Soundfield Mk 4?

[jazzmitts]

Can anyone inform me about the differences between mk4 and mk5?

I've been offered a mk4 but someone here posted that they are a little bright but I've also read that they can be 'improved'.

Infos hard to come by- thanks for any!

-john

[Brad Lunde]

Originally posted by jazzmitts
Can anyone inform me about the differences between mk4 and mk5?

I've been offered a mk4 but someone here posted that they are a little bright but I've also read that they can be 'improved'.

Infos hard to come by- thanks for any!

-john

The SoundField Mk 4 is the older (say 10-12+ years ago?) version of the flagship SoundFIeld product line. There were several things improved in the Mark 5, some of them control functions, some of them connector functions (I believe the Mk 4 had a wierd mutipin output connector). Sonically, none of these differences mattered.
The Mk 4 was last produced under the AMS banner, and it had one flaw, the capsules. The capsules are brighter than most folks prefer today, but not so bright as to be bad-especially when used in large scale enclosed enviroments where bass could build up on you. The Mk5 intially came out with this same (bright) capsule set, but was improved when SoundField became a stand alone company about 6-7 years ago. The Mark 4 mic can be upgraded to the new capsules, this is 600-1000 dollar upgrade that can make the Mk4 sound like current Mark 5's.
I do not have a picture of the Mk4, or I would post it. The Mark 5 can be seen on my link below, go to SoundField once you are in the site.
Brad

[jazzmitts]

Thanks for the info Brad.

Relatively speaking, thats not a huge upgrade price if it really makes a significant difference.

Glad the mk4 capsules are not so bright as to be 'bad' but are they 'good' or is the upgrade 'a must'? (Subjective ?).

I'm just trying to guage the reqd budget after buying the plugin etc. I'd like to be able to use the mic for choral/ensemble sessions and also for solo voice or instrument and potentially get very good results. Seems that the mk5 would do this but wondering if a stock mk4 could or whether the uprade would be essential.

Thanks for any advice

-john

[Brad Lunde]

Originally posted by jazzmitts
Thanks for the info Brad.

Relatively speaking, thats not a huge upgrade price if it really makes a significant difference.

Glad the mk4 capsules are not so bright as to be 'bad' but are they 'good' or is the upgrade 'a must'? (Subjective ?).

I'm just trying to guage the reqd budget after buying the plugin etc. I'd like to be able to use the mic for choral/ensemble sessions and also for solo voice or instrument and potentially get very good results. Seems that the mk5 would do this but wondering if a stock mk4 could or whether the uprade would be essential.

Thanks for any advice

-john

Hard to judge. The Mk4 could be 10 years old+, not necessarily a problem, but the electronics package is not "simple", so how it was handled could be an issue. If you could see it, it might settle this. Some soundfields were loving cared for while others (when the 2nd, 3rd owner did know what he had) were treated poorly.

Have you compared the price of a new 422B against the used Mk4? If this compares favorably for the 422B, then the need for the additional analog controls on the Mk 4 vs the 422 might not be that much of a benefit, since they are present on the software. If its a screamin deal on a perfect condition Mk4 (and there are some deals out there) even with capsule upgrade it might make good sense.

I would say the capsule upgrade is something you would want to do. I could get a more accurate price estimate by calling the factory if you contact me offline.

702-365-5155
Brad

[jazzmitts]

Appreciate the info Brad - the price 'on the face of it' compares well to the 422 but I'm going to try and find out more about it's history etc. as soon as I can..

Thanks again

-john