[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Just an update for anyone that was looking forward to hearing some sound samples from the Serrano 84s and the BU67, I have some I'll share but for the past 4 days or so I've been experiencing back pain that has been sending my internal VU meter deep into the red. My PT thinks the problem is in my SI joint but whatever it is, it's making even the simplest of things incredibly painful (for example, I had to do some problem solving to figure out how to put the dogs' food bowls on the floor this morning). He told me these things typically last 7-10 days so I have even more bliss and happiness in store for at least the next several days.

I did head over to my friend's studio Tuesday night and we managed to get some tracks done but it was a much shorter session than we'd originally planned due to my back issue. We got off to a slow start because he was having some kind of routing problem that took a bit of time to get sorted. Once that issue was squared, we put the Beesneez BU67 up against his "67" (which is a U87ai with it's guts replaced by the IO Audio 67 insert which my friend modded by replacing the cloned output transformer with an actual Neumann BV12). It was his "67" that I had borrowed earlier this year to gauge how badly I might want a 67-type mic.

I really loved how that mic sounded on me and I looked into what it would cost me to have the same mic for myself. I quickly figured out that route didn't make much sense. I'd need an 87ai or a TLM67 to house the IO Audio insert. The cheapest option would be a used TLM67 and that's going to cost about $2K. The IO insert would cost at least another $1K and I'd have to wait for one to pop up. Then there's the cost of a NOS tube and on top of that, I don't believe Neumann is selling BV12 transformers to the public anymore so I have no idea where I'd get that and I suspect the price would reflect that should I happen find someone selling one.

I changed gears and started looking at the not so many 67 clones on the market, listening to as many examples of each as I could find. None of them impressed me until I heard the Beesneez BU67and, as I've said previously, to my ears, that was as close to a real 67 as I've heard. So on Tuesday night we put the BU67 up against the IO Audio 67. The first thing that jumped out when listening back was that the BU67 had a lot more low end (that was user error, explanation coming). Other than that, it was hard to hear much difference between the two. We put a frequency analyzer plugin on both and, sure enough, the graphs were nearly identical. The only differences were the low end bump on the BU67 and a very slight bump at around 10k on the IO Audio.

We didn't realize it at the time, but the low end bump on the BU67 was because the mic shipped with the S2 mod switch engaged. That's a mod that was done on a lot of vintage 67s and it gave the mics a low end bump. So it was an unforced error of sorts but we both really liked that low end bump. I have a feeling that may be my preferred setting.

The guitar tracks (Gefell M295 vs Serrano 84) are a bit noisy, however, mostly because of the strap. We did those at the end and by then my back was on fire. The mic positioning wasn't great and we only did a single mic when I had to tap out.

Anyway, sitting at the computer is extremely uncomfortable right now so it's going to be some days before I edit the tracks and create a comparison track for you guys to hear. And once my back is sorted, I'll do some better tracks in my studio.

Oh man, take it easy & get well. Health is more important than geeking out about audio & guitars.