SM57 vs SP-B1

DJL said:
I need a vox mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a kick mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a snare mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a tom mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a sax mic... you say, get a B1.
I need piano mic's... you say, get a B1.
I need a bass amp mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a guitar mic... you say, get a B1.
Click to expand...
Not many people are recommending b1s for people that want to record only one of those things. They're recommending them for people that want to record any/all of those things. If you can only get one mic, the b1 is a much better choice than any of the mics you recommend. I mean, c'mon, the 421 on vocals or shaker or acoustic? What a joke. The only thing on that list that the b1 truly sucks at is kick. The 421, OTOH, sucks on everything except drums and amps.
 
kid klash said:
The Studio Projects B1 could become another "all-around" workhorse mic in any recording studio. ;)
Click to expand...
I agree. I think it's destined to be a classic, at least among project studio types.
 
DJL said:
Oh ok, that's why no matter what someone want's a mic for you say the B1.

I need a vox mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a kick mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a snare mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a tom mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a sax mic... you say, get a B1.
I need piano mic's... you say, get a B1.
I need a bass amp mic... you say, get a B1.
I need a guitar mic... you say, get a B1.


I need a mic... you say, get a B1. Why... because you don't want to confuse them.
Click to expand...

You didn't read my posts very carefully bro :D

All I try to say is the B1 is a good mic for many applications and it's damn cheap.

I know my mics, I record big orchestra's. I know when to use a 441 or a ribbon and I certainly know why.

An unexperienced engineer has yet to find out all these things which is pretty tough, so the best he/she can do is visit a BBS like this and ask, ask and ask more.

But what if anybody says different things? I can imagine the confusion one gets.

Buy an SM57, no better a V67, no a 2003 bla bla.

I see posts here that advices to use the one and only 57 for electric guitars. But , a 57 sounds most of the time thin and boxy on guitar cabs.

If you like the sound of your guitar amp, put a B1 in front of the speaker and if the pre is decent voila, the same sound out of the controlroom speakers. What's wrong with that?

I record a lot of jazz bands, got CD's of the month with them, a 10 for sound quality, I think I know how to record a jazzband in one room, all at once.

One of the biggest PITA's is an upright bass in one room with all the other instruments. A trumpet can reach 150 dbA.
So I tried them all on upright, 414's, 451's, 184's tube Neumann's, ribbons etc.

And some sound very good, even the bleed of the horns sound good on the bass track when you use a nice ribbon or a U67, M49 or other fancy mics that cost a fortune.

Then came the B1 and I tried it on a number of instruments and I was impressed. It doesn't sound as good as a $4k+ Neumann, but hey, it costs only 80 bucks. It sounded pretty good on upright bass. A 57 sucks on upright, so does a 421 and even a 441 sucks on upright bass, ever tried it bro?

I'm going to try this mic on a lot of other things and I won't be surprised if it sounds decent on a violin. Next week I have to record a cello, which I'm going to do with a big Neumann, but the B1 will stand next to it and I wonder how it will do.
 
cominginsecond said:
c'mon, the 421 on vocals or shaker or acoustic? What a joke.

. The 421, OTOH, sucks on everything except drums and amps.
Click to expand...

though not my first choice for these applications, I wouldn't use words like "joke" and "sucks" to describe the 421. I think we're getting a bit juvenal about this subject!...I'll gladly trade 3 sm57's or 3 B-1's for 3 421's any day.......any takers?
 
Hey cominginsecond, I thought you only had B3's... not B1's, or is the other way around? I do remember you saying you thought the B1 and B3 sound the same even tho you only had one and not the other at the time.
 
cominginsecond said:
Not many people are recommending b1s for people that want to record only one of those things. They're recommending them for people that want to record any/all of those things. If you can only get one mic, the b1 is a much better choice than any of the mics you recommend.
Click to expand...
IMO, the Marshall MXL603S blows the B1 away on acoustic instruments.
 
DJL said:
IMO, the Marshall MXL603S blows the B1 away on acoustic instruments.
Click to expand...
Not on amp, though. That's what's great about the B1s, their versatility. I always thought the 603 was brittle sounding compared to the MC012. I sold the 603s to get the MC012s.
 
Last edited:
DJL said:
Hey cominginsecond, I thought you only had B3's... not B1's, or is the other way around? I do remember you saying you thought the B1 and B3 sound the same even tho you only had one and not the other at the time.
Click to expand...
I have them both now, and I would say that they are definitely very, very similar. I would describe them as cousins, rather than brothers. In any case, they're both very versatile, and they're both highly recommended to someone who can only get one or two mics. If someone could get three mics, depending on their budget and the sources they were recording, I wouldn't recommend a pair of B1s, but rather a pair of MC012s and either a B1 (if they're doing lots of guitar amp recording), a C1, a V67, or a Rode NTK (if their budget was higher) for vocals and, in the case of the B1 or NTK, mono acoustic guitar. Then I'd tell them to get a 57 in a few months. I like the 57, but it's a specialty mic for snares and amps (and only if you don't have a B1 because the B1 beats the 57 on amps, IMO.)
 
I'm thinking of staging a special "Alan Hyatt Day" parade down DJL's street: complete with marching bands, floats, people wearing giant papier mache caricature heads of AH, Brent Casey and Stephen Paul; and huge balloons in the shape of all the Studio Projects microphones.


Now, when should "Alan Hyatt Day" be? :D
 
The real problem we have here is... we have a handful of deaf people recommending mic's that can't hear the fricken difference between one mic and another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top