my experience with the b1

Downside Studio

Downside Studio

New member
Hi, a friend of mine brought a SP b1 and a shure ks32 to the studio for me to compare and give comments about them.

I recorded a vocal track (female) and found the following:

The B1 had sort of a real annoying hiss in the upper frequencies making it to MY TASTE (!!!!) vertily unusefull in the mix
The shure sounded like the singer had a could but it surely did fit in the mix very nice.

To my amazing that was exactly wat he thought of the mics. Sure i was stupid enough to not setup the mics i usually record with (froovetubes and AT) so i couldn't compare them to each other.

I do think that the B1 will sound awesome on instruments like ac guitar of overheads. That was confirmed by recordings made by him.

Just my 2 cents, but i've read so many reviews comparing the sp to neumann and well....uhmm....nop.

Still for the price it is an amazing mic and the shure costs nearly 3x the amount...
 
I don't think anyone's seriously comparing Studio Projects to Neumann mics ... your experience is interesting because normally people cite the C1 as having a hyped top end, but not the B1 ... I guess for £60 most people will find a use for it even if only as a spare mic.
 
When my vocal is moderately compressed on a Beyer M88 it "hisses".
Doesn't make it a lesser microphone, in fact on most singers it sounds excellent, and works on virtually any instrument (like a MD441).

Chris
 
chessparov said:
When my vocal is moderately compressed on a Beyer M88 it "hisses".
Doesn't make it a lesser microphone, in fact on most singers it sounds excellent, and works on virtually any instrument (like a MD441).
Click to expand...

You did know this thread was about the B1, didn't you? ?
 
>>The B1 had sort of a real annoying hiss in the upper frequencies making it to MY TASTE (!!!!) vertily unusefull in the mix<<

This was in the original post and because you don't seem to understand what Chris is pointing at: the well known classic M88 mic can make quite some hiss too.

In my humble opinion the B1 is a fairly neutral sounding mic, the C1 is much brighter, talking about hiss.
 
Haven't tried other models from SP. My point was that for the money, it makes a decent mic. Offcourse there are numerous destinations with it to go recording, but I found it somewhat strange that I really disliked it (even totally unusefull) for the vocal i recorded. That suprised me.

I know every mic sounds different and every vocal sounds different and that certain combinations don't work...heck, I make a living from recording haha...but the topfrequencies did almost break the fillings in my teeth...like it had +10db from 8K and up or so...very strange...
 
How does the B1 compare to your NT1, your Groove tubes and Audio Technica's?

I have two B1's and they sound not too bright at all. Actually my Neumann sounds a tad brighter.
 
I wonder if you had a bad B1. I own both of those mics and while the KSM32 is definatey flatter sounding, the B1 is not what I would call a bright mic.

Blessings, Terry
 
It's not bright sounding, it's a very loud top frequency like a 31band eq with all flat except 8K at +12dB if you get what i mean.

I didn;t compare it to the AT and groovetubes. only to the shure. Some mikes sound bright, some flat, some not so bright..but this wasthe first time i experienced a mic that has such a small agressive frequency .

Before you think I'm bashing the mic..I'm not!!!!! I think it would sound excellent on ac guitar and overhats/hh etc...
 
Yup some voices just bring out the worst in a mic. Otherwise, we could just get one mic and we'd be set.

:D

Blessings, Terry
 
Downside Studio said:
Hi, a friend of mine brought a SP b1 and a shure ks32 to the studio for me to compare and give comments about them.

I recorded a vocal track (female) and found the following:

The B1 had sort of a real annoying hiss in the upper frequencies making it to MY TASTE (!!!!) vertily unusefull in the mix
The shure sounded like the singer had a could but it surely did fit in the mix very nice.

To my amazing that was exactly wat he thought of the mics. Sure i was stupid enough to not setup the mics i usually record with (froovetubes and AT) so i couldn't compare them to each other.

I do think that the B1 will sound awesome on instruments like ac guitar of overheads. That was confirmed by recordings made by him.

Just my 2 cents, but i've read so many reviews comparing the sp to neumann and well....uhmm....nop.

Still for the price it is an amazing mic and the shure costs nearly 3x the amount...
Click to expand...
What sound source did the B1 shine on... you know, on what instrument did the B1 sound totally fantastic? Also, over-all... how would you rate the B1... between 1 and 5 (with 5 being best)?
 
Sorry if my point regarding "hiss" was unclear, thanks Han for clarifying my intended context in bringing up the similar M88 experience.

Chris
 
I can't give the mic a rating because i would have to rate it for each instrument and occasion differently. I just had my first ...huh? experience with this mic.
 
I didn't 'compare' the B1 to the Neumann, I only said the Neumann sounds a tad brighter, although that hi end is more 'silky' than the SP B1.

If I must compare the B1 to another mic, it should be a mic in the same price, so it should be a V67, which I don't own, or any other inexpensive mic in the $80 range.

I did own a pair of C1000's and C3000's and compared to these (more expensive) mics, the SP B1 is better in most applications.

This is of course my personal opinion, you don't have to agree, but I did manage to make some decent sounding recordings.
 
Sorry, we were just messing. Of course no-one's seriously saying they might take a Studio Projects rather than a Neumann when they go on Desert Island Mics ... and of course lots of people have good results with SPs (you, in particular, are an experienced AE and are very keen on them).

I've now located a shop local to me I can go fetch one from, so it's off with my overdraft I go ...
 
noisedude said:
I've now located a shop local to me I can go fetch one from, so it's off with my overdraft I go ...
Click to expand...

Oh ah, where in the Uk do they sell SP mics nik? I've been looking (but obviously not hard enough).
 
IMO the SP B1 isn't your traditional Vocal Mic...I wouldn't pull out a B1 and use it on EVERY track if I were doing a huge project..

I don't even think the B1 is a Large condenser I think it is SMALLER than most condensers mentioned here...

Plus the KSM32 is A DAMN GOOD VOCAL mic from shure and isn't even the lowest ranking KSM!! the B1 is the LOWEST ranking Studio Projects Mic I know of...

Besides if you believe you get what you pay for it says a lot that the B1 can go head to ohead with the KSM32 being that the KSM32 runs about 3-4 times as much as the B1

Until I can afford A Neumen/Blue..and hell even after I can maybe...I will swear by the Studio Projects Mics...

They are well made and Bang ForThe Buck + cusomer service, etc.. I don't think you can find a better mic

IMO
 
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