Another Mic Shoot Out

[ljmaxx]

I've added another 4 mics if anyone would like to hear the results go here. One of the mics is a ribbon from Alctron-Audio like some of you ordered who were in on the group purchase that's also on the microphone page here on HR.

http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=276901#276901

 

[Zetajazz44]

Which model of Alctron-Audio mic was used?

I listened to both samples... I personally like #4 better... Just sounds so much smoother, not as edgy, harsh... I would say the #3 is 'more detailed', but I think is a bit too much detailed making it have this edgy, harsh sound I'm hearing... Kinda of like the way most Marshall mics sound to me...

 

[Robert D]

Mic 1 sucks big. Mic 2 & 3 were lesser shades of not right.

Now what is mic 3? It sounds fantastic, and IMHO should be your mic. It matches your voice perfectly, and I'm damn curious what it is. (watch it be a 57). Very smooth, big but not boomy, damn nice. It was the first clip I listened to, and I thought you must have packed up and moved to Nashville and recorded in a real studio. I'll be interested to see if others hear the same thing (probably not), and what you think, but frankly, I was floored.

-RD

 

[Zetajazz44]

Mic 1 sucks big. Mic 2 & 3 were lesser shades of not right.

Now what is mic 3? It sounds fantastic, and IMHO should be your mic. It matches your voice perfectly, and I'm damn curious what it is. (watch it be a 57). Very smooth, big but not boomy, damn nice. It was the first clip I listened to, and I thought you must have packed up and moved to Nashville and recorded in a real studio. I'll be interested to see if others hear the same thing (probably not), and what you think, but frankly, I was floored.

-RD

Yeah, I didn't even comment on #1.. It was that awful...(Watch this one be the HRM-10 I ordered! ) I listened again... I still like #4... #3 is not bad... just a bit edgy, but not bad... #1, I'd throw in the trash today... #2 in the trash tomorrow... I could live with either of #3 or #4, but like #4 better...

 

[ljmaxx]

Yeah, I didn't even comment on #1.. It was that awful...(Watch this one be the HRM-10 I ordered! ) I listened again... I still like #4... #3 is not bad... just a bit edgy, but not bad... #1, I'd throw in the trash today... #2 in the trash tomorrow... I could live with either of #3 or #4, but like #4 better...

Bad news I'm sorry to say. Number 1 = Alctron. Now in defense of that mic and all of them there is no EQ used on any of the clips. I did EQ all of the mics and was able to get each one to sound okay to excellent at least to me excluding my voice limitations. I'll post what all of the mics are towards the end of the week so stay tuned if anyone wants to know which mic is which.

 

[Zetajazz44]

Bad news I'm sorry to say. Number 1 = Alctron. Now in defense of that mic and all of them there is no EQ used on any of the clips. I did EQ all of the mics and was able to get each one to sound okay to excellent at least to me excluding my voice limitations. I'll post what all of the mics are towards the end of the week so stay tuned if anyone wants to know which mic is which.

Figures! I'll still give them their shot when they arrive... The only reason I bought them was to try on banjo... Banjo seems to have this really ugly 12kHz sound and ribbons seem to help with that... I currently use one of the Nady ribbons on banjo and it does Ok... I just wanted to try 2 of these HRM-10's on it and see what happens... We'll see...

 

[Gilliland]

I agree with the general consensus, except that I might give #3 the slight edge over #4. Either one could work for this voice, while #2 and especially #1 are unusable. Choosing between #3 and #4 is more a matter of personal preference.

If #1 is the Alctron ribbon mic, then I'd say it's pretty clear that I won't be using it for vocals. But that wasn't really my goal in the first place.

Which model is it from Alctron?

 

[ljmaxx]

Mic 1 sucks big. Mic 2 & 3 were lesser shades of not right.

Now what is mic 3? It sounds fantastic, and IMHO should be your mic. It matches your voice perfectly, and I'm damn curious what it is. -RD

Not sure what you're asking here. Did you mean to ask what is mic 4?

 

[Robert D]

Not sure what you're asking here. Did you mean to ask what is mic 4?

Didn't you say never argue with an idiot? I hadn't had my coffee yet, so I wasn't making sense yet. What I meant to say was........

Mic 1 sucks big. Mic 2 & 4 (not 2 & 3) were lesser shades of not right.

Now what is mic 3? It sounds fantastic, and IMHO should be your mic. It matches your voice perfectly, and I'm damn curious what it is.


Mic 4 was good, but it was #3 that I thought nailed your voice.

Sorry for the confusion, it's a Monday thing.

-RD

 

[crazydoc]

Mic 1 is distorting badly, so hopefully it's either a bad individual mic or a gain staging problem. I have a Barbie mic that sounds better than that.

 

[Gilliland]

I have a Barbie mic that sounds better than that.

Showoff! Is it one of the original vintage ones, or a modern remake?

 

[Juggernaut]

Personally I thought number one sonded kind of cool. Not your text book example, maybe it was distorted, I thought it gave a little character. But if we arn't going for charachter and individual sound then I would go with number four.

Thats my $.02 9/10

 

[ljmaxx]

If anyone is still following this thread here are the mics used in the shoot out.

Mic 1 --- Stellar Ribbon

Mic 2 --- CAD M37

Mic 3 --- Studio Projects B1

Mic 4 --- Rode NTK with Siemens CCA Tube

The Stellar is pretty much for recording instruments like a violin, Mandolin, Banjo, Trumpet and such. The rest of the bunch are what some of the home studio guys/girls have in their mic cabinet. Out of this bunch of mics I liked the NTK best then the B1. The other two pretty much suck for vox on my voice but as always YMMV. I will put up another 4 mics if anyone is interested and go back to a mic pre that is less expensive which is more likely to be in most home studio's. Thanks to everyone who left an oppinion.

 

[Robert D]

Mic 1 --- Stellar Ribbon

Mic 2 --- CAD M37

Mic 3 --- Studio Projects B1

Mic 4 --- Rode NTK with Siemens CCA Tube

Wow, even though I own an NTK, I'm sticking with the B1 for my fav....on your voice on this track. When I A/B them (3/4) and listen critically, I can hear the NTK being the better mic, but when I listen casually the B1 makes the vocal sit more naturally. A little bit of Spitfish on the NTK might change that, or just an EQ tweak, but as they stand, the B1 at 1/5th the cost of the NTK (1/6th after the tube mod) just fits the mood of the song better. I see it was close to a split on the RP thread between the B1 and NTK, with the NTK taking it by a nose.

Thanks for posting this.
RD

BTW, nice tune and nice voice.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

This is my first time doing a listening comparison like this.

Before I saw that mic #4 was a rode NTK I thought it was the best overall sound. Without EQ the balance is very nice.

Mic # 1 had some really good qualities but I thought it was lacking in the high end and it wasn't as clean as the others.

Mic #3 was the second best IMO. It had a nice overall sound but there is a hair too much mid for your voice (I like your voice BTW, very warm. Classic sound).

Mic #2 wasn't bad but to me it was relatively grainy and not as warm.

 

[Gilliland]

The Stellar is pretty much for recording instruments like a violin, Mandolin, Banjo, Trumpet and such.

Wow, I'm glad to see the the SP B series made such a good showing here. I just bought a pair of B3s (multipattern version of the B1), but I haven't actually put them to work yet. So this is encouraging.

I can't find anything on the web for a "Stellar" brand of microphones. Can you point me to any info on mic 1? We still don't know just which generic Alctron mic it is.

 

[ljmaxx]

Wow, I'm glad to see the the SP B series made such a good showing here. I just bought a pair of B3s (multipattern version of the B1), but I haven't actually put them to work yet. So this is encouraging.

I can't find anything on the web for a "Stellar" brand of microphones. Can you point me to any info on mic 1? We still don't know just which generic Alctron mic it is.

I couldn't find a Stellar on ebay but the guy who sells them on ebay told me he would be out of mics untill the end of January. The Stellar ribbon I used was a RM-2 which is probably the same as the HRM-2 or whatever the letters were for the #2 ribbon on the list. It's the same as this one by Apex.

http://www.apexelectronics.com/index.php?tmp=4&id=1343&pic=2

The mic will find a place in my studio of course YMMV.

 

[Gilliland]

Actually, I think it may be the HRM8, though there's not much difference between the 8 and the 2. Here's a picture of the HRM8 - it looks very much like the Apex that you referenced, and it has similar (though not identical) specs:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=1785429&postcount=40

In any event, it is a very different mic than the HRM10 that many of us ordered. There weren't many of either the HRM2 or the HRM8 in Chance's order.