Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

[Johns]

Ok, this is a broad question for everyone making a mic purchase. How do you go about your mic "shootout"? I find this process very difficult and not difinitive. A few points for discussion.

1. Vocal mic.
If you are getting a mic for your voice, then the process of choosing is fairly straightforward. If it is to be a vocal mic for many clients, How do you really know the mic you choose will work for you? Many say that it is necessary to use a mic through the mix process to really see how well it fits with other parts. Well, how long can you keep this mic to test through the mix? How many different vocalist do you try it on? If you don't buy it, do you set up another voc chain in case?

2. Acoustic guitar
I find most every mic I own works on some acoustic guitar that comes in my studio. It depends more on the instrument and its interaction with the mic of choice. I have used a 441, Gefell 930, km84, schoeps mk4, and many vocal mics with good results. When you do a shootout for acoustic, are you trying it on one guitar? How do you know if it will work on another instrument, (Martin, Gibson, Tayler, etc) not to mention the player, and strings.

3. Choir and orchestral
I find these the easiest to check. I can tell pretty quickly if I like how a mic works in these situations. How about you?

I ask these questions because, after reading the many mic threads, I wonder how people have the time to do full fledged mic shootouts (with proper calibration of preamps). Also, doing this shootout with a singer and guitar will tell you how a mic works with that singer (fine if you are purchasing for that specific vocalist), but the mic may suck on someone else.

I have a Korby convertible and a Soundelux E49 here in the studio for a listen. I have the mics for about 3 days. In that time, I have sessions everyday (I will use the mics on some instruments and voc), but no time to calibrate and do a real comparison. Also the the 2 vocalist I have in the next few days are very different. Sometimes I think you have to like what you hear, then take a chance that the mic will work in the future. If it doesn't work, you sell it for a loss (new mic) or not (vintage mic).

What do you think?

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally Posted by Johns

What do you think?

It's best to record someplace where there's a pretty good selection!

When that's not possible, you go with the most universal mikes that have passed the test of time. These include the 57, the SM-7, the RE-20, the KM-84, U-67, U-87 etc.