Studio projects B1

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I wanted to post a sample of the TB-1 but the girl I taped made me promise not to let anyone listen to it so I'm sure she wouldn't like me posting a clip.She doesn't even want to listen to it,it is a self esteem thing which is totally unjustified as she sings like an angel.The TB-1 performed quite well though.She was having a problem with nerves and I didn't get much tracked but the little bit I taped sounded very nice.

I just taped one pass with her singing and playing guitar with the TB-1 for vocals and a Nady sd on her guitar.There was some tapping on the guitar track on one song so I just used the TB-1 track and I was amazed how well the TB-1 picked up her guitar and how good the guitar sounded.I guess I shouldn't have been surprised comparing it to a Nady mic but the guitar sounded very nice especially considering it was a Washburn D-10 which is the budget model.On (her) vocals the TB-1 performed excellently,very present but very smooth.

I wish I could post a clip but I really have to respect her wishes even though she has nothing to be shy about.I'm not going to even think of posting a clip of my vocals,if people heard me sing they might blame the mic.I have a haunting voice,it should be used to haunt houses! :D
 
Did I hear something about the SP B1 being internally shock-mounted?

Randy, toorglick, trew-- Assuming I didn't hallucinate the above ;), how does this internal shock mounting work? Well enough to not use a regular shock mount?
 
OK, good reviews on vocals. I posted a new thread about use as a bass drum mike. It appears nobody has tried it out yet. I'm surprised the "creator" of this thing didn't even post on the question. This mic is supposed to have a high SPL rating. How about....Buler...anyone!!!!
 
I haven't had any problems or artifacts from floor vibrations. It is supposedly internally shockmounted. Now that I think about it, I guess it works pretty well, considering I haven't experienced any instances where I thought to myself "gee, there's too much noise and vibration when I move the stand a little or move around the studio."
 
Interesting, toorglick-- this mic sounds like a hell of a bargain.

zbert: 8thstreet said the B1 can take up to 132dB SPL... which if I recall correctly, is truly ear-splatteringly loud and would leave a person deaf and in agonizing pain... I'd *think* it could be used in a kick with no trouble.
 
I haven't had any problem with vibration either so I guess the internal shockmount does the job.I think Alan is in Germany,that is probably why he hasn't checked in.When he gets back I want to tell him how pleased I am with the TB-1.
 
How does the B1 sound in regards to the famed "larger than life" proximity-effected low end? Would it be a decent radio-style voice-over mic, in your opinion? I thought I had decided on the cheapie LD condensor to get (MXL V93) but this is tipping the balance, so to speak... Anyone use both? Chessrock??
 
testing...

today I borrowed the B1, C1 and TB1 and tested them on flute and male vocals, with a Mackie 1604 as preamp. My opinions:

B1 - a bit muddy, not very transparent
C1 - Warm and very clear, maybe a bit too clear?
TB1 - Very warm, but less transparent then the C1

I think I'm going to buy the C1, the TB1 is really nice, but a lot more expensive. I like the brightness of the C1.

I live in Holland, and the mics cost 1,5 times what they cost in the USA.

I'm thinking about a Joe Meek VC6Q, can I expect a big difference over the Mackie?

Daan
 
I don't know about muddy on the B1, but perhaps this is a matter of 1)taste, and 2) those frequency variances. I don't know. I wouldn't say it's muddy though at all. I agree that it isn't all that transparent, but that's not to say the resulting signal sounds bad. I think mainly there's a lower-mid range funkiness happening that I have yet to explore in a vocal context as I've done minimal vocal work with the B1 so far.

As for broadcasting, I used to be a news-anchor at one of the AM talk stations here and my personal opinion is that this mic would do extremely well in that application. As a matter of fact, that is the bulk of the vocal testing I did; I read copy into the mic to see how it would react to my voice. I thought it did quite well, and I never liked the sound of my voice.
 
I just ordered the B1 from 8th street, I should have it early next week. What do I do about posting, I've never done this before.

jason
 
toorglick said:
As for broadcasting, I used to be a news-anchor at one of the
AM talk stations here and my personal opinion is that this mic would do extremely well in that application. As a matter of fact, that is the bulk of the vocal testing I did; I read copy into the mic to see how it would react to my voice. I thought it did quite well, and I never liked the sound of my voice.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me!! I did a few years of college radio, super-low-power FM. People always said (and still do) that I have a great radio voice (as long as they don't say "You've got a face for radio!"), though I don't like my own voice so much. But does anyone like their own?

Whipping out my lousy old aircheck tapes, I realize just how much better our cheapo stations' mics were compared to the ones I have now :( . I wish I knew what we were using then, I didn't care about mics then. They looked like small dynamics, definitely had proximity effect, but didn't have as nice and deep of a tone as big stations (well duh).

Thanks for the info! Looks like I just found a way to spend $80. :)
 
Joe Meek VC6Q

dalon, I have a Joe Meek VC6Q and love it!
It really seems to open the door to many more sounds for any
good microphone IMHO. It's a good thing that Alan Hyatt managed to talk them into bringing that model back into production again (for the US anyway).
Good mic pre, excellent photo-optical compressor & EQ section.

Chris

P.S. Randy, as a fellow singer, giving that girl a backing track CD
or cassette to practice with ala karaoke should help her
become more confident-if you're not doing that already.
She's sounds good enough to know she can do even better!
 
Hey guys,

Well I am back. Unfortunately I took sick for a day and a half, so I have not been up to doing all this writing, and felt more like sleeping. These long trips are really starting to take its toll.

Anyway, let’s talk B Series. The internal shock system is both a blessing, and a curse. It really does work when the mic is sitting idle. The downside is the material at the very top of the cone is very soft and thin. So it gives the mic a more than usual handling noise because it moves around...when handled, and if level is left up and you move it, it sounds like there is a mechanical noise happening, so that is the curse or sacrifice if you will.

My feeling on this was no one really moves the mic around that much, and even so if you do, just lower the gain, or mute the mic until you reposition it. There is always give and take in a design, and I was willing to take, especially when I considered what it can give.

I don't consider the B1 muddy, but dalon is entitled to his opinions. I am sure he is commenting on what he hears. I have said all along, the B Series "is not" the C Series, so if any of you are looking to have the B Series be a better mic, well, that is not the case, but it is a damn fine mic, and I expect there will be plenty out there that like it better than the C Series, because we all hear differently.

I am sorry to say the B Series manual has a mistake. It says the B1 and B3 come with a case and shockmount, but most of you know that I have said it only comes in a box with the clip, although the box looks very good. So no, we are not giving away cases and mounts, and we hope to resolve the manual issue quickly.

Again, some people have call thinking the mic was defective as a result of the way the capsule makes noise when the mic is moved. Again, this is a result of the Isolation Cone, and there is nothing wrong with the mic. The mic needs to rest in a still position.

I am sure as time goes on there will be plenty of comments, both good and bad as there always is, but I think when you consider the price and the sonic quality of the B Series, it will stand on its own as a tremendous bang for buck mic. So, anyone with direct questions…fire away :D

Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group
 
Hey Alan,good to see you back,sorry you aren't feeling well.I've been battling a cold myself,it's a bitch this time of year.

I got my TB-1 and I'm very satisfied with it.I have pretty limited experience with mics,the next best mic I have is an AT 3525 which I like quite a bit but the TB-1 seems to be in a different class.The Audio Technica is very flat which I like but it doesn't have the presence of the TB-1,the TB-1 seems to be fairly flat but it has an in your face quality that knocks me over.Very nice.Even my voice sounded much better through the TB-1,but my vocal skills are very limited,you can polish a turd all day but in the end all you'll have is a shiny turd!On my lady friends vocals the TB-1 really shines,the girl can sing and the TB-sounds very nice on those tracks,very smooth but present.To me it gives the tracks a kind of a vintage sound in the very best sense.I like this my ALOT!

The only question I had Harvey gave me the answer for but I haven't looked in the power supply yet so maybe you could tell me(yup'I'm a lazy man).The manual states that I shouldn't use phantom power with the mic,I understand this,the power supply handles that chore.My question is would phantom power damage the mic or power supply in any way?I use an Audio Buddy and I wanted to use the TB-1 on one channel and my 3525 on the other but the Buddy only has a global phantom power switch.I do have other ways of powering the 3525 but I really like my Buddy and I'd like to use it on both mics.Thanks for any help.

Chris,it's kind of a funny thing with this lady.I've seen her play for a few hundred people with no problem but when I put her behind a mic she got a major case of the giggles.I think she will get used to it in time.It could be me though,I have been know to turn women into gigglling girls but unfortunatlly it is usually when they see me naked! :D

I really wish she would let me post a clip but she not only doesn't want me to play them for anyone but she won't even listen to them herself!Really bums me out as she actually sounds very good on them,I finally got a chance to tape some very nice vocals and I can't play them for anyone!Shiiiit!She wants to tape some lullabyes for her granddaughter so maybe I'll tell her I'll do it if I can post one,there is hope yet.

Anyhoo,it's good to have you back Alan and I hope that you feel better soon.I REALLY like my TB-1! :D
 
Its the Phallic shape of the mic thats doing it, or it could be the one on one thing, that kind of gives me the creeps too.
 
Alan,

If you could go into some detail about the differences in capsules among the B-Series mics (different colored dots?), it would be greatly appreciated. I may want to get a matched pair of the B1s, and would like to know the sonic differences between them.

Thanks.
 
Randy,

Duh, I just thought about this some more, and a simpler solution is adding a couple of switches to the audio buddy to cut off the phantom power to each channel. Inside the audio buddy, there's a pair of matched resistors tied to pin 2 and 3 of each mic xlr. Those two resistors are tied together at the back end, and that's where the phantom power is inserted.

Simply break that connection with an on/off switch, or use a double pole switch to disconnect the front end of the resistors from pins 2 and 3.

That way, the phantom power won't ever leave the audio buddy, and your warranty on the expensive gear stays intact.
 
Thanks one more time Harvey.That would probably be the way to go.Man,I don't know how I ever survived without access to the web.I never knew what I was missing until I actually had it!

Too bad taxachusetts is so far from Texas Harvey,otherwise I'd let you borrow the TB-1 for the weekend to put through it's paces.I am really liking this mic but I have pretty limited experience so it's hard for me not to gush over it.I taped a woman doing "Crazy"by Patsy Cline and the vocals were right there in your face but they were still as smooth as a baby's bottom.I liked my AT 3525 but the TB-1 sounds so much more present and smooth at the same time.Pretty cool.
 
Alan, they were all good mics, better then what I have now. The C1 sounds almost like it has a build-in exciter, so crisp! The differences between the ones I tested are subtle, they all sound well, really. I liked the C1 best, personal opinion of course! SP prices in Holland are two times the USA proces, thats a shame!! You guys are lucky!
Daan
 
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