What type and size you need, and where you should point it. Does a large diaphragm do a better job in preventing pregnancy than a small? WTF is phantom power and why do you need it? All these important questions and more, discussed within. Entendre at your own risk.
Armistice wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:13 pm
I got about half way through... what was the answer?
vomitHatSteve wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 11:46 am
He's less concrete in the conclusion (I suppose the data his results were less absolute than with the guitar), but his major conclusion seemed to be that the thing that most affects the sound is the capsule and how much it affects the sound can mostly be measured in capacitance....
Same. I came away with "it's the capsule, dummy!" that makes the most difference. (I forgot about the influence of capacitance, but in my defense, there was a lot of video to try to remember.)
But I also came away with a bit of him thumbing his nose at all the wine-cork-sniffery that goes on with audio gear, microphones being the type of audio gear covered in this video. He started with each of the variables that could affect the tone of the microphone -- tube vs. solid-state, transformer vs. transformerless, types of circuits, etc. -- and came to the conclusion that most of that stuff doesn't matter. From there it follows that you can get roughly similar sounds out of cheaper mics as you can out of expensive/vintage/boutique ones (most of the time; the differences in the old/new MD421s were large enough that he sold his newer ones and bought a pair of the older ones).
awesome youtube comment of the day
Bill and Ted time traveled and brought a bass player from 1973, a drummer from 1984 and a guitar player from 1995. Now they're spreading peace all over the world
I'm a pretty firm believer that tube anything is a gimmick unless the tube(s) in question is operating at voltages that let the tube do it's work. I don't know if a tube microphone has 300 volts DC running through it. I do know that modern tube pres and tube compressors are pretty much "tube" in name only and the tubes really don't do jack shit.
Greg_L wrote: ↑Sun Oct 15, 2023 5:35 pm
I'm a pretty firm believer that tube anything is a gimmick unless the tube(s) in question is operating at voltages that let the tube do it's work. I don't know if a tube microphone has 300 volts DC running through it. I do know that modern tube pres and tube compressors are pretty much "tube" in name only and the tubes really don't do jack shit.
Yeah, agree. I've got a "tube" channel strip where the tube is engaged via the compressor. They put the tube in a window on the front panel so that you can watch it glow when it activates and thus see the warmth and essential tubiness because I'm not sure you can hear it.
When I didn't know so much I fell for it. It's a nice sounding unit, but that's not much to do with the tube.
Yeah, agree. I've got a "tube" channel strip where the tube is engaged via the compressor. They put the tube in a window on the front panel so that you can watch it glow when it activates and thus see the warmth and essential tubiness because I'm not sure you can hear it.
When I didn't know so much I fell for it. It's a nice sounding unit, but that's not much to do with the tube.
Lol yeah. Many of those tubes in little windows are actually lit up by a separate LED so you have something to see. Otherwise a single 12A_7 type tube doesn't really glow that much, and they certainly don't "throb" with illumination from varying signal strengths.
I did a little more research on "starved plate" tube use after seeing a pile of videos about Freqtube.
It's another of those tools that uses an LED to give the impression a tube is running hot when it's not.
It seems tubes can run signal reasonably at quite low voltage but don't do it well until they are in their designed operating zone and don't really add "warmth" until they are in that zone or pushed harder like a guitar amp. I suppose it's analogy would be running something through a clapped out cassette player to get that "tape" sound. It isn't and won't be unless you're in the right zone of specs. UNLESS you do want it to sound like it's on a cheap cassette.
Here's a decent example of the low voltage use...not of audio quality though...
Armistice wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:13 pm
I got about half way through... what was the answer?
vomitHatSteve wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 11:46 am
He's less concrete in the conclusion (I suppose the data his results were less absolute than with the guitar), but his major conclusion seemed to be that the thing that most affects the sound is the capsule and how much it affects the sound can mostly be measured in capacitance....
Same. I came away with "it's the capsule, dummy!" that makes the most difference. (I forgot about the influence of capacitance, but in my defense, there was a lot of video to try to remember.)
But I also came away with a bit of him thumbing his nose at all the wine-cork-sniffery that goes on with audio gear, microphones being the type of audio gear covered in this video. He started with each of the variables that could affect the tone of the microphone -- tube vs. solid-state, transformer vs. transformerless, types of circuits, etc. -- and came to the conclusion that most of that stuff doesn't matter. From there it follows that you can get roughly similar sounds out of cheaper mics as you can out of expensive/vintage/boutique ones (most of the time; the differences in the old/new MD421s were large enough that he sold his newer ones and bought a pair of the older ones).
I didn't get a sense of thumbing his nose so much as him trying to validate his lack of expensive microphones. ("I can scientifically-ish verify that I have the same microphone that was used to record my favorite guitar tone ever. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to get that tone now")
personally I didn't get the idea that he actually accomplished anything useful at all.
Just established that different mics sound different .... whoo-hoo!
I liked the mic comparison video. The most important thing he did I think was use an SM57 as his benchmark - seems like an obvious thing to do.
Enjoyed the video, but then I've never seen one of this guys videos before so it was all new. He knows how to make a video properly.
I saw this video right before I made the drive down to Florida last week!
I liked it. It did teach me a few things—like the punctured diaphragm and how the mic still sounds fine.
But for the most part, anybody who has spent enough time with expensive mics and cheap mics know that their recordings aren’t going to magically sound better if they simply buy the former.
My mics simply sound different. When I did that shootout a while back, a few people here chose the AT2020 over the Telefunken and Neumann while others here chose the Neumann over the cheaper ones.
It just really doesn’t matter. I’ve sometimes used the Telefunken on vocals only to discover I didn’t like it, and pulled out something cheaper and ended up liking it more. Just tools for the job.
And with people liking one thing over another, I’ve come to not make mixing decisions based on what one or two people say unless it’s their song and they’re requesting it. Only if enough people start saying the same thing will I start making a change.
“Naaaaaaaaaah man. I ain’t touching that mic. That thing’s expensive!”
CrowsofFritz wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 11:20 am
I saw this video right before I made the drive down to Florida last week!
I liked it. It did teach me a few things—like the punctured diaphragm and how the mic still sounds fine.
But for the most part, anybody who has spent enough time with expensive mics and cheap mics know that their recordings aren’t going to magically sound better if they simply buy the former.
My mics simply sound different. When I did that shootout a while back, a few people here chose the AT2020 over the Telefunken and Neumann while others here chose the Neumann over the cheaper ones.
It just really doesn’t matter. I’ve sometimes used the Telefunken on vocals only to discover I didn’t like it, and pulled out something cheaper and ended up liking it more. Just tools for the job.
And with people liking one thing over another, I’ve come to not make mixing decisions based on what one or two people say unless it’s their song and they’re requesting it. Only if enough people start saying the same thing will I start making a change.
