What is the difference between an expensive mic and EQ?

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highriser

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It sounds like a weird question but hear me out.
Basically EQ is changing around the frequency pattern of the signal that comes in from the mic, right? so why buy an expensive mic when you can adjust the sound of cheap mic post production. So it may be a little more work, but is that effort put into it worth a 2000 dollar difference?
This maybe a complete noob question but I was wondering this and I can't really answer it....
 
It's the same as trying to focus a photograph after it's taken. A photo will only ever be as good as the glass.

Not that there aren't plenty of "cheap" mics out there that don't do a fine job -- But if a "cheap sounding" (for lack of a better term) mic is used that doesn't capture what's intended, I mean... you can't EQ what isn't there. Just like you can't focus what's out of focus.
 
There's more to sound than just the frequencies involved. And even if there was, you can't EQ in frequencies that the mic didn't pick up in the first place. And even if you could, you'd need a 20, 000 band EQ to be able to zero in on all the frequencies you'd need to correct.

Frequency response, signal to noise ratio, input response (how easily it distort)s, directionality, output.

And then there are different kinds of mics; condenser, ribbon, dynamic, etc....which all serve different purposes.

You can't just EQ all that in or out of a cheap mic.
 
More expensive mics also tend to cut through the mix better. If you compare just one track of say, acoustic guitar, between a cheap MXL and an expensive Neumann, (somebody did that not too long ago and posted the results here) it could be hard to tell the difference. I asked him to record multiple tracks with the same mic and compare. I guess he never got around to that....
 
RAMI said:
There's more to sound than just the frequencies involved.
Click to expand...
+1.

Transient response and off-axis response of the mic, for a start.

Plus, EQ messes with the sound in other ways than just changing the frequency range balance, and it becomes pretty noticeable when you tweak beyond 2-3 dB. Get your sound right at the source. With the right mic/room/source sound.
 
RAMI said:
There's more to sound than just the frequencies involved. And even if there was, you can't EQ in frequencies that the mic didn't pick up in the first place. And even if you could, you'd need a 20, 000 band EQ to be able to zero in on all the frequencies you'd need to correct.
Click to expand...

/end of thread. Well said.
 
highriser said:
EQ is changing around the frequency pattern of the signal that comes in from the mic, right? so why buy an expensive mic when you can adjust the sound of cheap mic post production. So it may be a little more work, but is that effort put into it worth a 2000 dollar difference?
Click to expand...

Why buy a Ferrari or Maseratti when the freeway speed limit is 70?

If it were really that simple, the mic manufacturers would have gone under or turned out nothing but SM-57 clones for decades....

BTW: Antares put out a 'mic modeler' box and plug in years ago. It's lack of users tells volumes.
 
highriser said:
What is the difference between an expensive mic and EQ? It sounds like a weird question but hear me out.
Basically EQ is changing around the frequency pattern of the signal that comes in from the mic, right? so why buy an expensive mic when you can adjust the sound of cheap mic post production. So it may be a little more work, but is that effort put into it worth a 2000 dollar difference?
This maybe a complete noob question but I was wondering this and I can't really answer it....
Click to expand...
All questions are worth asking. If you hadn't asked this, you may have gone to the grave with a tortured mind, forever doomed to wonder why a £7 mic couldn't, with a little tweaking, sound like a high end roller in a high end studio at the mercy of high end engineers and plugged into high end equipment recording master players and singers engaged in wonderful enduring songs.
Now you know !
 
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