OK - Which Mic??

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Sayers
  • Start date Start date
Ya.......... after a bunch of listens........ I'd have to say

LEFT: 4050
RIGHT: SM58

Sabith

PS, I like this kinda post, it is interesting =)
 
Cool Test!

I know the 58 very well but have never worked with the AT. Amazing how mic placement on a piano can mask so many ills. Since the mics are 10" apart I assume the AT is well centered since its supposed to act flatter (it is a well regarded condensor). The left channel seems slightly fatter on the bottom while the right channel seems to play the highs sooner but lets them fall off rapidly. So my guess...

Left: AT4050
Right: SM58


Best Regards...Darth87
 
O.K,
I didn't get a chance to hear it at the studio just yet so wait untill the last moment to post your answer if you can.
On my garbage computer speakers, it sound to me that the 58 is on the right and the 4050 is on the left.

If I get in to the studio tonight before you post your answer then great. If not and I'm wrong, Email me your mailing address.
 
O.K.,
On studio monitors it still sounds like the 58 is the right and the 4050 is on the left

Now were is my CD?.
 
I am with the majority here. (Though I listened before I read the responses... lol)

AT: left
Shure: right

(And I am glad that everyone else was surprised it wasn't clear cut, too. :) )
 
I ran the channels through SF and looked at the waveforms. I'd say AT left. SM58 right.
The listening test came up the same but it was damn close.
 
Good Morning America... the weekend is over...sooo?

Ok the SM58 was left and the AT right.........so what?

It says Mr Q is the Man. YO :D:D:D

Look, I would have said what you all said. ;)

What is definitive here I reckon is that the SM58 was EQ'd, not by me but by Shure, If you look at it's response curve you will find that it has a gradual lift of maybe 2-4db peaking at around 5-7Khz and the low end is rolled off severly from say 120Hz to avoid proximity effect as it's designed to be a live stage mic. On the other hand the AT was flat with no roll off.

Perhaps the next experiment is to EQ the AT like the 58 and then compare the two. ;)


Thankyou for your participation in this experiment, I hope it encourages others to do the same. :)

Cheers
John

BTW - Musicplayer.com did no better :D
 
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So......... uhmmm...........cough

Your mailing address please..........









@%$#@^%&**^*%~#%!^$##^%**()(!@
 
sony mdr headphones anyone?

listening through these sony mdr cans, I could have sworn that the right channel sounded sweeter to me, and I thought that it was more defined than the left channel.
 
Fuck off Cyan - no late entries accepted!! :):)

cheers
John
 
I think the left sounds much better.

Sucks that the more expensive mic doesn't out-perform the cheaper one (in this application.)

So what is the conclusion of this experiment? What can we deduce from the information we've learned?

Should we all just stick to our SM58s? Mic pianos with SM58s from now on? Throw out the expensive condensers? Demand our money back?


BTW, here's a link comparing the AT4050 and the Shure KSM 44

http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/articles/1D68CEF5C599A3F3862569E9001F4E1B

I know it's not exactly related but I just happened to be reading it when I came across this thread.
 
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The lesson of course, is................ experiment... use your ears!!!

Bruce
 
Well, spank me.

Now I'm curious what this A/B test would sound like with voice.
 
Let me get this straight, the 58 was on the low strings and the 4050 on the high strings? Wow, really had me fooled. :(
 
The few times I recorded a piano we used the SMack 58 in the same configuration with a AT 4033 flat eq,both dry and the 58 for some reason produced a level that was clean,mid-rangey and slightly-colored! When I first heard this, I knew the SMack 58 was on the left for reason being I own 5 of 'em and can tell that SMack tone almost on anything. Also playing jazz, and micing Uprights,violins acoustic gits with nuthin' but a SMack(as originally that was the only mics I owned) you kinda' get used to that SMack 57-58 sound!
 
I am a lemming!!!

Nice John. I would have followed the rest of the herd off the cliff of audio doom! I would have picked the 4050 left, 58 right.

Um, I feel the need to make a little point though, not so much for you, but for others that may not have thought of this.

We still don't know which mic was placed above which side of the hammers. This could actually make quite a difference in results. A great test would have been to reverse the mic positioning and post another mp3 of that!

Also, everyone should remember that each mic likes to be placed differently from another mic to capture the "best" sound (please use "best" within context and not literally). The response of every mic is quite different, and placing two different mics even in the same spot could give misleading results as to their appearent quality because the "lesser" sounding mic may have sounded much better in a different location.

There are considerations too about "what" sound you would like to have, and how that sound might fit into a mix with other instruments. It is well known that sometimes intruments that sound great on tape by themselves may not work so well when other instruments are added in.

Very fun test though John, and thank you for posting that. Was this recorded with that very nice looking piano and in that gorgeous room in that last studio you designed? If so, that room sounds every bit as good as it looks!

Good Day!
 
O my gosh

John Sayers,

I don't believe you used the f word. I think that's the first time I have ever read you cuss. : )

Hey ron,
If you want to hear the sm58 vocals, tune to
www.spillingpoetry.com, click on media and listen to "wisdom'

they are members of this board and that is how I know they used the 58 on the vocals, and most everything else.


edit: they changed their site, so click on listen and listen to weight of the world, or any song.
They don't have wisdom or stumbling anymore, which were my favorites.
 
I'm guessing....

...that the AT is on the left picking up the bass, and the 58 is on the right picking up the treble and high end.
Not bad,,, they both sounded pretty good.
 
What's to be learned from all this?

1 Sayers, you're a bitch. :D

2 Expensive mics are vastly overrated on some applications. Don't make assumptions based on price tags - trial it, put it to the test.

3 Q knows more than he lets on. :)
 
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