Mic Comparison - a Tutorial

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

Stephen, were the differences in the range you expected?

Were the differences greater than moving the microphone three inches in any direction?

Fran

You might remember those several mic comparisons I posted a year or two ago. They weren't as precise as yours. IIRC, one compared seven mics (6 SDs and 1 LD). Most posters heard differences.

The only issues I have with these sort of comparisons are:

1) By putting all the mics near each other, they can effect the off-axis response of each other, a little or a lot. The mics with truly good off-axis response (i.e., the expensive ones) will suffer more than the ones that don't.

2) There's going to be "best" placements for one mic and different "best" placements for another mic, in terms of what that mic can do. Putting them all together, while just fine for seeing how each performs for a similar location, doesn't really tell me necessarily how well that mic will really perform.

3) I record with two mics. Tests with just one mic don't tell me much about how they work in pairs.

4) While the mechanical science aspect is interesting, it only goes so far. Our ears, perception, etc., as listeners is a major factor in what we hear.

Great job. Keep it up. BTW, I'll bet you don't use the M-Audio pre much anymore since you got the JH.

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by sdelsolray

...

...

Great job. Keep it up. BTW, I'll bet you don't use the M-Audio pre much anymore since you got the JH.

Actually I've had the Hardy for a number of years. To my ears there's no difference between the Hardy and the M-Audio Profire or even the DMP3.

But it's pretty well established that my hearing system sux <grin>.

Fran

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by GoodGuy

So maybe I missed it but which test was the Rode NT2A?

Steve, the Rode NT2a is one of the three mics sampled in this thread. The "other thread" has a different set of mics.

For the first set, here are the mics:

CAD M179
Rode NT2a
Audio-Technica AT3035

and here are the clips:

http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/audio/20090625-J.wav
http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/audio/20090625-K.wav
http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/audio/20090625-L.wav

If you'd like to PM or email me your guess as to the mic identities, I'll be happy to send you the key.

Fran