Studio Projects B1 vs. MXL 990

  • Thread starter Thread starter FattMusiek
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FattMusiek said:
Cool, lots of replies. Lately I've been doing all that I can to conserve money. I want something other than a 57 to use for vocals.
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I like the B1 over the 990... but IMO, both suck as main vocal mic's. Are you going to get a 797 Audio/Studio Projects C1 mic? You really should audition vocal mic's before buying (If you can), unless you have extra money to throw away.
 
i've got a b1, and i bought it due to the overwhelming "thumbs up" nature of most of the threads here.

djl seems to be a nice enough guy and gives pretty good recommendations, but he seems to have a bone to pick with either alan or studio projects. whatever--that's his perrogative, not mine, and i'm staying out of it. even so, even djl recommends the B1 for some tasks. the proof is in the pudding--it's a solid mic, especially at that $80 price-point.

i've used it on several vocalists of various levels of "professionalism", myself included. for some vocalists, it sounded quite pleasing. for some (myself included) it pretty much "sucked" in that it emphasized everything about my voice that i did NOT want emphasized. in that regard, as is the case with everything else, YMMV. now that i've got an re38 (which sounds great on my voice, btw), i don't think that the B1 will be my "main" vocal mic anymore, but given that that was all i had (other than the sm57/8/senn835 type mics), the B1 did an admirable (read: extremely usable) job on some vocalists and i still plan to set it up alongside the re38 when doing a mic test for a new vocalist (or for a new song), b/c ya never know.....

however, the strength of the B1 lies in the fact that it's good at so much more than vocals. great on acoustic guitar and fantastic electric guitar amps (in my experience, especially on low wattage tube amps), some love it as an overhead or room mic, and i love it as both a snare and hihat mic. couple that with its "sometimes usable" quality as a main vocal mic, and you've got a pretty good deal for $80.

by all accounts, the mxl v67 is a more "colored" or "hyped" mic than the B1, and therefore more "traditionally tailored" for use as a main vocal mic, but by most accounts, it's also not as versatile as the B1. again, YMMV. i've not used a v67, and i really, really comtemplated getting one for a long time until i got the RE38. now i think i'm gonna actually go with a v69 instead (after a couple other nice dynamic mic acquisitions--see below).

for a long time, the C1 was VERY popular around here. lately, though, it's suffering from the "morning after effect" and some folks don't think it's as great as it was initially hyped and thought. again, not ever having used one, i would suspect that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. however, given the $200-ish price tag, i would rather save another $50-100 and buy a nicely used dynamic instead--an RE20, or maybe an sm7 or senn 441. any of those are pretty much "proven winners" in the main vocal mic category.


but back to the question at hand, the B1 is a very versatile mic, especially so at the $80 price level--and as is the case with almost every mic, happens to be "quite usable" on some vocalists, while "not as pleasing" on other vocalists.

in essence, i view the B1 as a medium-diaphragm condensor version of an sm57 (at least in terms of variety of usefulness and bang for the buck).


wade
 
Generally, I like the V67 and, although I haven't used C-1, I have a C-3 (dual diaphragm, multi polar version of C-1), and I like it a lot. I consider the B-1 to be a very versatile mic, but the experiences of singers using it are like night and day. Chessparov and I are both at least very experienced vocalists. The B-1 sounds great on him, and awful on me. On the other hand, I sound pretty good through a C-3.
I think more singers will sound good through V67 or C-1 than a B-1, but a B-1 is so versatile, I'd buy it anyway. With the $200, instead of a C-1, I'd buy a V67G and a B-1. I'm betting you'll sound good through one or the other, and both mics will prove themselves to be useful for something.
 
When I went through all this superanalysis stuff and had a budget that five years ago would have bought me one mic without the shipping, I ended up going with Studio Projects and Marshall ( MXL ) - and have been really happy with the results. Can I do better? Of course. Can I spend more? Well... it ain't gonna happen this week.

I was looking for good acoustic instrument micing, male and female solo and small group live sound and recording, and wanted a setup that I could use to learn how to do a decent job micing a 6' grand piano, a string quartet, a small choir and the occasional school kids musical production. I had about $1100 to work with.

I ended up with:

(2) Studio Projects B1 (red dot :D ) (with spider mounts)
(1) Studio Projects C3
(2) MXL 603s small diaphragms with spider mounts
(1) M-Audio DMP3 preamp
(1) Presonus Blue Tube preamp

and I had enough money left over for a Starbucks latte.

This setup represents some serious versatility and is way beyond the limits of my skill level. The B1s seemed to pay for themselves halfway out of the box.
 
If you're looking to compare the B1 vs the 990, the B1 stomps, kills, eats the 990 for lunch. We found - over many months and many applications – that the 990 was only marginally good at anything, whereas the B1 is an outstanding mic at many things.

It's not that the B1 is "a good mic for the money". The B1 is simply a great mic, especially for toms, OH's, amps, acoustic gtr. The B1 can also be used for vocals, although I would not say that's it's strong point. But I've heard some vocalists who sound very good through the B1.


mrface2112 said:

for a long time, the C1 was VERY popular around here. lately, though, it's suffering from the "morning after effect" and some folks don't think it's as great as it was initially hyped and thought.
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Uh, you might want to check out this C1 thread currently active in this very forum. The C1 is still the bomb in its price range.

Another thing is; since the B1 is a neutral mic, and the C1 is a colored, hyped mic - if someone doesn't sound good on one of them, then they'll probably sound good through the other one. It's the same idea as a lot of commercial studios having a U87 [colored, hyped]and a 414 [neutral], and covering 95% of all the vocal work with just those two mics.

Dan Richards
Digital Pro Sound
The Listening Sessions
 
Dot said:
If you're looking to compare the B1 vs the 990, the B1 stomps, kills, eats the 990 for lunch.
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I agree... but a great vocal mic is not really what the B1 is known for... wouldn't you agree? On the other hand... the 797ASP B1 is a good general purpose budget type mic and well worth $79... but IMO, the 797ASP B1 is NOT a great vocal mic.
 
I'd agree, DJL, it's not a great vocal mic. Just like the C1 can be great on vocals, but is not the best instrument mic, IMO. I recommend the C1 all the time, but never if someone is looking for a mic that also works on acoustic guitar.

The B1 can, depending on the singer, work for vocals, just like the 414 can work for vocals on about 1 out of 10 vocalists. The 414 is known as a great studio workhorse mic. The B1 is quickly gaining a reputation for being a great workhorse mic, and sometimes it can work on vocals just fine.

For people looking to get started with their first LDC mic, I recommend the SP B1 over any other mic, because 1. It sounds so good on so many things. 2. Even after people upgrade to more expensive mics, the B1 will still be a great mic for many applications.

Dan Richards
Digital Pro Sound
The Listening Sessions
 
DJL,

I'm sure that you've heard it before and I'm sure it won't be the last. But your insistence on referring to the Studio Projects products with the prefix of "797 Audio" takes credibility from all of your comments. It's kind of hard to respect someone's insight when it is clear that they have an axe to grind and insist on subjecting all of us to their petty gripes.

IF you want to be fair in your use of suffixes for Chinese (or other) manufacturers on the products of non-Chinese marketing companies they at the very least include the company(ies) who make Rode stuff, Audio Technica stuff, ADK, AKG, Marshall, Behringer ... the whole lot. But don't single out one company with the pretense of disclosing its Chinese manufacturers when it's well-known that many companies use outside manufacturers.

Studio Projects isn't the first mic company to use outside manufacturers. There are a whole host of audio companies using outside manufacturers. I thought that the mark of an audio-related product is whether it sounded good or contributed to a good sound. Your rules with respect to Studio Projects seem to indicate otherwise, and as long as you insist on singling SP out, there will be folks here to set you straight. Count me in that crowd.
 
Rev E said:
IF you want to be fair in your use of suffixes for Chinese (or other) manufacturers on the products of non-Chinese marketing companies they at the very least include the company(ies) who make Rode stuff, Audio Technica stuff, ADK, AKG, Marshall, Behringer ... the whole lot. But don't single out one company with the pretense of disclosing its Chinese manufacturers when it's well-known that many companies use outside manufacturers.
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Well, a lot of this gets thorny. Given the quality of the Audio-Technica stuff being on a totally different level than any Chinese mic I've touched, I'd tend to believe the "Made in Japan" stamp on my AT4040.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
 
So much of this is personal, which isn't fair to the product.

I'm sure the 4040 is a fantastic vocal mic. I've had only one experience with the 4040, in which a band showed up 20 minutes late for a half hour festival set, blew off the soundcheck and insisted on substituting a pair of 4040s live instead of the B1s I had dialed in and had been using without problem for six previous sets. I'm afraid they don't recall me as a very pleasant or capable sound guy and I ended the day thinking of the 4040s as "those goddamn twitchy mics."
 
When I see someone say that the SP B1 is not a good vocal mic I have to ask myself what makes a good vocal mic. Hmmm, a mic that sounds good on vocals, I think. Of the mics I own, KSM 32, Rode NT1000, Oktava MK319, Studio Projects B1, MXL V57M, SM 58, MXL 603, MK-012, I think the B1 holds it's own very well. It is not the best all of the time but it is always in the running. Much of the time it is the easiest to get to set in the mix without a lot of EQ. I really think vocal mics need to be matched to the source to get optimum results, but I think the B1 is a fairly safe place to start and I always at least try it out on someone I'm not sure about. For someone on a budget, it is hands down my first choice.

Blessings, Terry
 
Rev E said:
your insistence on referring to the Studio Projects products with the prefix of "797 Audio" takes credibility from all of your comments.
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I'm not trying to defend DJL . . .

But I was curious, Rev, if you could help me out, here. My eye site isn't so good, so I was wondering if you could tell me what that writing says on my B1 :

Thanks in advance.
 

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Fatt, I'm a researcher by nature (I teach at a university), so I spend months researching budget mics. I read a year's worth of mag reviews, visited and searched various forums, this one included, spoke to studio guys in town with much more knowledge than me, and even emailed various mic manufacturers directly... and only one budget mic received what I'd call consistently strong reviews with little disagreement: the SP B1.
And when I saw the meager price--$79--I decided to buy one and give it the test in my home studio.

And my own verdict? I just ordered my second one.

I'm sure there are other good sub-$200 mics, but I just haven't found one that so many folks, from so many sources, agree is a fine performer in most situations. Add a price that is laughably cheap, and I think the choice is a no-brainer for musicians like me.

Good luck, whatever you choose,

J.
 
You mean to tell me you spent months worth of research, years of magazine reviews, interviewed scores of studio owners and mic manufacturers . . .

. . . just so you could decide on what $80 mic to buy?

You need to get a life.
 
chessrock said:
You mean to tell me spent months worth of research, years of magazine reviews, interviewed scores of studio owners and mic manufacturers . . .

. . . just so you could decide on what $80 mic to buy?

.
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You mean to tell me you have over 5000 posts on this bbs alone telling folks what cheap equipment you think they should buy?

"You need to get a life." :D:D:D
 
Yea, but at least I figured out what mics I wanted sometime between #1 and 100. :D
 
Rev E said:
DJL,

I'm sure that you've heard it before and I'm sure it won't be the last. But your insistence on referring to the Studio Projects products with the prefix of "797 Audio" takes credibility from all of your comments. It's kind of hard to respect someone's insight when it is clear that they have an axe to grind and insist on subjecting all of us to their petty gripes.
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Humm, well the name on the mic says "797 Audio / Studio Projects B1". :rolleyes:

And... IMO, the 797 Audio/Studio Projects B1 and Marshall Electronic MXL990 both suck as main vocal mic's.
 
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