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Amazing looking new retro mics

#21
bobsax said:
Thanks Otto
Yes I would be using it on stage , perhaps with monitors but not always. Some gigs are coffee houses with just one vocal amp. I'm seeing more an more Bose columns where the group doesn't use monitors. My groups are always acoustic bluegrass country folk etc. with two to four string musicians non using amps.


Thank you also Robroy
Do you still say condenser after my above description ?
again
thanks you both
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When live shows use a single mic, I believe the "studio style" condenser works best. And this one is a "large diaphragm gold plated" condenser. I assume it would give you the quality of one of those $70 MXR condenser mics. Maybe better (based on my experience with their $17,50 headphones). Proximity is not so critical. It just looks like a dynamic.

But I've never heard it. So I'm speaking from experience with "normal looking" gold condenser mics. It is a "Pressure gradient" mic: Pressure gradient microphone Explained | Recording
 
#22
Cheap mics are a roll of the dice - none of them are very consistent. You may find 1 out of 10 that sounds good and another 3 or 4 that are okay. The other half usually are bad.

This design is particularly hard to work with to get rid of chassis resonance because of its size. A good internal shock mount would drive up the price.

If all you want is "the look" and you dont care about sound, this may be what youre looking for
 
#24
Robroy said:
When live shows use a single mic, I believe the "studio style" condenser works best. And this one is a gold condenser. I assume it would give you the quality of one of those $70 MXR condenser mics. Proximity is not so critical. It just looks like a dynamic.

But I've never heard it. So I'm speaking from experience with "normal looking" gold condenser mics. It is a "Pressure gradient" mic: Pressure gradient microphone Explained | Recording
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electracoyote said:
I love a condenser mic, and that is a great price.

I would be wary of a plastic housing, but they'd be nice while they lasted.

I have a few of the Shure version (dynamics), I like them very much, and they look great in my garage rock band.
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Looks like they ARE metal.
 
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#26
ofajen said:
No, it's cardioid. Which would be preferred for live use.

Otto
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I wasn't talking about the pattern. I was talking about the method by which the mic converts sound to electricity. And when recording multiple singers, Condenser mics are nice because you don't have to stick your face in them to get good sound.
 
#28
electracoyote said:
Yeah, after watching the video, it appeared the had some heft to them.

Too bad those guys didn't do an actual audition and review of the sound quality while they were at it.

Now I'm interested in these mics.
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Yeah, when I heard it go "clunk" when he put it on the table, it was pretty clear they ARE metal. I might do the same thing I did with the headphones. Buy one, and If I like it, buy a bunch.
 
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#30
Robroy said:
I wasn't talking about the pattern. I was talking about the method by which the mic converts sound to electricity. And when recording multiple singers, Condenser mics are nice because you don't have to stick your face in them to get good sound.
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Cardioids are not pure "velocity" or "pressure gradient" transducers, which are fully open on both sides and give figure-8 pattern. Cardioid is the superposition of omni (pure pressure, which is open one side) and figure-8 (pure pressure gradient, which is open on both sides). Cardioid capsules have some sort of partial back opening that yields the unidirectional pattern, but they are not fully open and not considered pressure gradient transducers.

Otto
 
#31
Robroy said:
I wasn't talking about the pattern. I was talking about the method by which the mic converts sound to electricity. And when recording multiple singers, Condenser mics are nice because you don't have to stick your face in them to get good sound.
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Put another way, the dipole response (figure-8) is the characteristic response of a pressure gradient transducer, so pressure gradient transducers are always figure-8. Monopole response (omni) is the characteric response of a pure pressure transducer. Cardioid is intermediate and has a partial back path. I hope that helps clear up the difference.

Otto
 
#33
ofajen said:
Cardioids are not pure "velocity" or "pressure gradient" transducers, which are fully open on both sides and give figure-8 pattern. Cardioid is the superposition of omni (pure pressure, which is open one side) and figure-8 (pure pressure gradient, which is open on both sides). Cardioid capsules have some sort of partial back opening that yields the unidirectional pattern, but they are not fully open and not considered pressure gradient transducers.

Otto
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Exactly. The reason I posted what you responded to was that I was responding to a post that basically said "It's not pressure gradient, it's cardioid". To me that is like saying, about a car, "it's not a diesel, It's a four door."
 
#34
Heil makes great mics retro-looking mics for short wave and some similar uses. Haven't tried them in a band/music setting. Bob is a ham operator so he puts a little extra in his retro-style ham radio mics. Not cheap though. Mine lasted over 35 years before I traded it for a hand-held mic. I've always wished for the old Heil back.
 
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#35
Robroy said:
Exactly. The reason I posted what you responded to was that I was responding to a post that basically said "It's not pressure gradient, it's cardioid". To me that is like saying, about a car, "it's not a diesel, It's a four door."
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I said that, because the pattern is intrinsically related to the transducer geometry. Cardioids are never pressure gradient, which are always dipole (figure-8) pattern.

It's instructive to look at something like the RCA model 77, perhaps the first multi pattern mike. The patterns are created mechanically by changing the transducer environment. It's a ribbon mike with a port in back. Closed, it's omni (pressure); fully open, it's figure-8 (gradient); and in the third setting, the port leads thru a longer, restricted path that results in a cardioid pattern.

These days, multi-pattern mikes more commonly generate patterns electronically, using a pair of opposed cardioid capsules; adding them to approximate omni; subtracting them to approximate figure-8 and using the forward element only for cardioid.

A third method is used by David Josephson's Series 7, where he collocates omni and figure-8 capsules, one over the other, and runs both capsule outputs out a special cable, so the two signals can be recorded separately and mixed later (or mixed live) to generate any pattern.

Otto
 
#36
ofajen said:
I said that, because the pattern is intrinsically related to the transducer geometry. Cardioids are never pressure gradient, which are always dipole (figure-8) pattern.

It's instructive to look at something like the RCA model 77, perhaps the first multi pattern mike. The patterns are created mechanically by changing the transducer environment. It's a ribbon mike with a port in back. Closed, it's omni (pressure); fully open, it's figure-8 (gradient); and in the third setting, the port leads thru a longer, restricted path that results in a cardioid pattern.

These days, multi-pattern mikes more commonly generate patterns electronically, using a pair of opposed cardioid capsules; adding them to approximate omni; subtracting them to approximate figure-8 and using the forward element only for cardioid.

A third method is used by David Josephson's Series 7, where he collocates omni and figure-8 capsules, one over the other, and runs both capsule outputs out a special cable, so the two signals can be recorded separately and mixed later (or mixed live) to generate any pattern.

Otto
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But I didn't say it was cardiod.
Edit: I see their link to the condenser version has the word "cardiord" in it, but the specs on the site say it is unidirectional.


We're talking about a $39 and a $49 mic. ;)

I modded a couple of Octava 319's I bought for $99 each back when I lived in Seattle. They were pretty darned amazing AFTER the mod. And I compared them after I'd only done one. I didn't even do the "full mod". I doubt the Stellar Labs Condenser mic could hold a candle to them, but they would be great for live stage use when using a single mic with a bluegrass group.

To be honest, I don't really see a lot of usefulness in the condenser version of this mic. I think it's just the Chines companies doing it "because they can". My 50's band just broke up, but I'm getting the dynamic one anyway. It's the price of a pizza.

To be clear, the most exciting thing about these mics beyond the fact that I've always wanted the Shure but it was absurdly expensive ($250), is that this company pulled off an amazing set of headphones for $17.50 that not only sound as good as anything I've ever heard for under $200, but that are ridiculously comfortable, durable, and don't bleed in the recording studio. We'll see.
 
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#38
Robroy said:
To be clear, the most exciting thing about these mics beyond the fact that I've always wanted the Shure but it was absurdly expensive ($250), is that this company pulled off an amazing set of headphones for $17.50 that not only sound as good as anything I've ever heard for under $200, but that are ridiculously comfortable, durable, and don't bleed in the recording studio. We'll see.
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Yeah, those look very interesting. Definitely going to keep that link for when I need an extra set of headphones in the studio.

Dangerous for me to discuss mikes. I'm more likely to get GAS over RCA or Josephson mikes than a bass. Luckily, they are way too expensive.

Otto
 
#40
electracoyote said:
Please let us know how they sound. That's 1/3 the price of a Shure.
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Personally, I have no interest in cheap mikes for recording. Decent ones can be had for a reasonable price.

Cheap capsules are made with lower tolerances and a "throw out the duds" approach, which has two important results: 1) there is far more initial unit-to-unit variation than on mikes from high-precision shops; and 2) there is more change in performance over time, meaning that even if you do find one you like, it's less likely to stay that way over time.

A shop like Josephson will get 20 mikes that all meet an excruciating standard from 20 sets of parts, and, barring mistreatment, they will meet that same spec 20 years later. Shure may not produce solely high end stuff, but they are another company with many decades of experience in producing good, consistent and reliable mikes. Heil is another one with a strong track record and high quality.

Otto
 

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