Earthworks mics? Holy Grail or Ho Hum?

[joelpatterson]

On paper, these look great--flat response, true to life and all that... I'm just wondering what the ad copy doesn't talk about, like, do you like what they give you? Is it musical and fun and happy and joyful, or is it like a periscope on reality--accurate but boring?

[20to20]

I'm a fan...

I've got 2 matched-pairs, and I love 'em for:

- Drum OHs (or inbetween the toms & cymbals)...

- In x/y behind the drummer's head...

- All 4 for jazz, 2 in x/y, 1 on the snr shell, 1 on the kik...

- For any perc. (from shakers, tambos, maracas, to handdrums & xylo/rimbas)...

- With a Jecklin Disc for 3-D/binaural tracking (great for ac gtr, etc., etc.)...

- To re-record tracks I playback through studio monitors for 'air'...

When these Earthworks-captured stereo tracks
are added to the mix of other instruments,
the whole thing takes on this real ambience...

It blends very well with
(and may minimize the need for)
any additional digital verb, etc...

The hyperreal sound of the mics
provide a sonic texture/layer/gradient
that can be manipulated/automated
in and out of a mix to great effect...
_______________________________

I also use a pair for live-to-2-track
jazz ensemble, etc. recordings...
.

[joelpatterson]

Well... then that settles that. Chunk of change, kiss me goodbye...

[jayfrigo]

Since we got a pair a while back they're brought out pretty regularly. They're definitely of the neutral persuasion.

Thumbs up. Certainly worth having around.

[u b k]

the omnis are amazing for capturing the 'space', which can be an extremely satisfying experience. they're not exciting mics in terms of tone, they don't flatter anything in any sense, but the way they convey the 3d and realism can make recordings come alive in a way no digital box can.


gregoire
del ubik

[MJGreene Audio]

I ignored these mics for the longest time. Only in the last couple of months have i started using them. I will never ignore them again. They are really great mics. I agree with everything said above. Go spend your money.....

Michael Greene

[AdamJay]

if you're in a good room, nothing beats them.

if you're in a crappy room, you'll hear just how crappy it truley TRULEY is through Earthworks omni's.

[ABBA]

I agree.
Great microphones.
Noise is the only problem.

[PlugHead]

Originally Posted by ABBA

I agree.
Great microphones.
Noise is the only problem.

Agreed. TC30k's here - best used when sources are louder: intimate sounds, or delicate, soft playing exposes their noise, regardless of the preamp.

Other than that, I think they sound very natural. thumbsup

[nathanvacha]

The bad guy in "Quest for the holy grail" may have gone for a manley or a blue bottle, but Indiana jones would have picked up an x/y pair of earthworks.

[Sqye]

I just sold my 1021 zero distortion preamp to a guy who LOVES it, and is going to buy another to match it.

I do have to say this:

The tech support, designers and customer support/ sales people at Earthworks are AMAZING. Passionate, super-nice, accomodating people. I'd do business with them in a heratbeat, and refer them in a heartbeat, as well.

So good luck, and let us know how it goes

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by nathanvacha

The bad guy in "Quest for the holy grail" may have gone for a manley or a blue bottle, but Indiana jones would have picked up an x/y pair of earthworks.

lol

[Jose Mrochek]

we only used them on OH´s and their great.

[Killahurts]

Used them for years, love them. Got a pair QTC1, much higher output than the 30's, so noise is not a problem.

Also have a pair of SR77's (cardioid), my favorite SDC. They have the reality factor that the omni's have, but are more musical to my ear. Actually, they are one of the most musical mics I've used.

For best results the EW mics, especially the omni's, should be tried in a super fast, "wire with gain" kind of pre. I usually use an EW LAB102 for that...but of coarse there are no rules, I recorded a nylon guitar the other day with a single SR77 into a Vipre.

Seems like in general, tracks I've recorded with EW mics are easier to EQ, but that may just be because they are so even.

Is it musical and fun and happy and joyful, or is it like a periscope on reality--accurate but boring?

They are all of those things, really. But I would say that the only time they are boring is when what you are recording is boring.

[joelpatterson]

I thought maybe the QTC would be the ones for me? Mostly I do do acoustic stuff, orchestras and choruses--they reach a fever pitch eventually, but there is lots of quiet, threadbare, sparse passages... which is why I looked at the Noise spec, 22 db??? and thought, this is worse than anything I have now.

I like the way the frequency response looks surface-of-a-pond flat, and then just sails right on into the great beyond, the 40's and 50's that is. Excessive, the way things should be.

[Musiclab]

They're really nice mics and the company is top notch. I bought a used pair of SR77'S
years ago. After having them for a few years one of them crapped out. I sent it to Earthworks they fixed it for free, it crapped out again they asked me to send back my matched pair. They sent me a brand new matched pair free. Above and beyond if you ask me.

[jajjguy]

Originally Posted by u b i k

they're not exciting mics in terms of tone, they don't flatter anything in any sense...

Well, yes and no! You can put them ridiculously close to a source, and let me assure you that my crappy, small-sounding acoustic guitar sounds absolutely huge when mic'd from an inch away mith a pair of QTC-1.

[20to20]

A good compromise on self-noise vs. price are the QTC30s
[spec'd between the TC30k's and the QTC1's]...

With a good pre they're fine for even quiet sound sources...

Other favorite applications:

- Grand piano; because they're omnis (no proximity effect),
you can position them ridiculously close to the soundboard to
minimize any preamp noise, as well as bleed from other instrs...

- Upright bass; wrap one in foam and place it in the tailpiece
and aim it up toward the bridge. even if the player moves
or rotates the bass the mic position remains consistent...

- Super compressed room mic; we accidently discovered that an
ew mic across the room (it had been set up earlier for ac gtr tracking)
sounded incredible for the drums (via the 'Spank' setting on the FATSO)...
_______________________________

I also agree that their post-warranty service is fantastic...

When one of my 4 year old tc30k's went bad, they told
me to send in both to ensure the 'matched specs'...

Since they had subsequently changed the body styling,
they opted to send me a completely new matched pair...!

Very cool...

You'll love 'em...

[20to20]

I was typing my response when jajjguy was posting...

It's wild that we both landed on the term: 'ridiculously close'...

[djui5]

holy grail


these mic's are amazing, to put it mildly.

[GEARGUY1000]

One day I decided to take a day trip to Earthworks about four years ago to check out their stuff. While I was there I bought a pair of 30K's to check out. A week later I was a dealer. Ummm.... ya, the stuff is AMAZING!

[poncival]

I was working for a music dealer in CT when the OM-1's first hit the market and I have some of the first OM-1's that they made. I was on the phone with Erik Blackmer a lot at that time and he was very cool and conversations with him were enormously educational, too. What a great guy. The OM-1's of course are enormously noisy, 26 dB I think if I remember correctly, but all the things everybody is saying about the TC30K's et al are true, If the source material is loud enough, what comes out the other end is UNREAL! Or should I say "REAL!!" This is especially true if the preamp lives up to what the microphone has to offer. Vocals through these mics are equally amazing- like they say, Garbage in/Garbage out but when you close your eyes and listen to the vocal in your mix, you feel like you can reach out and touch that person singing in front of you, much like you get with a nice Neumann M49 or E251 etc. Many large diaphragm mics which cost more than the Earthworks cannot convey that reality accurately and sound very diffused and bland sounding by comparison on vocals.

Anyway that's my 2 cents

[Dave Derr]

I love these things. David Blackmer who died a few years back, was a genius by any standards. Sweet guy too. He conceived and designed the mics, preamps, and speakers along with his son ERIC.

A few years back I did a mix of some ethnic music, and I could actually often pick out the tracks recorded with the TC30's (I think that was the ones). They had this transient response and open sound that was pretty distinctive. On percussion its most dramatic, but they are good for tons of things. Never heard vocals thru them. But I bet with proper positioning and the right room, they would be great.

KILLER ON OVERHEADS!

Its kind of shame what happened at Earthworks... but thats another long story. David Blackmer is one guy I would pay great sums of money to do a Vulcan Mind Meld with. OHhhh man the way that guy thought. I bet he has 30 patents. Such a great person too. He was the founder of DBX by the way.

[Jim Williams]

David Blackmer sent me a pair of his first models for evaluation when they first came out. I thought they had pretty good frequency response (I'm a fan of flat mics) but the noise floor made them useless in my situation as my mic pres have a -135 db ein spec and I use a lot of that. (I like wide dynamic range).
The smaller 1/4 " diaphrams won't get the noise specs of a 1/2" mic due to the physics of the transducer. I also noticed a bit of that "electrit pre polarized sound" that is missing from my 60 volt externally polarized mics.

I'm sure the later models are improved, but I haven't heard them here.
I have heard some B+K measurement mics that are pretty good as well. A friend got some of those from a NASA sale at Edwards AFB that went to 200k and speced at 150 db spl that they used to test jet and rocket motors with.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[C/G]

How are their monotors? They look kind of nifty.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

Well... then that settles that. Chunk of change, kiss me goodbye...

You could try the Avenson STO-2 pair for $500.

Word is, the STO-2s use the same Panasonic capsule as an earlier Earthworks model.

But, hey, I'm a low-ender.

{edit} -- I own these as well.

- Jim

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by AdamJay

if you're in a good room, nothing beats them.

if you're in a crappy room, you'll hear just how crappy it truley TRULEY is through Earthworks omni's.

That goes for pretty much any high quality mic, I would think..
I have a matching pair of them myself and love them, but then again I have a endless supply of acoustics FOR FREE!!!
I also have the kick pad that seems to work pretty darn well also.. Kind of a plug a play kind of thing..

Glenn

[musicsound-2]

are the EW mics working well with their preamp 1022 ?

[dokushoka]

Originally Posted by 20to20

I'm a fan...

I've got 2 matched-pairs, and I love 'em for:

- Drum OHs (or inbetween the toms & cymbals)...

- In x/y behind the drummer's head...

Omnis in an X/Y?

I have been enjoying the DPA 4006s over the Earthworks lately. Both are excellent mics though.

[T.RayBullard]

Ive heard more than one person reccomend Sonodore Mics over DPAs. Definitely crisp, clear and detailed. Dedicated power supply helps.

Teddy