My first experience with the C-1, m260, and others

[Beezoboy]

Ok so I have acquired quite a few mics lately that I have not had a chance to use other than speak a couple words on them or try them quickly on an instrument. I haven't recorded anything with these mics that got in a mix in any way. Among my neglected mics were the C-1, ADK A51s, Beyer M88, and Beyer m260. I really have not been able to use my U87 for as much as I would like either.

Tonight I finally got to. I miced a closed 4x12 cab pushed by an Ashdown amp. WOW. This amp sounds great first of all. It sounds like a Mesa and an old Fender had a baby.

I threw everything I had at this beast except the A51s. The results were certainly eye opening. With EQ set flat and no compression I recorded 2 - 4 mics at a time. The guitar player cycled a riff through his pedals. Among them were a Rat, TubeKing, MetalZone, and some others.

First try - Beyer m88, Sm57, SP C-1 (Loser of the race Sm57)
Second try - Beyer m88, Sm57, SP C-1 and B-1 (loser again was 57 so it was taken away)
Third try - Beyer m88, Beyer m260, C-1, B-1 (Loser was B-1 because it really needs a -10 pad for guitar amp)
Fourth - Beyer m88, Beyer m260, C-1, U87 (bye bye poor m88)
Fifth try - Beyer m260, C-1, U87 (no losers here)
Sixth (and last) try - Beyer m260 and U87

Here is why I took out certain mics:

Sm57 - lacked clarity (thats what I meant - thanks Mr. Embald) in the mids and the highs were harsh, especially on the MetalZone and Rat. In general it just did not sound like what I heard coming out of the amp.

B-1 - This mic was later tried as a room mic and sounded great, unfortunately it clipped like hell up close to the amp.

m88 - I really could have used this mic, it just lacked the presence of the C-1 and m260.

Here is what I liked about the ones I kept.

C-1 - More bass response than the m260. Very close to the level of clarity but in the end a bit too lose on the bottom I think. Very full sound and excellent reproduction of actual sound. -10db pad is a must, and this mic provided that. I could have used this on the track in an instant, except the U87 was even better.

U87 - More bass responce than the C-1 or m260. Very tight bottom end, very clear mic in general. It does nothing to muddy up the sound. This mic reproduces a "chugga chugga" like no other and sounds just great. This mic had some beef to it.

m260 - For a mic, that you can usually get for $200 - 300 on Ebay, this mic was amazing. It had more clarity than any other mic I tried. Lets just say if I put the amp in the same room as my monitors, let the player play a riff and then record it with this mic, you wouldn't know whether I was playing back what he recorded or whether he was playing it again. It was really that good.

The m260 is going to be the primary mic for this session, but I am going to use the U87 too for some "artificially enhanced" chunk. It will be so nice not to have to even touch the Eq on guitars for once.

Beez

[Stefan Elmblad]

Originally posted by Beezoboy
Sm57 - lacked presence in the mids

????

[James HE]

hmmm.. maybe he's trying to say it lacked "focus" in the mids.


Beezoboy- did you record any clean guitar tracks? I'd be intrested to know if you thought the M260 sounded as good on clean sounds as distorted sounds.

[Beezoboy]

James HE

Well, I wan't really recording clean sounds because there are none on that song, however, I can say that the mic is totally awesome and I am willing to bet that when we get to clean we'll be reaching for the m260 again. In retrospect, I wish I would have thought to save all the tests so that you could hear what I was talking about.

Maybe I'll post some clips when I get some time later.

Beez