Yes, there is lots of information out there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone
And if you search for Shure microphones or Neumann microphones you might find some very useful information, possibly from people who have actual experience using them.
But beware, there will also be a lot of information posted by people who are repeating misunderstandings and misinterpretations of information given by people who may or may not have actual experience using them.
Mics best for recording
Moderators: Acoustica Greg, Acoustica Eric, Acoustica Dan, rsaintjohn
- Mark Bliss
- Posts: 7314
- Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:59 pm
- Location: Out there
Re: Mics best for recording
I am on the hunt for a mic myself now.
This can drive you around the bend.
There are some (pro) reviews, that are partly useful, but then they don´t show the bigger picture.
User reviews are usually useless since they tend to speak out of the exaggerated ego or self confidence rather than facts.
(^awful word constellation)
After a day of reading, after focussing on this or that allegedly allround and best-for-the-price microphone, after finding an even better one and throwing that one away too, I find that a few potential candidates are remaining.
Since it is of little use to go to the shop and look at them, one would probably need to order those candidates, test them in the environment they are planned for, and send the ones back that phase out.
You can do that with our local warehouse, Thomann in Germany.
All user opinions are useless.
-helmut
This can drive you around the bend.
There are some (pro) reviews, that are partly useful, but then they don´t show the bigger picture.
User reviews are usually useless since they tend to speak out of the exaggerated ego or self confidence rather than facts.
(^awful word constellation)
After a day of reading, after focussing on this or that allegedly allround and best-for-the-price microphone, after finding an even better one and throwing that one away too, I find that a few potential candidates are remaining.
Since it is of little use to go to the shop and look at them, one would probably need to order those candidates, test them in the environment they are planned for, and send the ones back that phase out.
You can do that with our local warehouse, Thomann in Germany.
All user opinions are useless.
-helmut
C# or Bb!
- Mark Bliss
- Posts: 7314
- Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:59 pm
- Location: Out there
Re: Mics best for recording
And we continue to get closer to the truth.......
- Rolling Estonian
- Posts: 2059
- Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:42 am
- Location: MD/DC
Re: Mics best for recording
Well...... That's just your opinion!aquataur wrote:All user opinions are useless.
M
- Mark Bliss
- Posts: 7314
- Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:59 pm
- Location: Out there
Re: Mics best for recording
Pretty much mine too!Rolling Estonian wrote:Well...... That's just your opinion!aquataur wrote:All user opinions are useless.
Here's one for you all, true story- Friend showing me his new $500 dollar Condenser mic, which I will not name because it might be mistaken for an endorsement......
Description: "Accurate" "Clean" "Flat response" Yep, its a beauty all right!
Then he proceeds to show me the radical EQ and compression settings he uses with it to get his voice to sound the way he wants on his video/webinar/podcasts or whatever. Seriously.
Couldn't keep from openly laughing. Apologies, "tears are from allergies, really they are!"
- Rolling Estonian
- Posts: 2059
- Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:42 am
- Location: MD/DC
Re: Mics best for recording
That's funny.
I'm a total beginner, learning but still a beginner. I do have a few friends in the business who have been kind enough to provide advice and assistance when asked. Anyway, they've all pounded in to me the old proverbs, "It's not the wand, it's the magician." etc. Not just with recording but with playing and other gear as well.
Having said that, buying crap is not good but you don't have to go high end to get great results. So I'm wise when I buy and I certainly put things into perspective when buying. So long story short, I buy middle of the road stuff that will retain most of it's value but isn't crap and if I ever decide to upgrade, I can sell it.
But I do know some folks who have top end gear that don't really appreciate what they have, must be nice. What's that old joke? How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!
M
I'm a total beginner, learning but still a beginner. I do have a few friends in the business who have been kind enough to provide advice and assistance when asked. Anyway, they've all pounded in to me the old proverbs, "It's not the wand, it's the magician." etc. Not just with recording but with playing and other gear as well.
Having said that, buying crap is not good but you don't have to go high end to get great results. So I'm wise when I buy and I certainly put things into perspective when buying. So long story short, I buy middle of the road stuff that will retain most of it's value but isn't crap and if I ever decide to upgrade, I can sell it.
But I do know some folks who have top end gear that don't really appreciate what they have, must be nice. What's that old joke? How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!
M
Re: Mics best for recording
That is true. My problem is that I am usually ready to invest some time in choosing something, because I am interested, but when time comes to part I do not wish to know about the item any longer, and consequently, having it becomes a pain.Rolling Estonian wrote:(...)I buy middle of the road stuff that will retain most of it's value but isn't crap and if I ever decide to upgrade, I can sell it.
-helmut
Later edit:
Just found the private test again where I compared some borrowed LDC´s. At the time, I found two AKG´s no so favourable and a Rode specimen to my liking. One I thought was sibliant and one dull. Today, I found all of them were usable, maybe needing a bit of EQ occationally. So much for user comments
One reviewer hat written (he had explained in great detail how current Sennheiser mics came about...) that companies like Rode, Sennheiser, Audio Technica, have a reputation to lose, in contrast to some Chinese company, who just produces for somebody else, never building up a relationship to the customer. They prior thus aim to produce consistent and reliable quality.
I think, besides all questions of personal preference, buying a microphone of one of them will never be wrong. Incidentally, those will not be the cheapest on the market, but reasonable.
Some arguments why user reviews are to be treated with a grain of salt
1) What we hear ist not what we hear.
What we hear is perceived and thus highly subjective.
One day our ear hears that, the next day something else.
Moreover, what we perceive is highly influenced by what we expect to hear.
2) I doubt that any of the plain people has the knowledge to establish a "scientific" or "laboratory" environment for their tests. A signal only fractions of dB´s louder will be perceived better. Also, microphones need proper impedance matching., as demonstrated on a SM57.
Some amateur mics in shootouts, although they have thought about it and did their best on loudness matching, even if they used the same input stages, may work into unsuitable loads. Working into a proper load may have yielded different results.
A mic that is percieved "crisp", having a boosted presence band, may sound instantly appealing, but make you sick soon.
What may be useful though are hard and fast technical information, like what parts are used, where is the unit built and such things.
Graham Cochrane advocates cheap mics, "don´t let a cheap mic stop your creativity". I personally do not believe in the Chinese way too much...
Just to show how relative those subjective reviews are and of how little use.
Last edited by aquataur on Wed Sep 30, 2015 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
C# or Bb!
Re: Mics best for recording
Agreed. I found that to be true with regard to my Yamaha MSP5 monitors. All the user opinions (and even the 'pro' reviews) were raving about them, saying the bass response was good, but I eventually realised this to be false. When I ran a high to low tone through them I found the frequency response dropped off at 110Hz, so I then had to fork out more money for a subwoofer to compensate.aquataur wrote: All user opinions are useless.
-helmut
Expensive lesson.
Re: Mics best for recording
This 5 year old thread mentions user reviews as being less than useful. Well, it's 2020 and by now we should know that most web or "pro" reviews are bought and paid for. It turns out many review sites are good for edutainment and feed our bias confirmation.
-Tom
Mixcraft 10 Pro Studio 64-Bit
Windows 10 64-Bit
AMD Athlon II X4 645 3.1 GHz 10GB Ram
2TB SSD
Behringer UMC404HD v5.57.0 interface
Mixcraft 10 Pro Studio 64-Bit
Windows 10 64-Bit
AMD Athlon II X4 645 3.1 GHz 10GB Ram
2TB SSD
Behringer UMC404HD v5.57.0 interface