Rode NT1A, MXL V63m, MXL V67G, CAD Trion 6000 Shootout ~samples to also help y'all~

[craven]

ok guys i am looking at the following mics:

Rode NT1A
MXL V67G
CAD Trion 6000

I already own the V63m, just throwing it in for comparison...for all those who want to know what different mics sound like before they buy them, and to help me figure out which one sounds best...

i was given the rode NT1A to demo, i will be posted the sounds from the v67G and trion 6000 when i go to the store later today...

here is the results from the V63m and NT1A, i recorded from the front and back of each microphone.....




EDIT:Go To Bottom Of Page #2 To Hear The MXL V67G, Recorded Properly!!

[Heartfelt]

Hi there,
it is really cool to see you buying a mic in true slut form. I thought I would mention something though.

The two mics you have used so far are cardiod in nature. This means that they reject sound as the source is moved away from the sweet spot. In fact, when the source is at the back of the mic, what you are recording is nearly pure reflections from the room. If you track a vocal that way, it could cause issues in mixing.

I have been through the wringer on room issues and I only mention it to help.



I like the NT1 best so far.

Cheers!
Rob

[craven]

trion 6000 added!!! vote up! mxl v67g added too!!

[dkelley]

what's wrong with your recordings?

they all sound nasal, thin, panned part way to one side, really really low level.

not one of them sounds anything like what those mics can sound like. some wierd phase issue in your recording between channels maybe?

not trying to be mean, but that's just awful LoL. this isn't my studio, listening through heapdhones to mp3s, but still, I do this all the time and it should sound great.

the mxl mics "should" be a little warmer than the nt1.

[craven]

Originally Posted by dkelley

what's wrong with your recordings?

they all sound nasal, thin, panned part way to one side, really really low level.

not one of them sounds anything like what those mics can sound like. some wierd phase issue in your recording between channels maybe?

not trying to be mean, but that's just awful LoL. this isn't my studio, listening through heapdhones to mp3s, but still, I do this all the time and it should sound great.

the mxl mics "should" be a little warmer than the nt1.

no i left it low on purpose....which mic would you go with?

[KeithMoonwannabe]

which mic do you like best?

why does it matter what I like or any of us like?

I'm also not trying to be mean but this will really be up to you, your wallet, and your ears in the end. You are gonna have to learn to start trusting yourself.

[craven]

i like the rode nt1a it has a nice clean slightly warm, with slight presence in highs, were as the cad trion 6000 has the vintage warmth and less presence on the highs....



i dont know LOL

[Groberts]

YOur recordings are so noisy and have such low gain it's really hard to tell if some of the mics sound worthy at all. Are you using it for voiceover, or for singing? If singing, the talking comparison is only somewhat helpful in my opinion.

The NT1 sounds clean and reasonably balanced. The Trion for voiceover in comparison sounds fuller. Less highs, but could be very smooth for singing vocals.

[Heartfelt]

wish the levels were a lot higher. It would be helpful.

[craven]

just got the levels up, hope this helps....

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by craven

just got the levels up, hope this helps....

even though they are louder, and it is certainly helpful. There are Volume differences between all of them. 60% gain sounds fine on the Trion, but insufficient on the other mics for an accurate appraisal. I am using a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 closed ear headphones to listen.

The Trion and M9 sound similar, but the trion sounds at least 3 DB louder. In fact, the Trion is louder than all the other mics. The NT1 sounds nice. But I'd still like to know if you are going to use the mic just for Talking/Voiceover work, or for Singing vocals. If singing, it would be easier to determine which mic suits your voice and vocals best. Just my opinion. Not meant as a criticism at all. Very cool shoot out.

[craven]

Originally Posted by Groberts

even though they are louder, and it is certainly helpful. There are Volume differences between all of them. 60% gain sounds fine on the Trion, but insufficient on the other mics for an accurate appraisal. I am using a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 closed ear headphones to listen.

The Trion and M9 sound similar, but the trion sounds at least 3 DB louder. In fact, the Trion is louder than all the other mics. The NT1 sounds nice. But I'd still like to know if you are going to use the mic just for Talking/Voiceover work, or for Singing vocals. If singing, it would be easier to determine which mic suits your voice and vocals best. Just my opinion. Not meant as a criticism at all. Very cool shoot out.

for singing....sorry about the levels.....

i ended up buy the trion 6000, and the reason is warmth, i also bought this.....although they charged me 50 bucks....

Buy ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp | Microphone Preamps | Musician's Friend

what tube should i get for the BEST sound?


whats the difference between that pre-amp and this one?

Buy ART Tube MP Project Series Tube Microphone/Instrument Preamp | Microphone Preamps | Musician's Friend

is it worth the upgrade?

keep voting and commenting as i would love to keep this shootout going on....

[craven]

Fixed price JJ TESLA 12AX7 A / ECC83 Tubes @ $9.50 ea - eBay (item 110362692925 end time Apr-10-09 11:01:30 PDT)

Reissue Mullard 12AX7 ECC83 pre-amp tubes @ $15.00 ea. - eBay (item 310132983031 end time May-01-09 21:10:01 PDT)

[jaz49]

Strange! sounds like 3 or 4 different people speaking. The Nt-1a and v63 are much thinner ...pinched and nasal as another message said. I personally speaking, like a warm sound for voice over like the trion or the vt67. The other two sound thin...the v63 sounds like your holding your nose...awful sound, IMO. The 67g may be flat, but it also sounds a little dull. I'd like to hear it louder. Please turn up the volume. It would help a lot. I vote for the v67g or the Trion with a little eq and reverb. Oh, sorry, I didn't see that you posted new louder clips...I will listen again.

[jaz49]

I see you got the Trion. Good choice...with the louder clips I like it best...v67 second best.

[craven]

Originally Posted by jaz49

I see you got the Trion. Good choice...with the louder clips I like it best...v67 second best.

everyone uses the trion 7000, and 8000, but with a good pre-amp the trion 6000 is one of the standards in the industry from what i can tell LOL

also what do you think about my questions above on the pre-amps?


EDIT:this thread could be a stickie for anyone looking to buy a mic LOL it has samples from the popular mics e

[Groberts]

Did you consider or listen to a CAD M179 by chance? How does the Trion 6000 differ? I voted for the Trion by the way. Very smooth.

[craven]

Originally Posted by Groberts

Did you consider or listen to a CAD M179 by chance? How does the Trion 6000 differ? I voted for the Trion by the way. Very smooth.

never heard that one...but the trion is gorgeous..i am going to make it better by pre-amping with the 12ax7 tube...

[craven]

Originally Posted by jaz49

Strange! sounds like 3 or 4 different people speaking. The Nt-1a and v63 are much thinner ...pinched and nasal as another message said. I personally speaking, like a warm sound for voice over like the trion or the vt67. The other two sound thin...the v63 sounds like your holding your nose...awful sound, IMO. The 67g may be flat, but it also sounds a little dull. I'd like to hear it louder. Please turn up the volume. It would help a lot. I vote for the v67g or the Trion with a little eq and reverb. Oh, sorry, I didn't see that you posted new louder clips...I will listen again.

i found a v67g for 60 bucks used....

[jaz49]

Originally Posted by craven

everyone uses the trion 7000, and 8000, but with a good pre-amp the trion 6000 is one of the standards in the industry from what i can tell LOL

also what do you think about my questions above on the pre-amps?


EDIT:this thread could be a stickie for anyone looking to buy a mic LOL it has samples from the popular mics e

I think the preamps you mentioned are starved plate design...not full voltage tube preamps. Upgrading the tube is not going to be a major improvement, I don't think. I can't comment further since I've never tried one, but you can do a forum search.

[craven]

i am going to do a test with the "octane pre-amps" vs the "12ax7 tube pre-amps"

then you guys can judge, this time i will gradually increase volume...

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by craven

i am going to do a test with the "octane pre-amps" vs the "12ax7 tube pre-amps"

then you guys can judge, this time i will gradually increase volume...

I'll be interested in that comparison! Since I have M-Audio Octane preamps now. But record with MORE gain OK? at least a little more.

[craven]

so here it is folks, the pre amp comparison..!!

you guys decide if i should keep the ART tube pre-amp and get another tube...or ditch it and stay with the m-audio ones.....

heres the thread for it.....

Pre-Amp Shootout--M-Audio "Octane" VS "ART Tube MP" ~samples for yall to hear~

[KeithMoonwannabe]

Yeah the Tube MP is a starved plate design. I wouldn't have bothered purchasing it since you've got better preamps in the Fasttrack Ultra 8R.

To me that is throwing $50 away. Now the ART MPA is a real tube preamp but it's more like $300. Any good tube design in general is going to be a lot more expensive than a decent solid state design. And bad tube designs DON'T WORK.

I'd try to return that Tube MP for real, it's kind of a piece of junk. And upgrading the tube won't make a noticeable difference because the tube is essentially out of the signal path.

And for future reference it'd be better to post samples of singing into the various mics for a shootout if that is your intended application because voiceover and singing have different things they bring out of mics.

For example an RE20 might sound awesome on my voice for voiceover work but it just doesn't work on my singing voice because it's so dark so I need something more like a decent large diaphragm condenser (like a Blue Baby Bottle). That's not entirely true but it gives kind of a frame of reference as to what I'm talking about.

And to clarify for the money CAD makes good mics but none of the Trions are industry standards. In fact I don't really think of CAD at all when I think of industry standards, they just make good value mics.

[jaz49]

Probably best to avoid tubes entirely if you're on a low budget. An upgrade, if you really need it, might be something like a DMP3 or Rane ms1b...or a vtb-1 with the tube dialed out. Just my $.02 but I would try to get a good clean solid state signal and forget about tubes until you have a bigger budget. Here's a review of the Trion 6000 that I dug up...this guy went kind of nuts over the mic: http://www.***************.com/gearr...earReviewID=65

Oh well, I guess they won't let me post the link, but you can google the mic if you want to search for it.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by jaz49

Probably best to avoid tubes entirely if you're on a low budget. An upgrade, if you really need it, might be something like a DMP3 or Rane ms1b...or a vtb-1 with the tube dialed out. Just my $.02 but I would try to get a good clean solid state signal and forget about tubes until you have a bigger budget. Here's a review of the Trion 6000 that I dug up...this guy went kind of nuts over the mic: http://www.***************.com/gearr...earReviewID=65

Oh well, I guess they won't let me post the link, but you can google the mic if you want to search for it.

Is the quality of the preamps in the M-Audio outboard DMP3 Preamp really better than the Octane preamps that come in the M-Audio Fast track Ultra? I honestly don't know abnd would love to hear from anyone who does.

[dickiefunk]

Originally Posted by Groberts

Is the quality of the preamps in the M-Audio outboard DMP3 Preamp really better than the Octane preamps that come in the M-Audio Fast track Ultra? I honestly don't know abnd would love to hear from anyone who does.

The DMP3 has more gain than the Octane preamps.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by dickiefunk

The DMP3 has more gain than the Octane preamps.

More clean gain is never a bad thing. But does it sound any better? Not that the Octane preamp is bad. It really is pretty clean. The Octane Preamp is just a little two dimensional sounding and a bit flat.

[dickiefunk]

Sorry that's all I know about these!

[KeithMoonwannabe]

the actual Octane preamp is an 8-channel preamp from M-Audio designed for ADAT A/D conversion.

The preamps in the Profire and Fastrack Ultra interfaces are only based on that technology/unit. They aren't exactly the same preamp.

The DMP3 and the real Octane are relatively similar sounding. The DMP3 has 75dB of gain and the real Octane has 50dB of gain. The Octane based pres in the interfaces have 60 dB of gain. The tone is about the same imo.

I'd say just use the preamps in the Fastrack until you save up about $600-$1000 then you can buy a GOOD single channel pre for critical sources like vocals, bass, etc. Think like Daking, Focusrite ISA, Great River, UA 610 or 710, Trident, Blue Robbie, etc when you think of a sonic upgrade where you will notice a huge difference in quality.

I don't really consider any preamps under the $500 to be a sonic "upgrade" from something like a Saffire or Fastrack type of preamp.

They may have different flavors but they won't be better built, etc.

I think the DMP3 is a step up however if you are using a lot of gain hungry mics like a ribbon or large diaphragm dynamic. Having the extra clean gain can drive those mics to the level they should be used at.

That's just my two cents.