Catalog Descriptions of Mic's... BS Meter

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Timothy Lawler said:
More sellers should do that.

The thing is, most sellers don't use the gear and if they do, they give major bs reviews like those from musicians friend. Have you ever read any of the hands on reviews over there? They either jump thru hoops to avoid saying anything bad or flat out light up a bs meter.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
...major bs reviews like those from musicians friend. ...They either jump thru hoops to avoid saying anything bad or flat out light up a bs meter.
Yeah, they're product-features infomercials, not real reviews. Magazine reviews are often the same. Dunno though, when I'm researching a purchase, an unbalanced review still completes the picture more than just pure merchandising drivel even if the BS meter is going to be pegged on both.

Tim
 
As far as I know the Shure SM7B is a dynamic microphone (correct me if im wrong). But on Musicians Friend it is advertised as a condenser microphone.

" Good thing I bought the phantoms volts to power my new crisp condenser Shure sm7b! "

"Why would you get phantom power for the sm7b? It's a dynamic microphone. "

" Huh? but.. "
 
Daniel Reichman said:
I'm not the first person to take issue with Mann marketing BTW...

I checked out the Mann M11 small dia. condenser...

"The M11 is a …full condenser. " [instead of partial?]

"…designed with rising response in the upper harmonic areas …The smooth and consistent frequency response is… "[graph shows a scooped curve with a sudden 10 dB rise at 8 kHz. That's smooth? Doesn't "consistent" usually mean flat? ]

"…Rich bass response is a key feature of the M11 sound, a hard act to accomplish in a small format condenser." [um, no it’s not]

"The off axis rejection characteristics makes the M11 one if the few condensers suited to live music applications …yet the cardioid pattern allows a generous pick up area for multiple source situations." [It's a cardioid but it's described there like it's a hyper... but it both rejects and generously pics up off axis sound? Hmm.]

Tim
 
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Timothy Lawler said:
Yeah, they're product-features infomercials, not real reviews. Magazine reviews are often the same. Dunno though, when I'm researching a purchase, an unbalanced review still completes the picture more than just pure merchandising drivel even if the BS meter is going to be pegged on both.

I agree. When was the last time any one read a negative review in EM, Recording or even Tape Op? Tape Op is especially disapointing in this regard because they clearly are less BS prone than the others, yet everything they review still gets kudos, just like the other two.

If I were sent free products to test I might be happy about them too - but for the rest of us - those on limited budgets - most of the reviews are near useless.
 
whenver i sell stuff that sucks on craigslist i always think about going over to harmony central and hyping the hell out of it. it makes me wonder how many people (that aren't lazy as hell like me) do that.
 
nuemes said:
I agree. When was the last time any one read a negative review in EM, Recording or even Tape Op? Tape Op is especially disapointing in this regard because they clearly are less BS prone than the others, yet everything they review still gets kudos, just like the other two.

If I were sent free products to test I might be happy about them too - but for the rest of us - those on limited budgets - most of the reviews are near useless.

I think I'm done reading TapeOP actually. It's turned to crap in more ways than one.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
I think I'm done reading TapeOP actually. It's turned to crap in more ways than one.

Yeah. Still not as crappy as the others though. And still free. I'm sick of looking at pictures of fat smarmy guys with their arms folded in front of $3k mixing boards though.
 
nuemes said:
Yeah. Still not as crappy as the others though. And still free. I'm sick of looking at pictures of fat smarmy guys with their arms folded in front of $3k mixing boards though.

i barely read any of the last issue.........or the one before that. i have (misplaced :confused: ) a copy of the tapeop book that is a pretty good read. i wish the mag would cover things like that again.
 
Another "large diaphragm" mic that measures just 19mm.

The Samson C01

"This sturdy microphone has a large 19mm diaphragm that..."

It of course has all the requisite marketing buzzwords attached... "accurate, detailed, smooth with warm bass and extended top end".

Quick Googling showed BS passed on by Sweetwater, Zzounds, B&H, Music123

BS free review by Sound on Sound mag


Tim
 
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sdelsolray said:
Microtech Gefell, Schoeps, DPA and Neumann all do pretty good ad copy. Info on their respective websites is fairly devoid of "puffing". More scientific in nature. And, of course, they don't need to overstate, exagerate or make false claims. Their mics are among the finest on the planet.

Well said.
 
Here's an example of mature, no-nonsense information about Gefell mics (from their North American website). For sure, there's some "selling" in the various answers to the questions, but it's not BS.

Microtech Gefell Q&A
 
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