Acoustic recording : Comparing, SM81, SE8, TF-29, S87

Acoustic recording : Comparing, SM81, SE8, TF-29, S87
- Sure SM81
- Se Electronic SE8
- Telefunken TF-29
- MicParts S-87
- Norman ST68
- Manley Force
- RME UFX
- GoPro 10
- Canon R7
- Davincy Resolve Pro
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[@bob-rogers]

The positional difference between the SE8 and the SM81 would make them sound fairly different.
It seems like the only fair way to do short microphone comparison tests is with a speaker playing pre-recorded material and the capsules carefully positioned identially.

[@zdogg8]

Marco, why did you show the "normalize" by clicking one object at a time? You should just select all the objects, shift clink, or lasso select, or, since you have not other objects, Control A and clink "normalize." ("Apply to all" being default - i.e.: check box already clik'd on) Most people that use Samp don't understand its useful features.

[@MarcoPrimeau]

If more than an object is selected, normalise will be done to the hotest signal, not independantly.

[@KonstaSedneff]

Great video, great comparison test. I like tf29 and s87, because it's sounds soft and wide, guitar's attack is soft. But, Shure sm81 great too, sound is soft and clear.

[@zdogg8]

The SE mic, for me, is the only decent sound here, clear and detailed.Not too bright. the others are all dull. It would be interesting to see prices.
This can be seen, as well, in the graphic. The signal pics evenly across the spectrum, i.e., no roll off top end. Maybe that's the Manley?onty

[@RemyRAD]

You know… I purchased 2 pairs of the, SM-81's. When they first came out. Around 1979.... I'm still overjoyed about my purchase.
When it comes to all of your other microphones here. The SE, sounded about the best compared to the SM-81. And those 2 large Chinese Diaphragm microphones. Sound very Chinese to me. I wouldn't waste my time with those.. Oh yeah they might have a model number similar to a well re-known microphone. I had a few of those original 87's and 67's. I can tell you that microphone sounds nothing like either one. They both sound cloudy. Like Chinese transformers. I am so unimpressed. They might be good for stupid beginner. To make them look more important. But no. They will be sadly disappointed.
Those SM-81's are not cheap today. When I got them new. They were only $182 each! Back in 1979. As I couldn't afford the Neumann, KM-84's. So I got the SM-81's which sounds nothing like the Neumann's. And so I still had to get a pair of those later. As they have a different quality to the, SM-81's which also sound, obviously, great. One of my favorite drum overhead microphones. But I'll use them on anything and everything.
But most folks don't know and don't understand. Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphones, also require, a big open large room. Because their off axis response is just miserable. Especially in smaller rooms.
And so home recording dummies. Think they need LDC Microphones. When in fact. A, LDC, can sound so much better. As they do not suffer from miserable Off Axis Response. Which means?
In smaller rooms. There is a lot of reflected sound. And that reflected sound. Sounds just awful! On, Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphones.. That's the off axis response. LDC's are known to be miserable with. That's why they only work well in big large rooms. With a lot of cubic volume. Men generally sound miserable in smaller rooms.
And so this was a great demonstration video. About what kind of microphones not to use and not to get. As those bulky LDC microphones also sound like they've got a cruddy, Chinese output transformer. I'd know that sound anywhere! Ugh! They sound like they are blowing bubbles underwater! Yuck! And sounds like it's got a frequency bump at about 400 Hz. Mama Mia! And I'm not Italian! But those sound definitely Chinese. I don't care whose name is on them. I got some microphones just like that. I purchased from, Nady for $80 each. About 30 years ago. They look like little Neumann U-87''s in black. Really the size of a U-89.. But only a single capsule and Cardioid. With that same Chinese output transformer sound. So lots of high-pass filtering. So I don't have to hear that. And I'll suck a little out at 400 Hz. It becomes Usable! Looking like an 87 and only costing $80 each. So I cannot complain it is an actual true condenser microphone and requires a full, 48 volts of, capsule polarization.
Here's the funny part of actual Condenser Microphones. All are powered up these days from 48 volts of Phantom Power. But in fact. That's actually a tad low for the diaphragms. They really want to see 52 volts. But none are getting that. Which means?
At 48, volts. They will put out slightly lower level. An slightly lower clarity. At 48.. Which is adequate. Not ideal. There is no ideal 52 volts actually available. But anybody that knows anything about microphones would know that. And oh well. It's 48. Which is when good is, good enough. As it is not ideal.
And so that in and by, itself. It is a good argument for Electret, probably polarized, condenser microphones like the SM-81's. Designed to sound ideal at any voltage. And they put out an enormous amount of output. So very nice. On preamps that don't offer much gain. Such as only 50 DB.. And you will get a lower noise recording. Since you don't have to increase your microphone preamp Gain, much. Giving your lower noise recording. And who doesn't like that?
Overall I thought that was a great demonstration. To certainly know what microphones not the purchase. LDC's. Blah. They sounded like Blah. I was hugely unimpressed by them. Where's the articulation? They sounded as loose. As a woman who had given birth to 15 children. How daddy can stay in without falling out? Nobody knows? Every guy knows what I'm talking about. I think? There's a reason why a woman feels the way she does before giving birth. To a Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone. Ouch!
But these are just my observations. After having designed a few big recording studios in the past 45+ years. So what do I know? I only have multiple major music award nominations. And working for and/or with some of these very companies. In fact. I think Neumann, took my suggestion. About 12 years ago. When they had just introduced their brand-new, T LM-67 reissue. And charge about $500 less than a U-87. Of which I complained to them about.
I feel your new 67. Which you have priced lower than the U-87. Lowers the value of my Original, U-67's. Why would you do that? As I have both microphones. 87's and 67's. The 67's are worth far more. But now you can purchase an imitation 67. For less than a, 87. And you've lowered the value of my Original 67's.
Well I think that must've hit home for them? They listened to me. And then Reissued the Original U-67s. At $5000 each. Compared to the U-87 at $3300 each. Bravo! They listened to me.
The capsules in the 67's and 87's are almost identical but they are not identical. That small difference makes them both respond slightly, differently. It has something to do with the Back Plate. The 67's had a single common backplate for both capsules. The, 87's had dual back plates for each capsule. But they are otherwise identical. But just not totally.
And the only thing that's going to sound like one of those? Is, one of Those. As you see… They use a thicker, mylar/polyester, diaphragm at, 6 mil thick. Everybody else uses, 3 mil or even 1.5 mil. And those both sound atrocious. Thin, whizzy, hyped. Not a quality sound on those thinner diaphragms. The thicker diaphragms can take EQ much better. That's what you heard in just about every rock 'n' roll recording ever made with those. Lots of EQ. And they don't sound brittle thin, metallic and trashy. They sound sweet and lush.
If you want a Condenser, microphone? Generally what you want is a Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone. They get the lowest lows and the highest highs. They used to be slightly noisier than the LDC's. But not anymore. Not after we got this thing called Technology. Where they can tell transistors to, shut the FUCK up! And stop hissing at me! Like a pit full of venomous snakes. Ugh! And that's why God invented Downward Expanders. I've not been able to live without them. Since, 1979. Hollywood relies on them for dialogue. As when your favorite movie star is talking. As soon as they stop talking. Their microphone, is instantly off. And turns on automatically. With their next utterance of sound.
I've shut down my studio. I'm shutting down the house. I retired after 50+ years. And I'm going to be living in a Motorhome. From now on. The only studio inside will be the Commode room. Where you can cut Vocals. Sitting down. And you can squeeze those high notes out. Without messing your undies. It might become a more effective way to cut vocals? When you can cut them in a motorhome bathroom. Anywhere you want to. You could even do it in the bedroom lying down. Or you can sit on the bed. If you don't love me anymore.
I'm not sure if I'll miss all of my Neve and API stuff? I don't think so. I've had decades of fun with it all. So much fun owning it. Never worried about how many microphones I have the plug-in at once. Anywhere from 24 through 48. 24, takes care of most rock bands. With everything in stereo. Except for the vocals. I mean 2 microphones on each guitar cabinet. Direct at microphone on the bass player. Extra microphones on the drum set. Maybe some extra bottoms to the tops. Stuff like that.
Not doing it anymore will be the most difficult thing I have ever done.
RemyRAD

[@MarcoPrimeau]

Hi RemyRad, thanks for sharing. The TF-29 are all made in USA, it has Premium Swedish-made Lundahl output transformer
New Old Stock General Electric 5654W vacuum tube. As you say it is more suited for vocals, guitar amps and overheads. The MicParts S87, is a DIY kit made in USA which I built myself here in Canada. It was about 300$ and sounds better than many more expensive mics. But then again, more suited for vocals and overheads or room mics. Glad you liked the video !

[@RemyRAD]

Yes. The advertising agency hired me out of Media Sound New York City. Where I got to work with Michael DeLugg and guys like Bob Clearmountain. But I didn't really engineer for them. I was part of the Maintenance Crew. But when you get to sit on some of their sessions. And help them out. Because the stupid flake, A-2, assistant engineer. Didn't show up for the section. They get somebody like me out of the Shop. To do the Audio Engineering for a client. Little did I know? I would engineer the solo instrument. For a very famous hit song. It was the Latin Percussion track. And the song had no vocals on it yet. Just the instrumental rhythm track. Which sounded great. Michael DeLugg recorded that. He was real good. He trained Bob Clearmountain. And I'm recording the Latin percussion for this song. It sounds very nice. There are 5 versions of the same song. I'm doing the 5 1/2 minute album version. When after 3 hours. The schlep assisted engineer shows up. And he's got to complete this Overdub, session. The way I had set it up. For the 4 other versions. To sound the same. As I'm the one who chose the microphone and the placement. The gain and some EQ. For the overdubbed of Latin percussion. I had no idea what the song was or who it was for?
Jump down about, 8 months later. I'm sitting enjoying a beer. And the Ambience. At a nightclub in Hollywood, Florida. Halfway between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The club was called the Copacabana. And they had a great sound system. In a huge dance floor. And a great DJ. That didn't miss a beat. From one song to the next. It was awesome. When suddenly a. I'm hearing this familiar sound.
Oh my God! This is the Latin percussion track I cut! I had never heard the completed song. I didn't even know who it was far? And it goes into the vocal. It's Barry Manilow and the song is called, Copacabana! And I met the Copacabana nightclub in Hollywood, Florida. Oh my God! And the Latin percussion takes the big solo! And that's my recording! Holy Shit!
Well I got one hell of a Rush out of that. How Flattering! Barry Manilow's, Copacabana. And I'm at the Copacabana in Florida. How apropos. To hear that for the first time in its completion. 8 months later. And it was on the Charts. And everybody's dancing their asses off to it. Who wouldn't? I wouldn't. I don't dance. I was just having a beer. And taking in the moment. And enjoying watching everybody dance. And listening to the disco DJ do his thing in 1979. And really enjoyed that.
No I don't get any royalties for that. I wasn't the engineer assigned to do that. I was just merely standing in. And that's how some of this goes down. After that I started doing more rock 'n' roll engineering. For one of our Night Managers. She wanted to become a Producer in her own right. And she couldn't get people like Bob Clearmountain to engineer for her. So I had to be Bob Clearmountain. Kind of, sort of. I was working for a hit recording studio. A big one. 4 control rooms and studios. That cranked 24 hours per day.
People like me. We would tweak up each control room. Before every session. The tape recorders get a complete realignment. For the kind of brand and formula of tape. The client wanted or would be bringing in. And when we were lucky. We would already have that tape. From other studios. And with those tapes. You would find. Each engineer at each studio. Would print, 1 kHz, 10 kHz and 50 Hz, sine waves. At the beginning of each tape. So we could make certain. Our recorders. Would be aligned to that recorder. That cut the original rhythm tracks. And so we would match to that machine. At the other studio. Using their tones like a test tape. Sometimes they were close to our Calibration Tapes. Other times they were all over the place! And you would be sitting there wondering what the hell they were doing? But not for me to query whatever they did. Just to, match it. Even if it's not right. It will be consistent.. And still flat. For them. Recorded on a machine that was either well calibrated or not well calibrated. And that's the way it was in the 1970s. I was so lucky. To be a part of that, Era.
So I know all of those famous engineers also. I've either worked with them or around them. Sometimes, directly for them. As in Copacabana. I was involved with another wonderful overdubbed session with, Maynard Ferguson. Fabulous jazz trumpeter. He played these screaming high notes all the time. And he played those. Putting the bell of that trumpet. Right up to the grill of a U-87. Without turning the attenuation switch on. It was off. I thought the mic would overload. Lo and behold it did not. I asked Michael DeLugg if he wanted me to turn that switch on? He said no. That's what I learned from Michael DeLugg. You might turn that switch on for drums? But I don't know? I never did.. I had no problems. Not really sure if that's for recording jet engines? Obviously not needed with a trumpet right up to the capsule. Playing as loudly as he could. It sounded Fabulous! And was going into a, Harrison . Like Bruce Swedien used to mix Michael Jackson on. The same kind, model. Those sounded very nice. Kind of an offshoot from MCI. Dave Harrison worked for MCI earlier. And then split off. He made some great consoles. Much better than MCI. But MCI made great recorders. They were basically clones of Ampex. Identical clones. You could swap circuit boards between Ampex and MCI's. I don't know how they got away with that? I mean they were identical exact clones. To begin with. Until they came up with their own recorder electronics. Which I really loved. They were integrated circuit chip based. They sounded and worked great! If you can keep them running? They had a number of intrinsic problems. And I suggested the fix. Which they did. I did contribute to MCI.. I was trained by them. To be an authorized factory warranty repair service technician. And they offered me work doing that. But I declined. I only wanted to know how to fix them myself. But I also did work for other studios. Maintaining stuff like that. Fixing stuff like that. As a side hustle. For extra bucks. When you know how to do that kind of stuff really well.
You may have heard of Michael Marra's, MCI stuff? Yeah. We were in the same MCI class together. He's made a good living doing that. I'm sure his machines are choice. Mine always were. When I built machines. Some of mine are still running today. People of contacted me. They found me. And sit here look. We still have your test data sheet you signed back in 1979! Holy crap! I turned out some great Scully's. As I worked for Scully for not quite 2 years also. And made the best ones since Larry Scully. Because that was my job. Not another compromise machine would be shipped under my watch. That was my directive from the boss/owner. And I made certain of that.
Now I want you to give me a call. I have something to tell you. 703-532-7335. I think you'll find it very interesting. I think you'll enjoy what I'm going to tell you. A lot. And then you'll want to turn everybody onto this. Also. They will all think you are a genius. And it's very funny. You'll like it.
An old retired Fart.
RemyRAD

[@RemyRAD]

This Yamaha was just the worst sounding. When you looped through it more than once. Going through it once. It sounded like a Neve. Going through it twice? It sounded like a battery-operated microphone mixer from RadioShack. Everything turned to nondescript, mud. I could hardly believe how awful it was. I took out the output transformers. That helped very little. It was miserable. And I had to keep boosting the high-end. Shoving it up almost all the way. With every pass through. And in so doing? The amount of siblings shrieking high-end that was nonexistent. And splattering sibilance, on everything. Was just not listenable. So? I contacted, UREI. When they were still in business out in Los Angeles. And asked them. Have you got any modifications for the 1176's? They did. It was designed for FM Transmitters or Vinyl Disc Mastering. And it was a High Frequency Limiter/De-esser, Mod. Adding in, 75 µs of high frequency preemphasis. Like that of FM radio. With its 75 kHz deviation for 100% modulation. And they pass band from 50-15,000 Hz.. With a higher FM stereo carrier. For the multiplexed, Left minus Right channel information. On the subcarrier. As all FM is, Middle/Side, encoded. It's not encoded left and right. It's encoded Mono & Difference. If you didn't already know that? At that's the basis for doing a lot of exciting stuff in mixing.
I mean they say you need 2 identical, Figure of 8, Microphones for, Bluhmlien Stereo. Or a, symmetrical Side Figure of 8 Microphone and a matching, Cardioid Microphone. Of the same type for, Middle-Side, encoding and decoding.. One of my favorite ways to go. As you get variable stereo width, that way. Whatever you want to dial in. As wide or as narrow as you want your, stereo. And so it's great to store those recordings as, Mono/Side and not in Stereo. Those stereo can be matrixed back to Mono and Side. I've done all sorts of goofy stuff, spectrally. To the Side encoding.
Like taking a stereo recording. Scooping out the entire midrange. Flipping the midrange out of phase. But the high-end and low-end is in phase. You get a really wide sounding stereo that way. When you want to put a Voiceover Narrator. Over the music. So you take the middle of the mix, Under, down. While keeping the left and right sides higher. Which are now out of phase to each other. And makes the music sound really wide. Behind the Mono Narrative. While keeping the rest of the stereo music very stereo and wide. But that way the music is above and below the frequency average of the spoken word humans. And that's some crazy spectral involvement. Nobody would purposefully do in a rock 'n' roll mix.
But those jingles I had to produce. Back in 1979 at 23 years of age. I really didn't know what I was doing. And millions of dollars were riding on these things. For the advertising agency. That would use them for the next 20+ years.
And all I had was this garbage Yamaha PM-1000 PA board engineer everything on. It was horrible! But you can hear for yourself from this transfer I did back in 1996 from very sticky analog tape. From demo reels. All that I had left. After a major fire at the studio. All my master tapes melted. Everything was gone. Except some of these old cassettes and consumer reel to reel demos I had made. Of these terrible sounding jingles. That sound like this:
soundcloud.com/remyrad/remygolnickjinglesotdemomb2
And so today. I think they are pretty funny sounding. From 1979. I produced at 23 years of age. These are no joke. There's not a single synthesizer in this. It's who I call the Miami Wrecking Crew. Largely out of Criteria/Hit Factory Studios in Miami. And the Miami Symphony Orchestra. And it's really difficult to get all those people. Into a dead little box room. Designed for only 4 announcers.
And so I really didn't know what I was doing at the time? I just knew what they had to sound like in the end. And honestly? I didn't have a 24 track recording studio. I didn't have a great audio console. I didn't have good room acoustics. I didn't even have a fully functional spring reverb unit. Though I did have a brand-new Eventide Clock Works, H-910, original Harmonizer. Which came in very handy. As I think I was one of the first people in the world. To do Digital Pitch Correction. Without a computer. Without software. Do it all by finger and by ear. As we had one lead singer. I did not audition nor higher. The bosses son. Heard this guy at a lousy restaurant/piano bar. And he sang everything about 1/4 pitch flat. Most of the time. He was a terrible crooner. And what the hell am I going to do with that? So I pitch corrected him. And because of the latency. It threw him off the beat by, 36 ms. Which was fine. As he had a tendency to rush the beat. And it worked out great! He sounded much better with that 36 ms of latency. It put him on the backside of the beat.. He no longer sounded rushed. He sounded relaxed. The way I wanted the jingle singers to sound. And nobody knows. The high frequency response on that vocal track only went out to, 12 kHz. Nobody knows.
But in cutting these jingles, New York union, studio style. It was going to be a lot of overdubs. I only have 8 tracks. How does this work? Well?
Before we had computers. Before we had software. Before we had Virtual Tracks. There were those of us. Crazy enough. To do Virtual Tracks. All in Analog. Yup. Though it took a lot more reels of 1 inch tape. As I was also doing everything at 30 IPS. At +6 DB elevated level over 250 nano Webbers per meter. Reference operating level. And banging the VU meters. You could hear them go click right through the, faceplate class. Without the speakers on. You would hear all these little clicking sounds. It's meter bashing. Because I'm also not using any Tape Noise Reduction. And I only have 2, Allison Research, KEPEX-1, downward expander/gates. And 2 UREI, 1176's. And 1/2 FUCKED-UP, AKG, BX-20 E reverb. And it required about, 1/4 ounce of marijuana. And at least 3 days of work.
But in the end. Everything had to end up on 8 tracks. So I could mix them to 2. And I had no', SMPTE, synchronizer. And that would never work anyhow. As it only did, 1 frame of accuracy. That's 30 ms! Everything could be off by that much.. Ugh! So there will be no,, synchronizer used. Then how? How am I going to synchronize, multiple reels of tape? To another realtor real machine? One track at a time that's out. I'm going to bounce and fly in by hand. One track at a time. Of all of these composite of, multiple overdubbed tracks. And on one jingle I think there were about 64 overdubs. Reduced to 8. Mixed down to 2. But that. The boss said he wanted only Mono Jingles for release. But when the, staff of 50 Sales Guys, nationwide. Heard the Mono Mixes. They asked if they could get those in stereo? Oh no? That was not the intention. The way I recorded and mixed everything. Because that's not how the boss wanted it. I told him I wanted stereo. He didn't want stereo. Now he wants stereo. It's 10 steps forward and 7 steps back! Oh my God?
So some of these are the, stereo demonstration mixes. We never used on the commercials. We used the Mono mixes for the commercials. And at the end of these jingle demos. You will find some of the actual commercials with the announcers I worked with. I auditioned. They were great. There were others they were all wonderful. This advertising agency made those guys wealthy. They all lined up to audition. This was a big company. And he wanted one of the best engineers and producers in the world. So he got me. He got me from another studio I had worked for. Actually 2 other studios I worked for. As they also cut commercials there. And guess who cut them? They sort of kept on following me. They wanted me badly. And I could've stayed with them for the next 25 years. But I didn't.. I needed to move further up the ladder. I was on a fast track at that age. You can hear why.

[@RemyRAD]

I really appreciated transistors. Not having that kind of consistency.. I would have never accepted the job. I don't need every circuit to be a variable. I need consistency.
And then once we got Digital Recording. And I started recording digitally in 1983. 41 years ago. My 24 track recorders were still analog. And we were mixing down to Digital. Via analog recordings.
But when 3M Scotch, decided to shut down, magnetic tape manufacturing. That was the straw that broke this camel's back. Because I had evaluated and tested thoroughly. All the manufacturers of Studio Mastering Tape. Of the Big 3. 3M, Ampex and Agfa.
And while they Ampex recording tape at Agfa recording tape was very good. And I did use it. Not my choice. The client's choice. Sure. No problem. It just never had the kind of sound. The open rich fat clarity. Of the 3M Scotch, product. And to me. It was all over. That was it.
That is to say. For the next 10 or so years. I was using the Ampex and Agfa product. Some of that spilled over to BASF in the wider available tape formats. 1/2 inch, 1 inch and 2 inch.
Strangely enough. 3M Scotch made a short run of, 3 inch wide, Scotch 250 formulation tape. Back around 1979. When MCI introduced their, 3 inch wide, 32 Track, Analog Recorder. And they showed it off at the AES Convention in New York City. It looks very impressive. Wow 32 tracks 3 inch tape. Holy moly!
But it was all a bunch of hot air. I discovered. As, the MCI Factory. Was in the backyard of my apartment building in, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Where I lived back in 1979. And I became good friends with everybody over there. Because they were in my backyard. About 600 feet away. It was very funny. They were closer to me. Then the job I worked, daily. Which was 2 miles away. I could walk to MCI factory in about 5 minutes. From my apartment door.
And so the stupid, 3 inch 32 check machine. They told me they could not officially release. I asked them why? They said it was due to Physics. I asked them if they didn't have a bathroom? They assured me they did. And told me not those physics.. Then what?
They told me. That due to physics. The weight of the tape. Would not stay stable against the heads. It would ride up and down. They could not stabilize it. They told me it was due to physics. Well? I don't know any fucking Physics? So I could let that stop me.
So I told them. I had the fix for it. I had the fix? Yes I did. But they said it was not possible due to physics. These guys were dweebs. They were OCD Audio. They had no knowledge. Of another type of tape recorder called a Video Tape Recorder. As even the 2 inch ones of those. Frequently use Vacuum Tape Guides. That negates physics. They looked dumbfounded. They told me they had never thought about that? Of course not. They only knew one thing. They never investigated anything else. God forbid? Why would they look at video recorders if they wanted to make an audio recorder? DUH. That's why!
I did a few other things for MCI also. They wanted to offer me work. I declined their offer. I was working for a big National Advertising Agency. In charge of all the audio video production. Why would I want to fix tape recorders for a living? I like using them.
And so at, 23 years of age. Maybe I was 24 by then? I told the owner of the multimillion dollar advertising agency. I could bring in the very costly musical shingles. We were getting out of New York City and Chicago. For about 1/10 th, the cost. With the utmost in quality. The owner of the company really liked me and wanted me badly. Offering me the position a year earlier which I had declined. But I was getting bored. Just recording voice over commercials with the best, Voiceover Guys and Gals, in the country.. They were well-paid. SAG/AFTRA folks. They were great. I love them all. I got to audition all of them.
But instead of purchasing those jingles. I wanted to cut our own. In our little voiceover studio. Designed for,, 4 announcers. And I want to cut Jingles in, there. Yeah. And my stupid boss/owner of the firm. He's going to let me do it!
Now I really didn't have many microphones. I think I had 8 or so. A couple of 87's. A couple of KM-86's. A pair of SM-81''s. A pair of Sennheiser 421's. And not much else. But the worst. Was yet to come.
I had a brand-new 8 track 1 inch, MCI, JH-110 A's. And a 2 track quarter-inch. I had 1/2 broken AKG, BX-20 E. A support spring had busted. And I had an out of tempo knocking in one channel. Ugh! A pair of UREI,, Rev.-D's. And absolutely the Worst audio console, ever.
A lot of people call them a, Baby Neve. It was a Yamaha, PM-1000. A lousy PA board. The boss gave me to use. But I said Leon. I need an API 1604. He said no use that. I said that's a total piece of crap. It's fine to record some announcers through. But I'm going to try and compete with those New York City produced jingles. From the best 24 track recorders in New York City. He said no. Use the Yamaha. You say you're good. PROVE IT. Oh God? He's going to be like that. This fucking millionaire! And I couldn't get the API 1604.

[@RemyRAD]

@@MarcoPrimeau ​ @MarcoPrimeau ​ @MarcoPrimeau ​ @MarcoPrimeau That's very interesting Marco. I've known quite a few people to, build up those microphone kits. And others who have charged a premium price. For instance.
A buddy of mine. Got a brand-new, U-87. Customized by a gentleman. Well known for his microphone repairs and customizations. No longer with us due to cancer. But back then. My buddy Bruce paid a premium amount of money. For this, Tube enhanced and powered U-87. It was not cheap. More costly than a brand-new, U-87.
Bruce was very pleased about this acquisition. He thought it sounded great. And he asked me to bring over, one of my Original, U-67's. So I brought both. For us both to have a fun afternoon comparing. With some musicians..
Bruce was taken aback. Because he couldn't take his, back. He nearly fell down onto the floor. When he heard the difference. Between my U-67's and his brand-new modified tube U-87. And he told me he was about ready to vomit. I must admit. I didn't think there would be this sizable difference? In the audio tonality. But it was radical. Hands down. The original U-67 sounded magnificent. And his brand-new U-87 with vacuum tube modification. Didn't sound as good as my other pair of U-87's. Which I also brought with me.
Bruce was highly disappointed. And sold that microphone right off. It was not worthy. Even though it was a brand-new U-87. Converted over to vacuum tube..
It might also be interesting to note. My, 67's have the original, TELEFUNKEN, EF-86 Pentode's in them. But they had been getting kind of noisy and taking very long to, warm-up, quiet down and stabilize. So?
Back in the early 1990s. Many of these companies were still in business. Making vacuum tubes a.k.a. valves. GE, Sylvania, RCA, Raytheon. But TELEFUNKEN, had already shut down. So?
I decided to purchase, 4 brand-new pairs of, EF-86's. From, Sylvania, GE, Raytheon, RCA. As they were still in production.. And we would try out all of them. And pick out the best sounding pair for my, 67's. They were all EF-86's. And brand-new.
I stuck in the RCA's. Always knowing those are a sure bet. And my 67's now sound, god-awful, unusable, what the hell? This was terrible sounded! Worse than the worn out TELEFUNKEN's. Something must be wrong with those RCA Pentode's. So? I stick in the pair of GE's. Oh my God? They sound even worse. What the hell? So I stick in the Raytheon's. They sound like total mud and awful. This is not working. So I figure the Sylvania's will sound good. As I even like the sound of the name.
And Nope! They were miserable sounding. All of these brand-new tubes. All sounded so horrible. I put in the worn out, old, TELEFUNKEN, letter EF-86's again. And while they were definitely noisy. My God the sound was still glorious! Not like those other tube manufacturers at all. And then.
I had a precious, SHURE, Vacuum Tube, Preamp. From the early 1960s. And it used a pair of, letter 12 AX 7's. Very common. Very plentiful. Very much still made today. Nice little dual triode's. And I took out the old TELEFUNKEN's. And popped in a brand-new pair of Chinese tubes. And while they worked. And could be considered, adequate. They were merely that. Barely, adequate. They did not exhibit the lush sound quality. Those damned TELEFUNKEN's had. Again.
Now I also had, three, 4 x 1, tube, Microphone Mixers. 12 inputs worth. For left-center-right, stereophonic recording. They all sounded great. They all had TELEFUNKEN 12 AX 7's in them.
And I realized. Whatever there was about those German-made TELEFUNKEN vacuum tubes? They made the most musical sounding vacuum tubes ever produced. Nothing else sounded like those TELEFUNKEN's, nothing..
It was soon after that. That I decided to basically give up on vacuum tube gear.. As if they are not going to make TELEFUNKEN tubes anymore. And they don't. I don't care what kind of military spec blah blah blah might be out there. It's bullshit. It's garbage. And there is no consistency with these vacuum tubes. None.
Perhaps that was part of the attraction and aura? There was no consistency. Some sounded incredibly marvelous. While others sounded like Dog Shit. And they are the same vacuum tube part number. And Zero Consistency across different, vacuum tube manufacturers.
Now one of the most famous microphones ever produced was the Neumann, U-47 & 48's. At those use this really bizarre looking little mushroom like, metal, vacuum tube. I think it was called the VF-14. And in the early 1970s, 50 years ago. They ceased manufacturing it. For one of the most popular microphones ever produced.
Now I'm not sure why they discontinued making that vacuum tube? I can only imagine. The Germans were using materials. Of the highest quality standards. And not necessarily safe for humans to be exposed to. Such as, asbestos in the Micah of the internal workings and plates? And they didn't want to poison to death any more of their employees. As may be their oldest and best ones had all died off? Only in their 50s? And thought they better stop making those. And stick in some other Nuvistor or, Pentode? And we got the U-67's. Though with a different capsule.
And when they came out with that U-47 FET.. Another huge disappointment. It sure did not sound like a U-47. But it had that U-47 capsule. The original. Now with a wonderful vacuum tube sounding, F ET, transistor output. And nope! It sure the hell no longer sounds like a tube microphone. Because it's not. It's got that nice crunchy,, silicon, FET transistor flavor. Just like everything else..
But at least with these transistors. Came a great deal of, consistency. A sound you could expect to get. A sound you can count on. From studio. To, studio. We had a great degree of consistency.
In fact. In the early 1970s. I got exposed to… Now wait. Scully, studio tape recorders. I Artie knew about the Ampex ones. Scully was the competitor to Ampex. They made, disc cutting, Lathes. Well before Ampex ever existed. And after Bob Mullins came back from Europe with a Magnet-O- Phone. And Bing Crosby wanted a few. Ampex was the first out of the gate. And little did I know? I would later be trained by them. And then I would go to work for Scully. As Management. In 1979. As QC Manager on the floor.