Mic Pre Test with SM57 and Royer 101 - Chandler, API, Classic API

[jrod9900]

So I have some new gear that I wanted to test out. I had a lot of people I talked to who wanted to hear what I did, so I thought I would share with you 'Slutz.

I have six .wav files attached to this post. There are three different preamps used with two different mics. This is not scientific at all, but I got the volumes pretty close to each other, and you can definitely tell the different characteristics of the pres.

Equipment: This is just electric guitars. I used a Gibson Les Paul Classic into a Marshall TSL, into a Vintage 30 cabinet. There are three sections on each file from the Lead, Crunch, and Clean channels. The mics used were an SM57 and a new Royer R101. The preamps used were Chandler Little Devils, API 512s, and Classic API VP26. I caught the same performance with the mics, and just doubled it three times through all three pairs of pres into my Apogee Ensemble. I am curious to see who can pick the ribbon vs the dynamic out as well....

I've attached six .wav files below, so nobody can complain about the MP3 quality. lol. I would recommend downloading them and loading them into your DAW to analyze. They are in no specific order, so first person to guess correctly wins...

Like I said earlier, this isn't the most accurate of tests, but I was blown away at the differences between these pres. You be the judge for yourselves. I'd really like to hear everyone's input on this. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
JROD

[jrod9900]

Input?

[basmartin]

I liked nr 1 the best. Didn´t like 3 and 5 that much. 3, 5 and 6 might be the SM57.

[junior]

Thanks for sharing with the rest of us...

They all sound good and different. After adjusting the levels (and listening on crappy speakers at work) I'd have to guess that 1, 3 and 5 are the 57 while 2, 4 and 6 were the Royer?

Then, I'd have to guess that 1+2 were the VP26, 3+4 were the Chandler and 5+6 were the 512?

On it's own, #1 sounds pretty good and balanced...

[Jgbrenn]

#1 was the pretty clear winner for me. #6 wasn't bad either.

[jrod9900]

Good input. Keep it coming!

[motifxf]

Hi!
Thanks for sharing!
Greetings

[jrod9900]

3 was my least favorite which may or may not be surprising. I'll post results after some more votes.

[jrod9900]

Wow, kinda thought I might get a little more interest...

[basmartin]

Originally Posted by jrod9900

Wow, kinda thought I might get a little more interest...

Talking about gear is more interesting than hearing it, it seems...

Nice shoot out, though!

Can´t guess the pre´s, have no experience with them.

[jrod9900]

Haha, very true...

"I heard thru someone that preamp x sounded horrible, but I love the preamp y even though I've never heard it or used it."

That seems to be a common answer on here. I've been doing a lot of A/Bing lately and have been really surprised by some of the reults.

I shot out the Royer R101s on overheads vs 414s, Mojave 201s vs 414s on overheads, and the Royers on rooms vs Cascade Fatheads. Let's just say that I'm really surprised by the results.

YMMV
Jrod

[Jonas M.]

Hey jrod, good shootout!

I won't guess anything here, as I have no experience with any of your used gear. But here is my conclusion of your test... Though all those files sound pretty different on the distorted parts, the differences during the clean chords are not thaaaaaaat outstanding, that it would hinder the listening experience in a song in any way. I would say you could use all those mics/pres for clean guitar recordings.

When it comes to the distorted parts, differences are very obvious. First of all, there is something wrong with clip 3... some strange shifting in frequencies for a second or so during the beginning... but never the less, I can understand why people like this one less. What's pretty obvious when you load the files into a DAW, is the difference in level. Just look at the waveforms, 2 of the clips seem to be only half as loud. What would be interesting is, if this was caused by a lack of gain of the used preamps, but you can answer this one after you revealed what you used to record those ;-)
Next would be the addition of two different clips, as your intention of buying the 57 and the 101 was most likely to use them together and normally, even when using only one mic, you would eventually double the guitars, so I think this one counts just as much as judging the individual tracks. Here I have to say, that clip 3 comes in handy as I (for myself over my headphones and monitoring system and personal taste, etc) really like the combination of clip 3 and clip 4. I also record guitars with 2 different mics and always put them up the way they sound best together, not individually. I found more than once that the individual tracks sounded sh*t, but workes great together. So in the end, i would really like to know what combination you normally go for!

If I'm not mistaken, you really enjoy the little devil pre on guitars, what made me really interested in checking this pre out!

Again, thanks for the files! Looking forward to the results!

Regards
Jonas

[didier.brest]

My guess:
1,2,6 are the Royer. 3,4,5 the Shure.
1 and 3, 2 and 4, 5 and 6 are the same preamps.

I prefer 6.

Thank you for sharing!

[jrod9900]

Thanks guys! We'll see if we can get a couple more responses before I post the answers.

Thanks,

Jrod

[Fishnmusician]

1,3,5= Royer
2,4,6= 57

1,2= Lil devil
3,4= vp26
5,6=512

I liked 6 on lead/crunch, and 3 on clean.
Lots of different possibilities, especially when blended.
Which DOA is in the vp26 ? If its the SL Red Dot you might really like it in the 512.
Thanks for the clips!

[thesoundpost]

My guess is almost the same as Gary's, except for the mic:

1,3,5= 57
2,4,6= Royer

1,2= Lil devil
3,4= vp26
5,6=512

Thanks for the samples.

Marty.

[DR Music]

When are you annoucing?

[junior]

Originally Posted by DR Music

When are you annoucing?

Yeah, I'd almost forgotten about this thread...

[jrod9900]

Alright, the announcement comes today. I thought for sure more people would be interested in this... ???

Let me get my results since it's been so long. LOL

Jrod

[junior]

Originally Posted by jrod9900

Alright, the announcement comes today. I thought for sure more people would be interested in this... ???

Let me get my results since it's been so long. LOL

Jrod

Thanks, Jrod! I'm interested. It had just been a while since the last post, that's all.

[jrod9900]

Originally Posted by junior

Thanks for sharing with the rest of us...

They all sound good and different. After adjusting the levels (and listening on crappy speakers at work) I'd have to guess that 1, 3 and 5 are the 57 while 2, 4 and 6 were the Royer?

Then, I'd have to guess that 1+2 were the VP26, 3+4 were the Chandler and 5+6 were the 512?

On it's own, #1 sounds pretty good and balanced...

Hmmm, looks like he may be on to something here... Getting warm...

[jrod9900]

BTW, forgot that I just exported the files. I had them pretty much gain matched in PT, but I didn't bounce them down. My bad.

JROD

[jrod9900]

So, the costs of this test were quite different.

SM57 - $100
Royer R101 - $800
Classic API VP26 - $350
API 512 - $760
Chandler Devil - $900

Ok, so #1 tended to be the overall winner of the poll. It's really interesting to see the results as I remember Brandon Drury doing something much similar with shocking results. Many more choices from 421s, to R121s, to all the awesome guitar mics...

#1 was the 57 into the Classic API VP26
#2 was the Royer into the Classic API VP26
#3 was the 57 into the API 512
#4 was the Royer into the API 512
#5 was the 57 into the Little Devil
#6 was the Royer into the Little Devil

I really hoped people loaded the WAVs into their DAW and listened at similar levels. I think that makes the difference. I can definitely say my least favorite pre was the 512. To be honest, I was really pissed that I paid that much for a pair of 512s and really prefer the VP26 over them.

The Chandler really stood out to me on cleans. And when I track guitars, I blend a ribbon and dynamic and get the sound I really want. The 57 gives me bite and the Royer gives me thickness and warmth. I can definitely use any of them on distorted guitars, but I really prefer the Chandler and Classic API. I have a feeling I may sell my pair of 512s to pick up more Classic APIs... I just don't know. The value, the quality, it's a tough argument. I can say "I have APIs" which is what a lot of people want to hear.

Junior, you were really close buddy! Just the preamp differences between the APIs and Chandlers. Nice work.

Any other inputs knowing the answers now?

JROD

[jrod9900]

BTW, the poll winner (big time) was $450 chain. Brandon Drury's results were very similar. He used high and low end converters and preamps and mics as well. The 57 was pretty much the overall winner...

[DR Music]

I'm building 2 VP26's now!!!

[junior]

Originally Posted by jrod9900

So, the costs of this test were quite different.

SM57 - $100
Royer R101 - $800
Classic API VP26 - $350
API 512 - $760
Chandler Devil - $900

Ok, so #1 tended to be the overall winner of the poll. It's really interesting to see the results as I remember Brandon Drury doing something much similar with shocking results. Many more choices from 421s, to R121s, to all the awesome guitar mics...

#1 was the 57 into the Classic API VP26
#2 was the Royer into the Classic API VP26
#3 was the 57 into the API 512
#4 was the Royer into the API 512
#5 was the 57 into the Little Devil
#6 was the Royer into the Little Devil

I really hoped people loaded the WAVs into their DAW and listened at similar levels. I think that makes the difference. I can definitely say my least favorite pre was the 512. To be honest, I was really pissed that I paid that much for a pair of 512s and really prefer the VP26 over them.

The Chandler really stood out to me on cleans. And when I track guitars, I blend a ribbon and dynamic and get the sound I really want. The 57 gives me bite and the Royer gives me thickness and warmth. I can definitely use any of them on distorted guitars, but I really prefer the Chandler and Classic API. I have a feeling I may sell my pair of 512s to pick up more Classic APIs... I just don't know. The value, the quality, it's a tough argument. I can say "I have APIs" which is what a lot of people want to hear.

Junior, you were really close buddy! Just the preamp differences between the APIs and Chandlers. Nice work.

Any other inputs knowing the answers now?

JROD

That's great - thanks, Jrod! Yeah, Jeff's kits are the real deal. Have you considered the VP312? They're pretty similar, but a little more full-bandwidth, if that makes any sense. Might be just the ticket for cleans... Plus, the build is slightly easier.

Ain't it amazing what a 57 can do with a decent preamp?

[jrod9900]

I always multi-mic an amp. I have been tending to lean towards a little more Royer than 57 on rhythm tracks and more 57 than Royer on the lead tracks. I also adjust amp settings and stuff for leads (given), but I tend to like a little more bit for most of my lead parts.

Yeah, I have to say the VP26 is an amazing value. I've head about the VP312, but I haven't tried it yet. I wouldn't be opposed at all! LOL

Seriously, I could sell my 2 512s, get another pair of VP26s, and have another $500 towards another compressor. Hard to argue that deal...

Any takers on the 512s??? LOL

JROD

[Fishnmusician]

Which OP Amp ?

[gfunny72]

You lean towards the little devil on clean? Where do you set you input gain and feedback?

[jrod9900]

Originally Posted by Fishnmusician

Which OP Amp ?

Gar2520

I'd like to hear the difference between it and the red dot.

JROD