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Old 12-24-2016, 04:20 PM
Bob Womack's Avatar
Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Between Clever and Stupid
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Horses for courses. Horses for courses.

Even in its modified and aged form, the U-47 has a certain characteristic that it shares with the U-67: That upper-midrange bulge that makes a voice stand out from a combo or orchestra naturally. The same bulge also makes a female voice sound incredibly intimate. But in the early days of low-headroom analog satellite transponders (think Westar I) I found out the hard way that the U-47 bulge distorted the transponder signal. We had to go to other mics for that application. And that's the deal. There are things that it does extremely well and extremely characteristically and thus it becomes a shorthand for the professional engineer/producer who doesn't have as much time to muck around to find a sound as an amateur does - the pro who knows the mic has it as part of his palette of colors. Being under time pressure because time is money, he can grab a particular mic when he is presented with a situation and is looking for a particular solution. The pro studio that is leased to pros has a need to present those pros their known pallet of colors so that they aren't required to transport any other than their absolutely essential or favorite mics.

Mics and choice are all a marvelous trade-off. An amateur has time as his most valuable asset - he can try multiple mics or techniques to get the sound he is looking for. For him, a good mic, rather than a particular mic, may be all that is needed because he can experiment with that mic PRN to find a useful application. I'm dying to grab a Rode NT1 (new version) for home because I like their neutral sound. We've got one at work that sounds pretty darned good. Am I going to claim that it is just as good as a Neumann U-47 or TLM170? It isn't a matter of "as good as." It is a matter of usability, affordability, and viability. At work I won't take our U-47 on the road for outdoor festivals. I won't risk an accident from rough handling. The Rodes or Mojaves sound great there, though. I can't afford a U-47 for home.

I find myself with a foot in both worlds. At work, someone is paying for every minute of my time and is expecting me to get a working setup quickly. At home I can fiddle around until it works.

Bob
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