B-Series mics and color

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Reggaesoldier

Reggaesoldier

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I read in a thread that someone prefered the B1 because it didn't add much color to his/her voice. To me that sounds like it may be lacking. I was considering the B3 but if this is the case I might pass. I'd like to know what anyone thinks.
 
Reggaesoldier

Read this thread and others at PMI's forum at Recording.org. You'll get heaps of information, and the owner of the company will even answer any questions you have.

The B1 is a darker sounding mic (ie. more color) than the B3 which is actually widely reguarded as being quite flat and neutral, so I don't know how a B1 could add less color than the B3. But everyone's voice is different.

The reason I'm recommending the B3 is simply because there is NO BETTER mic available for that price. I'm not saying it's as good as $1k+ mics or even that it is going to suit your voice perfectly, but it IS the best mic you will get in your budget range. By all means though, look at others.

The Studio Projects "B" series was recommended to be by a professional engineer who operates a full blown ProTools HD rig with Neumanns, Soundeluxs, Royers etc.... so that's gotta say something good about them.

Good luck.

Mark
 
Last edited:
Reggae,


I know this may be a bit oversimplified, but you should get whatever mic sounds best with your voice, period. Regardless of whatever it is you might read on the net or hear from a friend or whatever.

By lack of color, what the person was suggesting, most likely, is that they found it to be an accurate mic. This just means that they found it to give a faithful representation of their voice as it sounds, without adding a bunch of funky junk to it -- which may make it sound better or even worse, depending on what kind of junk it's adding.
 
Here's something you might find interesting.
Look here
It's a comparison between the following mics in this order...

Neumann U87, Studio Projects B1, B3, C3, and Oktiva MK 319 large diapraghm condensers.
Studio Projects C4, ADK SC1, AKG C451L, C460B, small diaphragm condensers.
Shure SM 57 unidyne, dynamic.

Unfortunately it's on an acoustic guitar, but you'll get the gist.
The audio file is just the same short passage on the guitar on each mic one after the other so you'll have to have this list in front of you and keep an eye on what mic they are up to.

You'll notice that the differences are VERY subtle between the condensers, but note that the last passage is played on an SM57 which sound almost the same as your 58. But also note that they are plugged into a high-end preamp so the SM57 will sound heaps better than you Behringer mixer makes it sound.
 
Quick disclaimer.

These recordings were made by one person playing one guitar. The mics were plugged into one preamp which was plugged into one AD converter etc etc.
And on the other side, every playback system the mp3 is played on will make the result sound different also.

Also this is just one instrument on its own. It doesn't show how the guitar sits in the mix, and this is VERY VERY important.

So while this gives you a clue as to how these mics can sound, it in no way demonstrates how these mics will behave in YOUR studio.
 
Reggaesoldier said:
I read in a thread that someone prefered the B1 because it didn't add much color to his/her voice. To me that sounds like it may be lacking. I was considering the B3 but if this is the case I might pass. I'd like to know what anyone thinks.
Click to expand...
All LDC mics add some color... and those who say otherwise don't know what they're talking about.
 
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