SP B-3 Sound quality? is Allen in the house?

S

Sky Pilot

New member
I just picked up Studio Projects B-3 and brought it home
to put it through the paces. Good job SP. I like....but -

I noticed it sounded very nice in OMNI pattern, and CARDIOD pattern, but here's the kicker- in figure 8 the front of the mic sounds the same, but the rear sounds darker.
(In OMNI, both front & rear sound consistently the same.)

Is that normal for this mic?

Also, it appears that the diaphram is very slightly tilted
instead of being straight at a 90 degree... hmmm.


Other than the question on the sound in fig 8,
I really like this mic so far.

Thoughts appreciated.
Sky Pilot
 
Sky Pilot,

Quick question: are you listening through headphones?

As for the slight tilt of the capsule: Should not be able to tilt.
Of course there is a difference between "should not be able to" and "shouldn't happen, but is anyway". But, basically, due to the way the mount is made, the capsule is really not capable of tilting unless there is something drastically wrong.

Glad you like the omni and card positions. I like recording in omni and find that the B3 does a good job for a LD mic.

Do you have the shock mount as well?

Brent Casey
Studio Projects Thought Police
Torrance, Ca.
877-563-6335



Sky Pilot said:
I just picked up Studio Projects B-3 and brought it home
to put it through the paces. Good job SP. I like....but -

I noticed it sounded very nice in OMNI pattern, and CARDIOD pattern, but here's the kicker- in figure 8 the front of the mic sounds the same, but the rear sounds darker.
(In OMNI, both front & rear sound consistently the same.)

Is that normal for this mic?

Also, it appears that the diaphram is very slightly tilted
instead of being straight at a 90 degree... hmmm.


Other than the question on the sound in fig 8,
I really like this mic so far.

Thoughts appreciated.
Sky Pilot
Click to expand...
 
Re: Re: SP B-3 Sound quality? is Allen in the house?

Hi Brent,
Thanx for the reply. I actually called the dealer here
in Portland, and they took care of it. Sure enough
it had a loose capsule diaphram. They said they never
have problems with the SP line, and it's a first.
They hooked me up with a new one, and although it
sounds better than the defective B-3, I still am confused.
Omni is great, Cardioid is great, fig 8 is better, but the rear
in fig 8 still doesn't match the sound of the front diaphram.
Is that normal? (It does indeed sound better than the first one though)

As for your question of am I listening through headphones?
Yes I was. Does that make a huge difference?

I don't have the shock mount yet. Is it avalable through the local
dealer or direct from you?

Thanks for your help & nice mics. I think the B-3, with it's
very usable sound and patterns may be one of the best
deals out there right now.

Thanks,
Sky Pilot
 
Re: Re: Re: SP B-3 Sound quality? is Allen in the house?

Ah, you are in Portland then. I've been jonesing to go boarding up at Hood with me mates all winter.

So, loose capsule, eh? Well, I'm glad that everything was taken care of promptly. Which dealer did you deal with? And yes, I'm sure the shockmount is available through them - whoever they may be...

As for the headphone thing: Yes, that makes a huge difference. When the mic is in figure of 8, the signals from the front and rear diaphragms are 180 degrees out of phase. If you speak into the mic and listen through headphones, this becomes very apparent for the following reason:
The sound coming from your vocal cords is traveling up through your head (Heed! Pants!) and impinging on the backside of your eardrum, while at the same time, the sound coming in through the headphones is impinging on the front side of your eardrum. When the signals are in phase, they combine and everything sounds normal. Dare I say...good. BUT! When the two signals - one travelling through your skull and the other through the headphones are out of phase- they cancel each other out because they occur on both sides of your eardrum at the same time with opposite polarity.
And that, my friends is THE textbook example of:
If you think there's a problem with a Studio Projects mic, the problem may just be all in your head.
Seriously, I hope you enjoy the mic and I'm sorry you had to go through having to do an exchange.
Let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Sincerely,

Brent Casey
Studio Projects Microphones & Stuff
Torrance, Ca.
877-563-6335



Sky Pilot said:
Hi Brent,
Thanx for the reply. I actually called the dealer here
in Portland, and they took care of it. Sure enough
it had a loose capsule diaphram. They said they never
have problems with the SP line, and it's a first.
They hooked me up with a new one, and although it
sounds better than the defective B-3, I still am confused.
Omni is great, Cardioid is great, fig 8 is better, but the rear
in fig 8 still doesn't match the sound of the front diaphram.
Is that normal? (It does indeed sound better than the first one though)

As for your question of am I listening through headphones?
Yes I was. Does that make a huge difference?

I don't have the shock mount yet. Is it avalable through the local
dealer or direct from you?

Thanks for your help & nice mics. I think the B-3, with it's
very usable sound and patterns may be one of the best
deals out there right now.

Thanks,
Sky Pilot
Click to expand...
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: SP B-3 Sound quality? is Allen in the house?

Brent Casey said:
Ah, you are in Portland then. I've been jonesing to go boarding up at Hood with me mates all winter.
Click to expand...

boarding, huh?... Good luck. There is not a heck of a lot of snow up in them thar hills.

brutus
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: SP B-3 Sound quality? is Allen in the house?

Some El Nino we're having...Well, the waves are good here at least.
Back to mic land.

Brent

brutus said:
boarding, huh?... Good luck. There is not a heck of a lot of snow up in them thar hills.

brutus
Click to expand...
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: SP B-3 Sound quality? is Allen in the house?

Brent Casey said:
Ah, you are in Portland then. I've been jonesing to go boarding up at Hood with me mates all winter.

So, loose capsule, eh? Well, I'm glad that everything was taken care of promptly. Which dealer did you deal with? And yes, I'm sure the shockmount is available through them - whoever they may be...
Click to expand...

Hey Brent,
Yep, I'm up here in rainy, wet beautiful Portland, although the summers here are usually wonderful. Don't pack your bags yet for hood... last week they lost most of the snow. Even Timberline has a rock garden. I'm jonesin' too- my wife is a ski instructor & I like to go as often as I can... oh well.

The dealer here in PDX I go through is Brownell Sound.
Pretty decent service all in all. I will check with them about
the shock mount, but I'm currious if its the same mount as
the C1?

Thanks for all the info on the headphone phasing issue.
Who'd a thunk it?

Sky Pilot
 
Bdgr said:
Sky Pilot.....Are you one?
Click to expand...

Hey Bdgr,
I'm having a "Homer Simpson moment", sorry.
If you meant, am I a Sky Pilot in the historicle sense,
as a Chaplin for the military/Airforce... No.

If you mean, am I a Chaplin or Pastor, yes.
I'm a Pastor, Musician, and studio junkie
all roled into one.

Hope that answers it.
Thanks
Sky Pilot
 
Sky Pilot said:
Hey Bdgr,
I'm having a "Homer Simpson moment", sorry.
If you meant, am I a Sky Pilot in the historicle sense,
as a Chaplin for the military/Airforce... No.

If you mean, am I a Chaplin or Pastor, yes.
I'm a Pastor, Musician, and studio junkie
all roled into one.

Hope that answers it.
Thanks
Sky Pilot
Click to expand...

Yeah...Thats it. My dads a preacher, he used to refer to himself as a sky pilot(actually, hes a seminary proffesor/shrink/preacher.....An over achiever)
 
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