Raw KSM32 Samples Needed

[3rett]

I'm looking at buying a new LD mic and need some samples from a KSM32. I'd like to get a clip or 2 of female vox and drum OH samples. They would need to be flat with minimal compression to print. They don't have to be huge and wav's are preferrable but mp3's are fine too.

This would help me out big time. I'm actually not certain why mic manufacturers don't have downloadable libraries of their mics recording various sources. I think this would really help people decide as mic preferrance truly is personal taste. Blue does have some samples on their site and I gotta tell you I'm leaning heavily towards their Dragonfly model.....

Thanks in advance,
3rett

 

[mattr]

This would help me out big time. I'm actually not certain why mic manufacturers don't have downloadable libraries of their mics recording various sources.

Because once you've got above the ~$100 mark into mics that are not going to do a 'bad job' at picking up a source, the source itself probably makes a much larger difference than the mic choice.

Singers have vastly different tonal qualities in their voices, and hearing one singer in one situation teaches you nothing relevant about the mic other than it works! Room acoustics? Mic technique also plays a big role. Don't forget about proximity effect if you're working close to the mic - getting a singer to move closer to a mic probably makes a bigger difference in the sound than swapping the mic for another one. Unless the vocalist is inhumanely consistent, you might find noticeable tonal differences between takes due to different articulation/intonation/etc (I'm not a singer and don't know the correct terminology, but you know how a singer can hit the same note but with different qualities in their voice, different overtones, etc, even if they're aiming for the same style). What about differences in preamps even?

You also mention drum overheads. Ok, so they give you a clip of the mic being used as a drum overhead... again, this tells you nothing. Have you considered... ? The drums? How the drums are tuned? How the overheads are placed? The room the drums are in (and their location within that room)? The person playing the drums (different playing technique can get different sounds from the same drums / cymbals. Drums are affected by humidity and temperature... I once read that you should set up a drum kit in the live room 24 hours before you plan to record it; I didn't believe this until I was doing a drum tracking session that ran over into two days, and listening to the takes after I noticed a distinctive improvement in the tone of the drums during the progression of the session. All just examples of how the mic is just one link in a massive chain of factors.


There was a website somewhere with sound samples of different mics and preamps, but in my opinion they're totally useless!

 

[3rett]

Alright look. I don't need a lesson in audio from a teenager that's based on YOUR inexperienced opinion! I gaurantee you would learn from me by the looks of your huge blundering opinion based post. This is like saying if I can't use both of my eyes I may as well have the other one amputated. These samples to me would allow my trained experienced ear to hone in on an idea of what I could expect from a mic. Although not completely ideal, as only having one eye, I'll give it a shot thank you very much.

So you either have samples I can use or you don't you little jerk. End of story.

To anyone who views this my aggression is aimed solely at the know it all, opinionated, teenager who ignored what this post is all about.

Thanks again in advance to anyone who can help.........

 

[mattr]

Sheeesh, ok. I'll stop giving my opinion and let someone three times my age come and tell you exactly the same thing...

Usually when new members come here asking a question like that they need a long 'blundering' post like that to help them to understand. No point getting into detail if people don't get the basic concepts behind it.
Because what you have to understand that this is a Home Recording forum, and your post did look as if it was coming from an inexperienced person. I could get a lot more technical if you wanted.

Anyway, if you were all that serious and experienced (as you so obviously are) you wouldn't need audio samples as you would know which local shops, studios, friends, etc, would be willing to lend you various mics to audition at your own studio for your own purposes before your purchased them. Obviously you knew that already, or maybe that is just my silly inexperienced way of doing things


Best wishes and lots of love,
The Little Opinionated Jerk



(Oh, and Christ, its only a KSM32! If you're that good, experienced and successful, you should probably have several already collecting dust in your very full and impressive mic locker)

 

[WhiteStrat]

Sheeesh, ok. I'll stop giving my opinion and let someone three times my age come and tell you exactly the same thing...

Usually when new members come here asking a question like that they need a long 'blundering' post like that to help them to understand. No point getting into detail if people don't get the basic concepts behind it.
Because what you have to understand that this is a Home Recording forum, and most people coming here for help such as this are inexperienced. I could get a lot more technical if you wanted.

Anyway, if you were all that serious and experienced (as you so obviously are) you wouldn't need audio samples as you would know which local shops, studios, friends, etc, would be willing to lend you various mics to audition at your own studio for your own purposes before your purchased them. Obviously you knew that already, or maybe that is just my silly inexperienced way of doing things

Best wishes and lots of love,
The Little Opinionated Jerk

I may not be 3 times your age (close enough!), but I'm saying the exact same thing. To the OP--if you didn't like that answer, you'd have been better off saying nothing at all in response.

But mattr is right. First of all you asked for very specific clips with very specific criteria--that in and of itself sounded pushy to me. But I wouldn't post the clips if I had 'em. You don't know my room, my voice, my guitar, and as such the clips would be useless. These kinds of subjective judgements don't exist in a vacuum; they exist relative to other judgements. You have to hear it in a context that you know. Otherwise, it could be anything.

I can't help but think that if your ear were so professionally trained, your mind would also be professionally trained enough to already know this.

Sorry for being another opinionated, unhelpful jerk, but honestly, I think you need more help with your people skills than you do with a mic.

Good luck.

 

[3rett]

Absolutely amazing to me that a simple request for an audio clip can turn into an argument. The subject of this post is "KSM 32 Audio Samples Needed" NOT incessant, useless, internet forum arguing with overly opinionated people needed! Nowhere in the subject do I ask for a lesson on microphones, people, or the like. I don't even care to hear whether you like the KSM32 or not, I just want the sample. Also if you think a request is pushy especially when I asked nicely and even said thank you in advance, my opinion is you are infinitely over sensitive.

Why do you guys care so much that I'm making a mistake IN YOUR OPINION? A mistake in MY OPINION would be to spend countless dollars on equipment I know nothing about. So to the contrary of YOUR OPINIONS I arm myself with research and knowledge which IS the trait of a professional mind.

Anyway, I probably shouldn't have focused on the fact that you are a teenager. Because regardless your age I would never take recording advice from someone who is so concerned about the nonexistent effect of letting a drum set sit for 24hrs before recording but also thinks every mic over $100 dollars are all the same............ See what I'm getting at guys? Who gives a shit what I think? You don't. So why do you think I give a shit what you think? This is just ridiculous and very counter productive. Guess I'll look elsewhere for people who don't get so easily confused over a post.

You can have the last word. Tear me up.................

 

[WhiteStrat]

Meh.........

 

[darrin_h2000]

I have the mic...and Id reccomend it for both uses...there are a few samples on youtube in mic shootouts, and just videos of girls singing using them...let me find a few...the first one is great...all tracks are done with the KSM32.

 

[mattr]

the nonexistent effect of letting a drum set sit for 24hrs before recording

It has an effect, just like change of conditions has an effect on the tuning of stringed instruments.

but also thinks every mic over $100 dollars are all the same............

That's not what I was trying to get at. People often come here thinking that mics have these magic effects on the quality of your source, and amazingly some even have this notion that an expensive mic will make their bad singing sound good. And obviously there can be huge differences in characteristics between mics, but for your average starting-out Home-Recordist there are going to be a range of factors which will probably remove most of the benefits of careful mic selection. So a 1db dip around 200hz in the frequency response of one mic is probably not going to make much difference when your untreated room might have a peak around there of maybe even 20db.

 

[darrin_h2000]

You are right...but it is easier to choose a mic than fix a room...there will allways be variables...but using the mic you like the sound of is the biggest step in the direction to the sound you are looking for.

I spent quite a bit to have my room treated like it is...and it took a bit of time...but my purchase of the right mics were a rather fast way to get there.

 

[mattr]

Ok, so I reread my first post and realised that I did a fairly bad job at explaining what I meant. I wrote it very quickly because, beleve it or not, I do have other work to do and come to this forum in my spare time to learn stuff and just possibly to also help others. The wording and explanation is far from great and didn't even make sense at points, but I expect still most people would get the kind of idea I was trying to get across.

I was not trying to say that all mics are the same.
I was not trying to say that mic choice is unimportant.

I was trying to say, how many people here would agree, that there are many other factors (particularly in a home recording situation) that are going to have influence on the sound, maybe moreso than the mic itself.

But back to the topic of samples, I still stand by that fact that a sample isn't useful for deciding whether it is useful for you. At best, it can be a demonstration of what that mic is capable of.

And even with very trained ears, you can't begin to understand much about the tonal quality of the mic from this. Take an acoustic guitar for example - if you heard a sample and made the observation that is was quite a 'bright' sounding recording (a very basic observation, but I'm sure you could be more detailed with your analyses), how do you know that this 'brightness' is a characteristic of the mic and not something to do with the guitar, the strings, the player, the room, the placement, the preamp?

Even with the most trained ears in the world, the best way to use those ears is to try the mic out yourself in a situation that you are familiar with and so you can make proper judgements and comparisons.

As I said, do what I do (in my infantile inexperience) and hire/borrow mics from local shops, studios, friends, etc. Using a mic yourself tells you far more than hearing someone else using it.




That's the last post I'm going to make.
I read your PM and thought it was charming

Lots of love,
Matt <3
xxx

 

[Bristol Posse]

I'm actually not certain why mic manufacturers don't have downloadable libraries of their mics recording various sources

What amazes me is that people don't even bother checking the manufacturers website before making a statement like that

Shure has exactly that in their listening lab and one of the mics you can check out on various sources is the KSM 32

go here http://www.shure.com/index.htm and click on Explore our Mic Listening Lab at the bottom left of the page.

You're welome