haha
"please feel free to call me Toll Free at 877-563-6335, and I will go into more detail."
now how many people can say THAT! hehe.
I think these tests are fine as a little game...see Blue Bear make a fool of himself, what not. hehe.
But honestly, anyone who is going to defend them as a good "learning tool" or whatever else, needs to re-evaluate.
I thought Alan and Harvey both did a good job of pointing out the weaknesses in these type of tests. Not that they arn't fun...or don't have a place in the mic forum or whatever.
I think the people doing the tests probably do learn a lot about how different mics or types of mics work - the tests everyone needs to be doing for themselves. On the mp3 side of this test though, there arn't any conclusions one can make - just some bad assumptions.
To me, the whole point about "how can newbies learn..what if they want to rely.." etc. is a pretty weak one. I think that a newbie should only buy a mic which he can really test out - after hearing input from people on places like this board.
There is so much that can be done with any mic that not many of us take the time to discover - like what Harney mentioned in his post (finding the right sound for the time...a cheapie mic might be the ticket).
If you have an SM57, you can get a good sound - if you work with it enough. Look at what John Rubero (i believe that's the name) in the MP3 Mixing Clinic did...made a really great album in my opinion...with only an NT1.
I'm the type of person to quickly blame gear for my faults...but it shouldn't be that way. My point is - newbies need to learn from experience with ANY mic, how to use technique and resourcefulness to get a better sound.
Hearing the guitar sound they are after and matching it up and saying "Ah...the C1 is the sound i am after!"...well, that wasn't their preamp..or their guitar..or their micing technique...or whatever else. It just gives people a bad idea I think.
As a game along - I agree that it is fun to try to pick out which mic is which, and I've taken part on several occassions. I would just say the same that Alan or Harvey said (and yes, I realize that I am a nobody), don't take it too seriously.
Sorry for the rant, hearing the thread starter say that he felt sorry for Alans view of these kind of tests just kind of hit me the wrong way.
I think you did a fine job on your test Sonnix, for what it's worth (pun intended)