good video! this comparison makes me believe that gear doesnt matter, while at the same time i can hear some differences. And i must live with this duality
Thanks for watching. While the differences are subtle, they are there. Listening to the 96k files on gourd quality headphones definitely makes them more apparent than listening on laptop speakers. The duality you speak of is one that all engineers question. Will using a $2000 microphone make the song better than using a $200 microphone. It certainly won't, but at the same time it can. Years ago I rented a Telefunken ELAM 251 to record vocals for an unsigned artist doing a demo. The singer was so impressed with the mic and she gave a fantastic performance. Was it the $20000 microphone, or the fact that someone believed in her enough to use a mic like that? Did the mic sound that much better than my Neumanns? I think ultimately, better gear makes it easier to capture the moment. But if there is a moment of brilliance and all you have is a $100 microphone and you are not recording, the moment is gone forever.
Absolutely! I was really impressed at how little the sound changed between a $100 sm 57 and a $850 km184. In a future video, I will show how the angle of the mic impacts the sound of the 57. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I really thought, in those solo drum hits, that the mics would sound a lot different than each other. The only one that stood out to me as different was the AKG 414. Of course, I'm listening to this through cheap Bose computer speakers. Thanks for the work!
Thanks for the comment Byron. I too thought that there would be a much greater difference. The 414 did sound the best in this test, but man was I nervous having a $1400 mic within striking distance. Download the 9kk files and import them into a DAW. Then you'll really be able to hear the difference.
I agree. I tried to get the mics super close together and all with the same polarity. I then looped the parts so that there was no variation in the performance. I then level matched the audio so that all of the hits and blends were within 0.1dB. All the mics were using the same mic press and convertors. I really did try to address all of the variables. I'm really glad you took the time to watch and then comment. Thanks - Jamie
good video! this comparison makes me believe that gear doesnt matter, while at the same time i can hear some differences. And i must live with this duality
Thanks for watching. While the differences are subtle, they are there. Listening to the 96k files on gourd quality headphones definitely makes them more apparent than listening on laptop speakers. The duality you speak of is one that all engineers question. Will using a $2000 microphone make the song better than using a $200 microphone. It certainly won't, but at the same time it can. Years ago I rented a Telefunken ELAM 251 to record vocals for an unsigned artist doing a demo. The singer was so impressed with the mic and she gave a fantastic performance. Was it the $20000 microphone, or the fact that someone believed in her enough to use a mic like that? Did the mic sound that much better than my Neumanns? I think ultimately, better gear makes it easier to capture the moment. But if there is a moment of brilliance and all you have is a $100 microphone and you are not recording, the moment is gone forever.
Good old sm57 still doing a fine job i would be happy with any day. (and cheap to buy)
Absolutely! I was really impressed at how little the sound changed between a $100 sm
57 and a $850 km184. In a future video, I will show how the angle of the mic impacts the sound of the 57. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I really thought, in those solo drum hits, that the mics would sound a lot different than each other. The only one that stood out to me as different was the AKG 414. Of course, I'm listening to this through cheap Bose computer speakers. Thanks for the work!
Thanks for the comment Byron. I too thought that there would be a much greater difference. The 414 did sound the best in this test, but man was I nervous having a $1400 mic within striking distance. Download the 9kk files and import them into a DAW. Then you'll really be able to hear the difference.
there is no great way to really do this test. Good thing music doesn't work like that.
I agree. I tried to get the mics super close together and all with the same polarity. I then looped the parts so that there was no variation in the performance. I then level matched the audio so that all of the hits and blends were within 0.1dB. All the mics were using the same mic press and convertors. I really did try to address all of the variables.
I'm really glad you took the time to watch and then comment. Thanks - Jamie