[jim1960]

Nice review, Doug.

Coincidentally, I commented about this mic system recently in Pro Tools Expert thread on FB. I got some pushback from people who own it but I think I made some good points about it.

Mic modeling has it's place but I'm leery of any software dependent hardware because it's very likely that at some point the software will become unsupported and then you're just left with a mic that isn't worth the money you paid for it.

I think there are two main reasons for using mic modeling:
1. You have no idea what flavor of microphone works for you.
2. Building a mic locker is economically out of reach.
(Those aren't knocks on anyone. We've all been in those places.)

But in either case, I think there's a better long-term option than the Townsend Labs system and the similar Slate VMS. For the same $1500 one would spend on the Sphere, one could buy the Antares Mic Mod software and spend the leftover $1300 on a quality used mic that works on the front end of that software. I say this is a better long-term option because at some point most people are going to outgrow the modeling and want microphones that are not software dependent. When that happens, if you'd gone the Townsend or Slate route, you are going to take a beating when you try to sell it on the used market. But if you go the Antares route along with a quality used mic, you're really only going to lose the cost of the software and you're still going to have that quality used mic in your locker.