Hey Brent, Allan and Justin.... mostly Brent :)

[tubedude]

Weird question, but something I want to know...

What kind of corners were cut in the diapragm and electronics depts? What I mean is, if there could have been a nicer cap in there for $1.00 more, did it cut replaced with a lesser piece.
If I were to pick up a pair of C4's, and send them around to a few people like Scott Dorsey, David Royer, etc, to have them peek at the guts, would they have 10 different things they would want to upgrade, or would they be pretty satisfied?
And, if there are a few corners cut, how much would you guys charge me to properly mod them before they went out?
ONly asking cause I am looking at these as an option.


Any credible reviews around anyone?

 

[Recording Engineer]

I really have not a clue, but I'm betting with something such as the C4s or any Studio Projects mics, they don't really have much of any corner-cutting going-on with their component selection. It's probably more a matter of circuit design and taste at that point.

I'm betting the capsule has more to do with corner-cutting in this case. An excellent capsule design isn't all that easy to manufacture cheaply.

I honestly believe Studio Projects gets pretty darn close to the "best" that can be done for a particular very-low targeted price-range, at this point in time.

 

[ausrock]

And you will probably be more successful getting an answer by asking them direct (email), than by posting here.

 

[DJL]

And you will probably be more successful getting an answer by asking them direct (email), than by posting here.

Tubedude, if you get an email/PM answer from PMI, please post it here on the mic forum so we all learn. If I'm not mistaken, the new E series SP mics that Brent is working on are going to be PMI's top line of mics with little corner-cutting... so you may want to hold off on the C4's and get the E4's (or whatever their going to call them) instead. But I have no idea when they're due to hit the market.

 

[Rossi]

I once opened my SP B1, and I was pretty amazed at the quality of the electronic parts. There were quite a number of nice (German) Wima film caps in there! Didn't look like corner cutting to me. The noise specs, too, are as good as those of much more "professionaly" priced mics.

I can't say anything about the capsule. It looked good, but that's about all you can say without taking it apart. To me the B1 is one of the most amazing values out there.

 

[c7sus]

I'm curious if you guys are gonna buy the E series when it hits the street?

 

[Flatpicker]

I once opened my SP B1, and I was pretty amazed at the quality of the electronic parts. There were quite a number of nice (German) Wima film caps in there!

SP is not the only company putting good caps in their mics. I just got a MXL V93 (the Mars Music version of the 2003), opened it up and it's full of WIMAs too.

 

[ausrock]

A similar kind of issue reared it's head elswhere and the response from a couple of tech guys pretty well agreed with Rossi's summation............there is little if any corner cutting in the SP circuitry.

As far as SP doing mods.....I think they have their hands full trying to get Stephens 1st mic out on time, working towards the E series, they have the various rack gear under way and in planning and then there is likely to be Stephen's next mic design..........a tube mic he had completed the design for before he passed away.

I think we have much to look forward to over the next years or so.

 

[bgavin]

I'm curious if you guys are gonna buy the E series when it hits the street?

I doubt it.

For me, if PMI offered a price competitor to a Neumann TLM-103, I'd buy the TLM-103 without thinking twice. I don't buy 1.0 releases of anything, software or hardware. Especially one that is going toe-to-toe with an established premium product.

My gut feeling tells me the E series won't have the success of the B/C line.

For the record, my next pair of SDC will definitely be the C4. But if they were priced a lot higher, it would be different.

 

[noisedude]

ok i'm not making a comment on comparing one company to another here. so don't think i am. you all have opinions of your own.

i'm thinking that PMI doing a line of high-end mics is in some ways quite similar to behringer releasing their truth monitors. behringer were known for cheap/inexpensive (delete as opinionated) gear and made the truths as a 'quality' set of monitors to improve their brand image and credibility. the problem is that for those people who are allergic to their gear the monitors were never going to be a great buy because of the name attached.

all i'm saying is that maybe the phenomenal success of the budget range mics is going to make it a lot harder for the studio projects brand to gain credibility in the more expensive end of the market.

 

[billisa]

all i'm saying is that maybe the phenomenal success of the budget range mics is going to make it a lot harder for the studio projects brand to gain credibility in the more expensive end of the market.

I agree with everything you said because it mirrors the marketing approach taken in the US by Honda (Acura), Toyota (Lexus) and Nissan (Infiniti). When Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru tried to market high end cars with a high end price tag, but didn't change the nameplate, they didn't sell. And these were super cars. (Mazda 929, Mitsubishi Diamante, Subaru SVX)

However, I think it's possible that because folks here tend to pay close attention to sound quality more than name-plates, then if the SP E-Series is a superb product, people will snap it up.

 

[DJL]

I'm curious if you guys are gonna buy the E series when it hits the street?

If and when my local music stores carry the E series mics I will check them out, and if I like any I will buy them.

 

[noisedude]

good man. and i hope you do so fairly!! as you put it well in another thread, thank god it's friday.