JeffLancaster
New member
OK, this post is not directed towards those of you pro-level engineers that already know the ins and outs of every mic, and this is not a thread to debate whether the Rode or the Studio Projects come closer to a Nuemann - blah, blah, blah. I'm posting this thread for the benefits of the newer hobbyist, who is wondering if the upgrade from a dynamic mic to a nice condenser will make much difference in thier recording endeavors. For those of you, who like me, have been doing some entry level recording for a little while now, and are wondering what you might do to take it to the next level, I thought I'd post this for you.
Up until now, my mic collection has consisted of two dynamics left over from my garage band days: a beyerdynamic M300 and a good old Shure SM58. For purposes of recording my own vocals, I've been using the Beyer, the same mic I used to use for screaming metal lyrics, as I was wailin' on my guitar (amp miced with the shure). However, after reading many articles and posts on this forum about the benefits of using a large diaphragm condenser for vocals, I finally decided to take the plunge.
After reading many favorable reviews, I decided to buy a Studio Projects C1. The mic arrived by Fedex this afternoon at my office (well, actually it was yesterday now, as I've been in my studio now most of the night
) As soon as it landed on my desk, I opened the box, and took out the nice silver flight case containing the shock mount, windscreen, and perhaps the most beautiful looking mic I've had the priviledge of touching with my own hands. After parading around the office and proudly showing it off to my coworkers, I shut the case and anxiously waited for the evening.
When I got into my studio this evening, it was time to try the new mic. After some initial experiments to determine a few things (such as which way I should actually point the thing
) I decided to do a comparison of the new mic against my trusty Beyer. For the test, I set up the two mics side by side in the same location of the room. I then sung a short passage into each mic, doing my best to sing in a similar manner, and using the same preamp (my Seasound Solo) recorded into Sonar Studio 4. The only differences were that with the dynamic I had to sing much closer (about 1") from the mic and crank the preamp gain much higher to get the same approximate level as I got singing about 6" from the C1. I used no effects, no compression, eq, reverb or anything on either track, as I wanted to be able to compare the two tracks exactly as picked up by the microphone. Then I sat back and listened to the results...
The first thing that was very noticable was how the level meter of the C1 track was lighting up during the 5 or 6 seconds between when I hit the record button, till when I had walked around the mic and actually started singing. I have a pretty quiet studio, well isolated from the rest of my house, and the only sound is the faint hum of my computer fans inside my isolation box (yes they're pretty quiet, you've got to listen fairly closely to hear them). Still the mic picked this up, and the level meter also spiked pretty sharply from my quiet stocking-feet footsteps walking across the floor. The Beyer picks up none of this. Obviously, I'm going to have to delete the "quiet" portions of my audio file when recording with this mic so as to keep the noise down between verses. But after hearing the difference it makes to the track I am sure that will be well worth it. This new mic really sounds brighter, crisper and clearer! It makes my recording with the Beyer sound like I was singing with a thin piece of cardboard between myself and the mic! What a sweet difference
OK, so I thought I'd share a couple short wav files here for those of you who might be interested in hearing the difference between the dynamic and condenser. Listen to the Beyer track first then listen to how much better the C1 track sounds! Please don't laugh at my horrible singing - I'm not trying out for American Idol, I'm just posting this to demonstrate the difference between the mics. Hopefully, someone finds this useful. For me - well I still have a lot of experimenting to do regarding mic placement, vocal technique, etc. And maybe someday I'll be at the point where I can't stand this mic anymore and just have to have a Neumann or something. But for now, I'm tickled to death with this new toy!
Vocal track recorded with beyerdynamic m300
Vocal track recorded with Studio Projects C1
Up until now, my mic collection has consisted of two dynamics left over from my garage band days: a beyerdynamic M300 and a good old Shure SM58. For purposes of recording my own vocals, I've been using the Beyer, the same mic I used to use for screaming metal lyrics, as I was wailin' on my guitar (amp miced with the shure). However, after reading many articles and posts on this forum about the benefits of using a large diaphragm condenser for vocals, I finally decided to take the plunge.
After reading many favorable reviews, I decided to buy a Studio Projects C1. The mic arrived by Fedex this afternoon at my office (well, actually it was yesterday now, as I've been in my studio now most of the night
) As soon as it landed on my desk, I opened the box, and took out the nice silver flight case containing the shock mount, windscreen, and perhaps the most beautiful looking mic I've had the priviledge of touching with my own hands. After parading around the office and proudly showing it off to my coworkers, I shut the case and anxiously waited for the evening.When I got into my studio this evening, it was time to try the new mic. After some initial experiments to determine a few things (such as which way I should actually point the thing
) I decided to do a comparison of the new mic against my trusty Beyer. For the test, I set up the two mics side by side in the same location of the room. I then sung a short passage into each mic, doing my best to sing in a similar manner, and using the same preamp (my Seasound Solo) recorded into Sonar Studio 4. The only differences were that with the dynamic I had to sing much closer (about 1") from the mic and crank the preamp gain much higher to get the same approximate level as I got singing about 6" from the C1. I used no effects, no compression, eq, reverb or anything on either track, as I wanted to be able to compare the two tracks exactly as picked up by the microphone. Then I sat back and listened to the results...The first thing that was very noticable was how the level meter of the C1 track was lighting up during the 5 or 6 seconds between when I hit the record button, till when I had walked around the mic and actually started singing. I have a pretty quiet studio, well isolated from the rest of my house, and the only sound is the faint hum of my computer fans inside my isolation box (yes they're pretty quiet, you've got to listen fairly closely to hear them). Still the mic picked this up, and the level meter also spiked pretty sharply from my quiet stocking-feet footsteps walking across the floor. The Beyer picks up none of this. Obviously, I'm going to have to delete the "quiet" portions of my audio file when recording with this mic so as to keep the noise down between verses. But after hearing the difference it makes to the track I am sure that will be well worth it. This new mic really sounds brighter, crisper and clearer! It makes my recording with the Beyer sound like I was singing with a thin piece of cardboard between myself and the mic! What a sweet difference
OK, so I thought I'd share a couple short wav files here for those of you who might be interested in hearing the difference between the dynamic and condenser. Listen to the Beyer track first then listen to how much better the C1 track sounds! Please don't laugh at my horrible singing - I'm not trying out for American Idol, I'm just posting this to demonstrate the difference between the mics. Hopefully, someone finds this useful. For me - well I still have a lot of experimenting to do regarding mic placement, vocal technique, etc. And maybe someday I'll be at the point where I can't stand this mic anymore and just have to have a Neumann or something. But for now, I'm tickled to death with this new toy!
Vocal track recorded with beyerdynamic m300
Vocal track recorded with Studio Projects C1