several SDCs and a porcelain bell

[antichef]

After the president's day sale at GC yesterday, I find myself with several small diaphragm condenser mics (a couple new from yesterday), so I thought I'd try them side by side. Instead of using an acoustic guitar like I *always* do, I thought I'd try something else. I saw this antique porcelain bell sitting in the china cabinet (I think it was my wife's grandmother's), and a wooden owl statuette with a built in hoot whistle.

The mics are, in no particular order: Shure SM-81, Oktava MK-012 (w/ polystyrene capsule coupler cap mod and cardioid capsule), MSH-1 C (no longer available cardioid), MXL 991. The signal chain was mic -> 5' cable -> BLA-modded MOTU Traveler with preamp on +35 db (+15db without 20db pad) -> macbook/LE8 dry. Untreated room, with some background noise. Samples are 24 bit wav files.

The samples:

one: http://recursor.net/sdcshootout/1.wav
two: http://recursor.net/sdcshootout/2.wav
three: http://recursor.net/sdcshootout/3.wav
four: http://recursor.net/sdcshootout/4.wav

I got a little clipping, even with that gain setting -- sorry about that. I held each mic about 6 inches from my chest with my left hand, and rang the bell about 6 inches away, with the mic pointing at the side of the bell. Then I moved the bell about 3 inches over the mic, and pointed the mic up at the bell (when it sounds like someone is muting the bell a little, that's what's really going on -- it sounds dead underneath, but you can hear the sound of the "clapper" more), then I put down the bell and sounded the owl whistle with the mic about three inches away, pointing at the side (not the sound hole of the whistle).

I also recorded two others, but don't want to include them in the above list -- #5 is a Groove Tubes "convertible" mic with the ball grill off -- I "modded" that one last night with a polystyrene coupler cap, too, but afterward it has a lot of noise, and still does when I put the original cap back in place -- oops. Bad soldering, I guess, but not the fault of the mic. Number six is the ACM-310 - this one is so sensitive that I wound up turning the gain down to zero (so, +20 db, I guess), because the clipping was so extreme. Those samples are in the same place, just change the number in the filename. BTW, yesterday at GC I got the Groove Tube mic, a display, for about $35, and the MK-012 with a complete set of capsules for $50 --

Care to guess which of the four is which? I never do, and just wish the poster would put up the info, but in case anyone does, I'll wait for a little while before naming them.

 

[Caotico]

president's day sale! Why didn't I think of that. Oh well...

 

[Marcadiablo]

BTW, yesterday at GC I got the Groove Tube mic, a display, for about $35, and the MK-012 with a complete set of capsules for $50 --

I think I hate you a little for that. LOL. Just kidding. Great deals!

 

[antichef]

I think I hate you a little for that. LOL. Just kidding. Great deals!

If it's any consolation, I already broke one of them

Oh, and I was just kidding about not liking to guess which is which in these comparisons -- I really do like to guess, but my track record is awful, so I never post

 

[Caotico]

not even going to hazard a guess. I'm not familiar with those mics...and I'm not particularly familiar with those instruments either.

 

[dgatwood]

I've never used the MXL 991, and I've only dealt with SM81s at church where they use them for choir mics. That said, here's what I suspect I'm hearing:

#1 is brittle sounding and harsh. I suspect that's the MXL.
#2 has a lower output level and has no real meat to the sound. From my limited experience with the SM81, that's about what I'd expect.
#3 is the MSH-1K. The massive high end roll-off is a dead giveaway.
#4 sounds really good---not too bright, not too mellow. I suspect it's the MK-012.

Note: if the MK-012 is really one of the Chinese MK-012 knock-offs, then #1 probably is the "Oktava".

 

[antichef]

ouch -- you nailed it, dgatwood.

btw, I tried to mod the MXL with one of these polystyrene caps, but that was before I understood that you have to screw those little headless screws *inward* instead of outward, and I got one of them stripped, deformed, and lodged in the housing of the mic. I've been cussing and scraping at it, and trying to scrape it out, but I'm not having any luck -- anyone know how to get those out? Drill?

 

[dgatwood]

ouch -- you nailed it, dgatwood.

It probably helps that I was listening through laptop speakers. Makes the differences in the high frequencies even more pronounced.

btw, I tried to mod the MXL with one of these polystyrene caps, but that was before I understood that you have to screw those little headless screws *inward* instead of outward, and I got one of them stripped, deformed, and lodged in the housing of the mic. I've been cussing and scraping at it, and trying to scrape it out, but I'm not having any luck -- anyone know how to get those out? Drill?

I'd say drill, yeah. If it is possible, start with something half the size of the shaft and work your way up so you don't eat the threads. If that's not possible, buy yourself a tap for a slightly larger size and drill the hole a little bigger and tap it. Make sure you can get a set screw in the larger size first, of course.

 

[Obi-Wan zenabI]

It probably helps that I was listening through laptop speakers.

Showoff....

 

[irg82]

I've never used the MXL 991, and I've only dealt with SM81s at church where they use them for choir mics. That said, here's what I suspect I'm hearing:

#1 is brittle sounding and harsh. I suspect that's the MXL.
#2 has a lower output level and has no real meat to the sound. From my limited experience with the SM81, that's about what I'd expect.
#3 is the MSH-1K. The massive high end roll-off is a dead giveaway.
#4 sounds really good---not too bright, not too mellow. I suspect it's the MK-012.

Note: if the MK-012 is really one of the Chinese MK-012 knock-offs, then #1 probably is the "Oktava".

I, in no way, would EVER be able to tell which mic was which, but I'm definitely agreeing with you in that 4 sounds the best.

 

[antichef]

I'd say drill, yeah. If it is possible, start with something half the size of the shaft and work your way up so you don't eat the threads. If that's not possible, buy yourself a tap for a slightly larger size and drill the hole a little bigger and tap it. Make sure you can get a set screw in the larger size first, of course.

Not sure what's stupider - intently watching yourself drill metal with no safety glasses, or drilling something round with your eyes closed -- I tried both, just to make sure.

I did manage to get the problem taken care of (and, as a bonus, retained my eyesight and fingers), but I think I'm going with the two-out-of-three screws ain't bad approach to holding the mic together. With the outer jacket *finally* off, I tried a few different capacitors on the coupler position -- as long as I didn't short out on the back of the board, they all worked, and they all sounded better. I wound up with this:

MXL 991 stock (number one, below): http://recursor.net/sdcshootout/1.wav

MXL 991 with new coupler cap: http://recursor.net/sdcshootout/1.1.wav

Here's a picture of the capacitor I ultimately used - don't know what kind it is:



One other difference - it takes a few seconds to "charge up" when phantom power is applied - previously, the mic came on immediately.