mystery mic shootout :)

[kyoto]

was testing 3 mics yesterday & thought it'd be fun to do a little shootout

here's the scenario:

the middle priced of the 3 mics costs double the lowest priced & the highest priced costs 5 times the lowest.... got it?

i nicked the song from the frontendaudio demos & please note, it's not about my little voice, i'm well aware i'm not a good singer... it's about the mics

all were recorded at 4" away from the mics & all recordings are completely dry

so have a guess at which is lowest to highest...



http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=91944

http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=91945

http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=91946

 

[Shadow_7]

2 - best
3 - 2nd
1 - last

Kind of hard to tell since I couldn't run them back to back with the latency on that site. And only sampled the first couple of seconds. You sound like that male vocal from studio auditions though. Or are these just extracted from there?

 

[kyoto]

i didn't really know where to upload them, i've not done that before.

i'd been checking out mics on frontendaudio & that song was stuck in my head cos it's on i think every vocal demo, so i just tried to imitate the song to see the difference in the mics i was testing.

 

[moresound]

2 - best
3 - 2nd
1 - last

Kind of hard to tell since I couldn't run them back to back with the latency on that site. And only sampled the first couple of seconds. You sound like that male vocal from studio auditions though. Or are these just extracted from there?

I would say this order as well, unless the lowest costing microphone only cost a few dollars then the first one would have to be a rode mic and the most expensive but brightest and brittle, making number 2 and 3 sound more mellow or muddy in the mid range.

So when you get right down to it ....Hard telling not knowing!

 

[kyoto]

indeed it is hard to tell.... i think often people tend to prejudge mics beacause of the make.... anyways it doesn't look like anybody else wants a guess so....

preamp - focusrite saffire pro 40

mic #1 - MXL v69 mogami edition - approx £250

mic #2 - sE electronics X1 - approx £100

mic #3 - violet design -the wedge - approx £500

 

[moresound]

Interesting.....Maybe I should have listened to the clips on something other than my computer speakers.

 

[matttheaxe]

What I heard was a clear crisp sound with body on mic#1
Bright and a bit harsh on #2
Flat , weak & dry on mic #3

The MXL Mogami surprised me. I have never even heard of the others. I'd like to see more of these shoot outs from other posters. It's easy to brag about 1 mic and bag the other, but side to side, you calls 'em like you hears 'em.
I Might even do one of these myself.
I seem to be the only member touting the impressive "Blue" mics.

 

[Chattbox1]

From best to worst sounding - IMO
2
1
3

 

[kyoto]

What I heard was a clear crisp sound with body on mic#1
Bright and a bit harsh on #2
Flat , weak & dry on mic #3

that's how i feel about the mics. the MXL V69 was my favourite followed by the sE X1. remember the clips are all completely dry.

i think the sE X1 sounds quite eq'd but it's a really clear sound for £100. should work well wit some voices that need a bt of high end sparkle added. i could easily see why people would choose this clip as the best sounding. i actually compared it to an sE 4400a & it sounded pretty much the same. IMO a very nice mic for the money.

the violet at 5 times the price of the sE did not impress me on this vocal test, it may be well suited to other applications, but for me it sounded muffled.

the MXL is a very nice mic at a decent price

 

[Steenamaroo]

I'd like to see more of these shoot outs from other posters.

i ran one a few weeks ago

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=306530


didn't take off though

answers are at the bottom.

 

[Shadow_7]

Interesting.....Maybe I should have listened to the clips on something other than my computer speakers.

heh. Exactly how I listened too.

On second pass #2 is a bit crackly compared to the others. Still on my computer speakers, but I plugged in some extra polk audio ones. #1 does sound a little fuller this way. #3 is a bit too mellow. #2 beyond the crackling noise is still most clear IMO. Perhaps too clear/harsh for a mix. And this speaker arrangement lacks bottom end to 9th degree so there could be tons of junk there or not that I'm oblivious to. But then again it requires a familiarity with the source to judge, which just doesn't exist for most vocals (for me). Where a Harp or Piano would be more universally recognized. Or just use at least one mic which people are more universally familiar with like the 57/58.

 

[kyoto]

the sE X1 is up for sale if anybody after a new cheap mic?