The methodology chosen :
a.) A fun little "specialty song" was written for gearslutz everywhere that was simple, short, fun and REALLY accentuated "SSSsssshyy" lyrics.
b.) Pathway : Mic > Mogami Cable > D&R OrionX Pre (console) > Console Bussing > Digi 192 A/D > 24b/44.1k. Don't like the path? Sorry. This was about finding a mic for my client - not conducting some non-real-world experiment with AAA gear in a controlled laboratory.
c.) All mics recorded simultaneously via separate pre-amps. In this case, the very transparent non-transformer pre's in my D&R OrionX. No iron in the path to confuse issues. I was looking for the real character of the mic itself without any "outside help". Certainly some of these mics would have benefited from some iron in the path, but that was not what I was searching for.
d.) The vocalist was back about 12" from the FET's to try to even out the sweet spot, but I caught him pushing into the Tube mics.
Probably 8" off the tubes. You can hear it. There was a nylon pop filter between lips and head-baskets.
e.) Due to the complexity of having so many mics (9) in the "sweet" spot, it was determined that we would make TWO passes - ONE on the FET mics, and ONE on the Tube mics. (This became somewhat of a problem, but a conundrum we could not avoid. The vocalist is not a "session" singer that can turn out zerox after zerox like performances all day long - and so, the two passes between FET and TUBES are a bit different.)
f.) The FET's were placed in a "cross" pattern. The Tube mics made the "sweet" spot a bit more problematic - due to some large head-baskets - and were in a 5 ringed "star" pattern. (See pics.)
g.) Effort was made to keep both passes similar, but due to schedules, time and rental constraints, we failed. At least to a degree. Some artists can barely sing the same notes twice. This was not the case here, but you can easily hear how the vocalist dug into the tube mics and worked the "tubes" more than he did the FET's. Sorry, I can't' help it, but for those who want to explore with an open mind, there's still gold to be found.
For a more "fair" test, you can think of it as 2 seperate, yet similar tests and listen to the FET's and Tubes seperately if you like.
The performance(s) : I wish we had two identical performances, but we don't. I wish our vocalist had 5 brains in 5 heads with 5 sets of ears and 5 mouths so that he could work each mic separately the way each individual mic would have preferred to be worked in a real world situation, but alas, all 5 headed aliens were booked for the day.
And for me, that's where the art of "analyzing" the performance(s) and discerning the differences in mics takes place. That's where the art of engineering comes into play. That's where experience pays off dividends.
For those that want to take the easy way and jump to an immediate conclusion, you will find that easy to do. And that's totally legit. But you may not be realizing the true potential of certain mics. (Even the classics.) For those that want to dig in and live with the takes a little, it may take you awhile, but you will come closer to realizing the TRUE differences between these mics. Every mic reacts differently to a singer, and the singer reacts back in kind, working the mic, pushing in, pulling back, hitting it harder, pushing air, constricting, etc. to gain their "performance" from an instrument that they can only hold with a column of air coming out of their cords.
Although the performances between FET and Tubes have been tweaked to RMS gain match as much as possible without making a career out of it, the different performances between the FET's and Tubes becomes apparent as you listen, and that 4 inches in proximity and some inevitable head movement is certainly audible. And still, although back a few inches, the FET's rock!!.
Unfortunately, although performances in each group of mics are the same, the vocalist really only "worked" one mic. Bear with me here, because it will impact every "mic shootout" you hear from here on out........
The singer, Mark, did not know which mic he was singing into. I tried to get him to do something he wouldn't normally do in a performance - equalize his off axis, proximity, and delivery to a central sweet spot in the middle of a gaggle of mics, without working the mic in question. That leaves 3 or 4 mics that are not being "monitored" at a disadvantage. IMO a serious disadvantage, because mics are an instrument that needs to be "played" during a performance. Of course getting all this perfect and taking the advantage away from the mic being monitored was close to impossible, because vocal air, the mic, the monitoring and delivery all inter-react with each other. Frustrating in a "scientific" shootout. Glorious in a performance. AAaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!
Oh well, we have what we have.
So, to reiterate, Mark - our featured vocalist - only heard ONE mic and worked THAT particular mic. The other mics were victims of loneliness as they were recorded "blind" for all intents and purposes, without the vocalist being able to sing to their strengths and react accordingly. Doing this any other way would have added the variable of different performances for each mic, which IMO is a greater problem that the one we have.
Hope that makes sense. If you ponder it for awhile, you will realize why it is impossible to really do a credible scientific "shootout". In the end, it all comes back to your "gut" feeling.
There is no perfect method. There is no perfect shootout.
And yet, here we are....
OK.....
The presentation :
Again, 24 bit-44.1k WAV files. The vocal mics in the first set of files vocal will be sitting "in the mix" with moderate compression (CT4) and a dash of verb (PCM96 vocal plate) to approximate a "real world" application. The second batch of files are "acapella" versions with no compression, verb or other instruments - naked in all their glory. Please excuse the ambient noise. I cut these in the CRM and there are computers and HVAC humming happily away in the background. Feel free to download the files and import into your DAW. That's the best method.
If you download the files and import into your DAW, (THE PREFERRED METHOD) they will all line up perfectly so you can line them up, cut in between, and switch back and forth in sync with ease.
Like my other shootouts, I will divulge which mic is which after everybody gets a chance to comment without bias or prejudice.
Makes life and doing these things just a little more fun....
Let's hear your thoughts!!!!!