C1's highs?

[A1A2]

Is it just me or the C1 is "very" bright? I didn't notice too much at first, but then as I play with it more for months, and...dropped it once, it gradually appears to be brighter and brighter to my ears, and my vocal "seems" to be more and more boomboxish(?)

Alan, would you recommend me to send it in to check?


AL

 

[philboyd studge]

It's just you.

Actually, you might want to have the mic checked out. At least from my end I haven't noticed my C-1's as being bright, clear and rich maybe, but not bright. And not as bright as my Oktava 012's.

One thing I've noticed the C-1 doesn't record all that well is the banjo. I've tried different placements and both open back and resonator banjos and they come off sounding dull, yet when I use what would be considered a sort of dull mic in the Oktava 219, they sound fine. Go figure.

 

[chessrock]

Is it possible for a mic to get brighter sounding over time? Or do our ears just become de-sensitized / less impressed with the high-end ear candy?

Could it be a little of both?

I've noticed the same thing with my Marshall mxl V93. It's now to the point where it's highs are sounding obnoxious to me at times, and I don't remember it being that way at all in my first several months of ownership. Very interesting.

 

[A1A2]

philboyd studge:
I truely hope it's just the current condition of the mic. So, there something I can do to fix it.

chessrock:
yeah, I was wondering about the exact same thing. Is it my ears getting used to the sound or the mic itself is going bad. But, considering I dropped the mic once, I am more suspicious about the mic at the moment (I hope so instead of disliking how C1 is "supposed" to sound)


AL

 

[littledog]

I would hope it's not your ears getting de-sensitized - but rather the opposite. They are getting trained to hear more subtleties and nuances of sound. It's like when you were starting out as an engineer and you got a hold of a Barcus Berry (BBE) Exciter and ran everything through it and thought - damn! everything sounds so much better now. And then a month or so later you (hopefully) realized that "excited" isn't always better.

As a matter of fact, you wondered what the hell you were thinking...

It's a matter of ear training...

 

[Middleman]

My C1 seems slightly emphasized on the low end, like 500Hz and below. I am consitently rolling of the low end in my mixes. Above this frequency it seems fine and I rarely end up adjusting eq above this point.

What mic pre are you using?

 

[A1A2]

Middleman:

I don't have much problem with the low end yet cuz i haven't tracked anything besides vocal and guitars so far.
I am running my C1 thru a either a joemeek V6 or Mackie's pres. The promixity(?) effect is still there, but when I am more than, say, 4-5" away from the mic, I can't hear much low mids/lows anymore.


AL

 

[chessparov]

A1, you may also have a bright "top" on your voice like me.
On ballads, reducing 2db via EQ @12KHz seems to help make a
sweet spot on the C1. If you're singing in a heavier mix, however,
you may want to leave it alone since it will cut through better.
The good news is that a "cut" on a cheaper mixer tends not to
be as noticeable as a "boost".

Chris

 

[A1A2]

chessparov:

you really got a good point there. Maybe it's the highs in my voice, I never really thought about the actual frequencies in my voice
Nonetheless, the highs are still problematic when mic'in acoustic guitars. But, thanks for the EQing tip tho, I will definitely try that.

AL

 

[chessparov]

Sure thing A1, although YFMV (your frequencies may vary).

Along with 12KHZ, other EQ points to watch out for on my voice are
600-800Hz (low mids), and 6KHz-8KHz (sibilance), for sake of example.

Condensers tend to be "brighter" than dynamics, all other things being
equal. On some material, a dynamic works better on vocals for me,
partly due to my engineering limitations, and inexperience using either
a dedicated de-esser or side-chaining a compressor.

Chris

 

[A1A2]

chessparov:
yeah, I realized my voice sounds alot duller on the 57s, but, that wasn't exactually the tone I wanted, so...

Does anyone else have any opinion on the tone of their C1s??

Al

 

[chessparov]

A1, you may want as a starting point, to point a '57 at about
a 45 degree angle facing up towards your mouth,
This will help brighten it up somewhat.
(that's what I do)
A SM57 is sensitive to what mic pre you're using.
The proper singer/pre combo turns it into an awesome microphone! (it ain't a Behringer BTW, heh heh)

Chris

 

[fireworks123]

I just bought a C1 and I find it quite bright. I record my voice through it and I usually take 6 dB at 12 KHz. My voice is the bright type. Is it normal to take as much, knowing that for other people the C1 hardly needs any EQ ?
Also, which mic under $100 would you recommend that is not as bright as C1 ? I’m thinking about buying a Studio Projects B1 or a Marshall V67 / 990.

 

[chessparov]

My experience is that the more vocal compression used,
within reason(!), the less "bright" a microphone becomes.
It's another reason why I'm a fan of Joe Meek compressors.
The brightest vocal microphone in my collection is the Sennheiser
421 MKII, and it sounds much better on me when it is somewhat
"squished". Recently, through experimenting with the "tube blend" on the Studio Projects VTB-1, that effect seems to also
tame the brightness beast when used in moderation.

Chris

 

[alanhyatt]

Is it just me or the C1 is "very" bright? I didn't notice too much at first, but then as I play with it more for months, and...dropped it once, it gradually appears to be brighter and brighter to my ears, and my vocal "seems" to be more and more boomboxish(?)

Alan, would you recommend me to send it in to check?


AL

Sorry, I have been in the UK for the last week. We are always happy to look at the mic for you. I can't tell you what, if any your problem is. The C1 has great top end, but it is not harsh or overly brite. You can try a different proximity, or cut the high end EQ a bit if you wish.

If you think you have a problem, then call us at 877-563-6335