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.
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.
-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.
