Cheap chinese microphones vindicated

[lexdrummer]

Ok, NOW chess is taking stabs!

BTW, I was able to listen to this track at a suitable volume this afternoon and while I see how this supports your stance that you can get somewhat good results with cheap chinese mics, in reality I hear some major issues.

1st: the low end on the guitar is muddy and sometimes distorted. I wouldn't call it warm, though. I think of warm when I can hear the wood of the guitar. The high end is nice, though. I little harsh when the high strings are strummed hard.

2nd: the vocals are a little thin, but that works for acoustic stuff. This mic isn't really intended for vocals but sounds pretty good here. I hear some noise, but it might be my system.

3rd. All this being said i can only imagine what the track MIGHT have sounded like with, say a couple MXL v67s or SP C1s. It might have been even more impressive then, and you'd have more weight behind your statement.

I own alot of chinese mics and it was fine at first. I started modifying each one until NONE are stock mics. They sound much better and I'm glad I did it. The only backdraw is now I've got a taste for what more expensive, better manufactured mics could bring to my sound. Needless to say my days of cheap mics are over.

i do agree. And as it was explained. It was just a pass by tracking with low-end Chinese mics. And by all virtue of the mics you mentioned, I too would use a different set and tool match, perahaps similar to yours. The origin of the post was to share these recordings as comparison. I never said it sounded tremendous. But you are right. Stepping the Chinese microphone stones can equate to some decent recordings without the outlay of cash.

 

[lexdrummer]

I didn't want to be the first to say anything about the OP's recording. And Dot, you're too kind. The recording sucks. If that's all that mic can do, scratch it off the list. The mic placement seems like an advertisement for "let's find the worst mic placment we can for an acoustic guitar".

I suspect the mic can actually do much better (could it do any worse than in the sample?), in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing.

again the personal stabs. perhaps a little less coffee and not so much ego.

 

[lexdrummer]

I've heard some recordings done with Chinese-made mics that are very good. I don't really feel that the sunshine lady mp3 does much to display the merits of cheap mics. It's a nice performance by a talented artist, but overall an unimpressive-sounding recording, IMO.

your opinion is appreciated. Thank you for being truthful and respectfully honest.

 

[PhilGood]

i do agree. And as it was explained. It was just a pass by tracking with low-end Chinese mics. And by all virtue of the mics you mentioned, I too would use a different set and tool match, perahaps similar to yours. The origin of the post was to share these recordings as comparison. I never said it sounded tremendous. But you are right. Stepping the Chinese microphone stones can equate to some decent recordings without the outlay of cash.

And yet if I were to compare it to what $100-$300 would get you 10 years ago it IS tremendous. 10 years ago I was trying the best I could to get halfway decent sounding recordings with a Fostex 4 track and an EV ND357. We all tend to forget how bad things were unless you could afford $900 for a used 8-track reel to reel, $1200 for a mixer and you were stuck using dynamics for *everything*! Quite a difference today, eh?

 

[sdelsolray]

again the personal stabs. perhaps a little less coffee and not so much ego.

If you take it as a personal stab, that's your ego, pal, not mine.

 

[kidvybes]

And yet if I were to compare it to what $100-$300 would get you 10 years ago it IS tremendous. 10 years ago I was trying the best I could to get halfway decent sounding recordings with a Fostex 4 track and an EV ND357. We all tend to forget how bad things were unless you could afford $900 for a used 8-track reel to reel, $1200 for a mixer and you were stuck using dynamics for *everything*! Quite a difference today, eh?

...and isn't that just the point here?...digital recording on a desktop computer, using shareware software, an entry-level sound card with a $50. mic pre and a $99. mic is still miles ahead of what was available not-to-many years ago for anywhere near that price...well said Phil!...

 

[lexdrummer]

If you take it as a personal stab, that's your ego, pal, not mine.

Ok pally wally...sorry for the slow uptake...fuckin prick.

 

[lexdrummer]

good ratings...we are the Romans

it just occurred to me that the posts with the best "look see" ratings are the ones that start out with a topic of positive creativity, and end up totally off topic. "Throw them to the lions and we shall all coin on their curiosity" Fuck-n-eah.... so predictable

 

[lexdrummer]

it just occurred to me that the posts with the best "look see" ratings are the ones that start out with a topic of positive creativity, and end up totally off topic. "Throw them to the lions and we shall all coin on their curiosity" Fuck-n-eah.... so predictable

blame hollywood?

 

[joeclark]

Let's all take a moment and give a little listen to Chinese Brain Pirates:

scroll down a little

It even features a chessrock name drop

 

[ROblows]

blame hollywood?

No, actually the thread was going just fine until you posted these statements:

I find digital recording, by it's very nature of mathmatics to be overly exact. I tested this theory with a behringer b1, designed after a fifties model...i can't remember which, but anyway, it lended a rather tube-ish warmth to the track...I think Uli had this in mind in some measure when he picked the design for the b1...Still has that hint of warmth which is really a wobbling of the frequencies, yet pleasing nonetheless...getting a focused signal on the track and then later dithering back in the noise is cool too, only you don't get a chance to "musically" work with the mud on the mic as an instrument in the creativeness. Thus getting too much clarity can show the deficiencies of the microphone design. Which, by the way, is relevant to upper level and priced microphones as well.

That was a whole lot of nonsense, and you got called on it. Then you got defensive and the thread went south. Of course, everyone likes to see a car wreck, so the view stats start going up when people see a car wrapped around a telephone pole with you in the driver's seat and Sonic Idiot riding shotgun.

 

[sdelsolray]

Lex Luther seems to be in for the long haul. He'll last long around here. Makes me wish for Walters or DJL again.

 

[PhilGood]

Let's all take a moment and give a little listen to Chinese Brain Pirates:

scroll down a little

It even features a chessrock name drop

That was pretty funny! Its a little long, but funny! Wonder what mic it was tracked with...

 

[lexdrummer]

No, actually the thread was going just fine until you posted these statements:



That was a whole lot of nonsense, and you got called on it. Then you got defensive and the thread went south. Of course, everyone likes to see a car wreck, so the view stats start going up when people see a car wrapped around a telephone pole with you in the driver's seat and Sonic Idiot riding shotgun.

wrong roblows, that is when the assholes jumped into the conversation, the kings of homerecording dot commer's. gotta keep that useless rep green button thingy a growin, can't let those chinese mic lovers have at this golden turf......got no life...may as well bash on a civil conversation. welcome to the club knumbnuts!

 

[lexdrummer]

Let's all take a moment and give a little listen to Chinese Brain Pirates:

scroll down a little

It even features a chessrock name drop

Excellent call JOE. Nice post.

 

[lexdrummer]

And yet if I were to compare it to what $100-$300 would get you 10 years ago it IS tremendous. 10 years ago I was trying the best I could to get halfway decent sounding recordings with a Fostex 4 track and an EV ND357. We all tend to forget how bad things were unless you could afford $900 for a used 8-track reel to reel, $1200 for a mixer and you were stuck using dynamics for *everything*! Quite a difference today, eh?

It is amazing. Though all the nay-sayers protest cheap mic viability, the Neuman owners of today might very well see a huge drop in value as soon as the quality and quality control picks up in the lower priced sector, fueled by HOME RECORDERING individuals by the tens of thousands. Which brings a point:

not to say that the quality control is in place, but when encountering protest the likes of "Uli" stole this and "Uli" stole that, doesn't this mean that whoever purchased the "this and that" is simply a little pissed off they spent 2 to 3 times the money for it? After all, they are thuroughly convinced it was a rip job, and so was a court of law.

Are we in the moral gains department of where this stuff comes from, or do we just want to make sounds?

 

[chessrock]

...fueled by HOME RECORDERING individuals by the tens of thousands.

Yes. Recorderers, unite!

 

[noisedude]

Yawn. Are we still here?

If someone wants to go out and buy a cheap mic to make ok recordings, that's fine by me. I've spent quite a while getting what I believe to be the best value mics I can for my setup, but apart from my T3 none of them were expensive - none would cost more than $200 USD. And I can make ok recordings.

But to come and claim that some Behringer mic is a vintage 50s design, that Behringer is a pioneer for bringing it out, that you can use the mic to 'dither' some 'noise' and 'mud' back in .... well, that's just bullshit, in and out, through and through.

If any of you are that bothered by what Cressrock says, you're already beyond hope. Who cares? He's just one guy making money out of good recordings ... why should his opinion be regarded any more highly than any of the other pros here? You are a pro, right, Lex? I mean - it would be a shame if you were just the older version of any of the hundred of 15 year-old newbies who come here every year to claim they found the holy grail of recording, and it only cost $50 from Radio Shack.

 

[Han]

. Perhaps I was elluding to the dark warmness of tubes, and you misunderstood it to be about the floatiness of tubes in the midrange.

Tubes, valves and firebottles sound muddy when overdriven, but you'll be surprised how fresh clean and cristal clear a tube can sound.

And you're right about our friend Ulli Behringer, he's a true professional.

A professional crook and thief that is.



BTW, we all love the Chessmaster, so don't offend him.

 

[noisedude]

Perhaps I was elluding to the dark warmness of tubes, and you misunderstood it to be about the floatiness of tubes in the midrange.

To be fair, this sentence doesn't even make sense. Plus, unless you're trying to escape from the 'dark warmness of tubes', I think you mean 'alluding'.