The only reason I often favor and recommend the B1 is because it's the best general application mic we've found under $100. And it's very very good. We've used/tested nearly every mic on the market in its class. I have some notes on the
B1 here. If someone knows of a mic that can beat the B1 for all-around best general LDC mic under $100 please let us know!
I have no bias for or against Studio Projects or any of their products. All the gear that we test goes through the same scrutiny and test/use phases. The Listening Sessions is made up of a collection of engineers and musicians, many of whom make their living at it.
Opinions are also affected by not really using the gear and putting it through its paces, but putting forth a blanket opinion nonetheless. I have no problem with an opinion that differs from mine with someone who actually has real examined experience with something - in fact I respect it. Steve Albini doesn't like 57's on snare. He didn't arrive at that conclusion by trying a 57 one night over at a buddy's house. His preference for not liking the 57 is educated and he can back up why he doesn't like to use the mic.
Anyone who tries a product for a few minutes is more than able to just say something like, "Well, we tried it on this one session and it really didn't give us what we wanted." That's true of me as well in almost every session with products that I regularly use. But for someone with very little experience with a product to come along and post that they were "very dissappointed" and that "the sound was unnatural and undefined" is, to me, unqualified to make such a blanket statement. If anything, since that person has access to B1's – and based on the fact that the B1 does get some very positive feedback, even from experienced users – I'd think someone like that might even want to go back and spend some more time with the B1's.
There's people here who use B1's on amps or acoustics and love them for those apps, but think the B1 sounds like shit on their vox. Fair enough. That's an experienced and educated POV and not dissimilar to some of our own findings. There's also people who like the B1 on their vocals, and we've also had good experiences with some singers using a B1 on vox.
Even in my initial raving review of the C1, which was the first C1 post ever in this forum, I wrote that while I thought it was a really killer vocal mic for a lot of people, I thought the C1 wasn't a good mic for acoustic guitar. A lot of people have had those same findings. I also caution people looking for a mic that will work well on both vox and acoustic guitar that I don't think the C1 is a good choice. Some people also find the C1 overly bright, which is totally understandable and one that I would agree with in certain cases.
I still think the C1 is a great mic for the money, but in most cases now I'm recommending the ADK Vienna and Hamburg where I would have recommended the C1 before. The ADK's work equally well on acoustic instruments as well as vox, and in general we think they're better overall mics than the C1. And it took over 4 years for another mic to come out in the same price range that we recommend over the C1. But that doesn't take away from the C1. It's still an excellent mic. I think the
C1 cat's pajamas or ass? poll that's been here running for almost 2 years speaks for itself.
