Ronin Applied Sciences Pegasus VS. Brauner VM1KHE VS. Lucas CS4...Female Vox!

[R-AP.SCI]

Salutations....

Here is a test conducted at Skyline studios NYC, semi-formal, and the first of our "shootout" posts....(there will be drums, piano, and acoustic guitar soon).

Female vocals, all conducted on axis, 8inches back, cardioid, with pop filter.
Preamp was a Crookwood paintpot (very clean), no compression, no eq, recorded PTHD 24/96 then converted to 320k .mp3 for posting....zero other processing. (16/44 files are available via the following link...

https://rapidshare.com/files/1937060..._gearslutz.zip



Can you tell which is which? more importantly, which do you enjoy more?...or do you find them on equal footing? The Lucas was chosen as it is considered our most direct competitor as per the opinion of interested persons in the sense of price structure, availability and it being an "original" design...(things such as capsule, topology etc don't really apply to us as we use a capsule and topology that is quite dissimilar from any tube LDC, so we couldn't use that as a comparative basis). The KHE was chosen as a sort of "class setter" in the sense of it being a high end, hand tuned, tube LDC of original design, limited availability and one of the highest priced in the industry (at the time of it's availability, priced at around - or a little more - than double the Lucas cs4 and our Pegasus).

Please vote and chime in with your thoughts.

[GoldMember]

Originally Posted by R-AP.SCI

Salutations....

Here is a test conducted at Skyline studios NYC, semi-formal, and the first of our "shootout" posts....(there will be drums, piano, and acoustic guitar soon).

Female vocals, all conducted on axis, 8inches back, cardioid, with pop filter.
Preamp was a Crookwood paintpot (very clean), no compression, no eq, recorded PTHD 24/96 then converted to 320k .mp3 for posting....zero other processing. (16/44 files are available via the following link...

https://rapidshare.com/files/1937060..._gearslutz.zip



Can you tell which is which? more importantly, which do you enjoy more?...or do you find them on equal footing? The Lucas was chosen as it is considered our most direct competitor as per the opinion of interested persons in the sense of price structure, availability and it being an "original" design...(things such as capsule, topology etc don't really apply to us as we use a capsule and topology that is quite dissimilar from any tube LDC, so we couldn't use that as a comparative basis). The KHE was chosen as a sort of "class setter" in the sense of it being a high end, hand tuned, tube LDC of original design, limited availability and one of the highest priced in the industry (at the time of it's availability, priced at around - or a little more - than double the Lucas cs4 and our Pegasus).

Please vote and chime in with your thoughts.

i like 1.

[CEB]

All three are really great sounding. I liked 1 and 3 the best. Not appreciating the slight brightness/forwardness of 2.

It's sad that these mics are limited in supply.

[mista min]

I liked the 3rd the most.

[Musiclab]

I liked 3 and 2 the best, 1 had too much sibilance, and was the harshest.
If you like brighter then 2 was nicest, if you like warmer, 3 was.

[gearstan]

2 is klaus heyne, 1&3 have that standard shitty "new" mic sibilance /top end

[didier.brest]

1 is less involving than 2 and 3. 2 is a bit too much demonstrative. I prefer 3.
My guess is
1 Lucas
2 Pegasus
3 Brauner VM1 KHE

[BeatCrate]

No idea which mic is which but I like 1 and 3

[tree]

#3 best here, holds up nicely in the louder sections, especially round 3k...

whens the reveal??

[Ozotelly]

I prefer first. In second and third less body. I think that the first is Lucas CS-4, second Brauner.

[coffeecup77]

Hi all,

I like mic 2, then mic 3, then mic 1... for this example, meaning that singer, that day, those mics used in those conditions.

Track 1 is ear-shattering to me. I'm not saying the mic is bad, I'm saying that take is painfull to listen to, for me. And that doesn't mean it couldn't be the best take if it were to be mixed ...


I would say :
- 1 = Pegasus
- 2 = KHE
- 3 = Lucas C4

The thing when you shootout mics is, why put everybody on the same line ? I can understand no EQ, no compression, but why same distance and same mic preamp ??? It's a bit like putting the same amount of salt on three different dishes ...

BTW, can someone tell me how to understand the introductory "poll" ???

Cheers, thanks for the shootout.

[R-AP.SCI]

Greetings all...

The answers are as follows..

1)Brauner KHE
2)Pegasus
3)Lucas

we appreciate all who commented and all who voted...if you wish please see my brief description of distortions and dynamic interdependence of linearity in LDC's at the bottom of the following thread Ronin Applied Sciences Pegasus VS. Brauner VM1KHE VS. Lucas CS4...Drums!

its a vast truncation and oversimplification of things, but somewhat applicable in my mind...

Or how it fared, in one mans opinion, against another great...the post made by "electronaut" Ronin Applied Sciences...Pegasus Microphone System, finally complete!!!

Thank you all again, we only want to create beautiful microphones of unerring quality and original design...and to provide tools of higher fidelity to the recording world without losing the sweet but subtle deviations from neutrality that sometimes make all the difference. We look forward to more revealing tests against other great microphones!

[NoEgo]

I am coming in late, but I would say all these mics are very good.
1 is all warm and not as transparent and two is very much stong in the mids but not too sheer, only in present company, and 3 is in the middle of the two, maybe not as tight on the bass end as 1.
Just my opinion. I have a CS4 on order so I am looking forward to it.
Thanks
Lou.

[coffeecup77]

Hi,

Well that answer list does come as a little surprise, a good one considering there's a minor chance to get a hand on a KHE. Very impressed on how the Pegasus handles the dynamic range in that vox clip.

Is there anywhere I can get info concerning distribution and prices here in Europe ?

Thanks again for this shoot out and btw, I really appreciated reading the "Diary of an angel". Can't wait to read the rest ...

Cheers.

[PaulOcchialini]

hmm, Happy 3 was the cs-4 because I have one on order.