them try real player or winamp. Or try them in your DAW.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

[travelin travis]

I think quicktime time snagged them. I was hearing some staticy background noise.

[travelin travis]

Scratch my comment Hairy Larry. Someone rolled a dimmer switch here that was giving me some noise.

[hairylarry]

And flourescent lights. Fortunately my gro-lite in my vocal booth doesn't seem to cause problems.

I was doing some home recording of a Jazz band. The bass player had a great ear and said when he played a certain note he heard something vibrating. I walked around listening while he played and found that the handles on the buffet were vibrating to that note. We took dish towels and stuffed them through the handles. Problem solved.

So every session before we started we had to stuff dish towels through the buffet handles.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry