Announcing: The Chuck Israels Signature Mic 'Traveling Demo'

If you haven't seen the thread or heard of this new mic that is coming out soon check out this thread: Chuck Israels signature mic

I was so impressed with the sound of the bass on the recording that I contacted the people making this mic and asked if they would be interested in sponsoring a 'traveling demo'. They were excited about the idea and have agreed to provide a mic for us to trial.

For those of you who remember how we did this when the Headway EDB-2 first came out, this will work much the same way. One of us will trial the mic for a time - perhaps a week or two - and 'put it through its paces'. Preferably with some time spent both using it live on stage as well as recording. The demo on their website was done without acoustically separating the instruments and the lack of 'bleed' this mic has allows for keeping all the instruments in the same space. Personally, I feel this is a much nicer way to record and allows for a synergy that is difficulty to get when you are in an isolation booth. (Full disclosure: I don't have much experience recording, but I have had enough to develop the opinion just expressed).

I'd like to get perhaps a half-dozen or so fellow TB bassists interested in participating. I AM EXPECIALLY INTERESTED IN HAVING 'TESTERS' WHO HAVE PREVIOUS MICING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY WITH OTHER 'HIGH-END' MICS SUCH AS THE DPA OR SCHOEPS. The claims and hopes for this mic regarding 1. Sound Quality, 2. Feedback resistance, and 3. Lack of Bleed are quite high and would best be tested in comparison to other high-quality mics.

This project won't get started till perhaps August as they don't have a mic available for me yet - it's that new.

If you are interested in participating please shoot me a message and, if I don't know this about you already, please give me a short description of your current or previous mic experience and what kind of gear you are presently using.

Thanks for you interest, I look forward to another productive Talkbass Gear Trial.

 

IRH: Thanks for your reply. You're in. Please PM me your mailing address and phone number. Thx.

 

David, thanks for you interest. You're in. (Be sure and let me know if you are able to use the 'Chuck' mic for any of your TV or movie recordings!

 

Well, we are probably in good shape at least for our 'initial group of reviewers'.

PLEASE NOTE: For anyone participating in this 'traveling review', once you receive the mic from the previous review you can take a week (or two, if necessary) to do your testing of the mic. The expectatons for you following this are simply:
1. Post an honest, thoughtful, but respectful review on TB. (in the unlikely event that you have some kind of 'problem' with the mic please contact me before posting a review. We have a manufacturers rep to help us answer any question and help you get the most from the mic. This is not to say that I don't want honest reviews, I do. It's just that I know from experience that sometimes there is a learning curve which must be met before you can effectively critique the item. We will have help available to us on best ways to mount the mic and also on placement.

2. You will be responsible for securely packaging the mic and sending it INSURED to the next participant (which I will give you). My initial estimate on the shipping plus insurance looks to be about $30. If that is a 'deal breaker' for you ust let me know. No harm - No foul. For me personally, it will be worth that to be able to spend some quality time with a great bit of gear.

If you have any other questions just post here OR send me a PM.

At this point I'm expecting to get the trail mic in the first part of August, but I will keep everyone posted here.

Thanks to everyone for your interest. I believe that getting a number of reviews and opinions from our accomplished TB collegues is, frankly, more worthwhile than reading a 'commercial' review.

PS. If you ARE able to do some recording with this mic, and I certainly hope you can, I would ask you to share those audio (or video) clips with us as well.

All the best,

Rick

 

Pete,

Sorry to say I had kind of forgotten about this project before we got it put together.

I just reached out to the manufacturer again. They were very interested in doing this last time we had communicated and hopefully still are.

I will post here when I hear back from them.

Thanks for the reminder.

Rick

 

THE CHUCK ISRAEL'S MIC SHOULD BE SHIPPING TO ME SOON !!!!!!

Just got word from the inventor, Peter Axelson, that they will be shipping it shortly.

I'm really looking forward to this as my attempts at live recording continue to convince me that getting a good (or at least acceptable) sound through the amp VS getting a good live recorded sound are two very different things. I have been comparing using the amps DI, post EQ, as well as running pickups (KNA DB-1) and contact mics (Ischell) direct to the recorder. I haven't yet found anything that records as well as a good 'air mic'.

As soon as I get the 'Chuck', I will be using it live as well as for recording and will initially be comparing it to my ATM350.

Hopefully the other testers will have a number of other mics to compare it to, ie: DPA, Schoeps, Troll, AKG C414, etc etc.

 

Ric, I'm really glad you and others are going to be able to compare this mic to other high-quality bass-specific microphones. I have high hopes myself (I'll have to start stashing some of my gig money).

The thing that amazes me is that I can't find anything that records my basses as well as the built-in XY mics on my H6 Zoom. Maybe it's partly the fact that I'm comparing a stereo recording to a mono recording, but if I can attach a mic to my bass that allows me to get THAT SOUND both through my amd AND into the recorder I am going to be one happy camper.

PS I'm looking forward to you review of you new MAS 8. When do you get that? Also, want to hear how it works for you running one of the Remics into that powered cab.

 

GETTING READY TO TEST THE CHUCK ISRAEL SIGNATURE MIC by http://xlsonaudio.com/'

I'm looking forward to testing this new mic shortly, for BOTH Live use and recording.

I think one of the best ways to test a new piece of gear is to compare it to other existing products to see what the differences are and to determine if the 'Next New Thing' really is an improvement over current products.

In order to get ready for that I decided to break out my ATM 350 clip on condenser mic (which I haven't been using lately) and to see how it does through my new 'Genzlihur Amp'. I was actually quite surprised in that even with the amp only 3 feet away and aiming right at my bass I did not get any feedback at a moderate volume. I have a gig tonight with Grand Piano, Voice, and moi. I'm going to see if just the mic alone through my amp will carry it. I'm certainly ho[ing it does. When the 'Chuck' mic gets here I will be looking to see if I an get more volume and Better Tone - again, both live and recording.

Here's a little sample clip I did today with the ATM 350:

To see if you agree this is MBOL compare sound at 1:52 (amp) and 2:25 (acoustic).

 

Thanks Ric. I got lucky buying that Eastman sight unseen.

Here is a tune we recorded tonight. We did a whole night of reading new tunes we had never done together before. Sometimes ad-lib creates some nice moments.

 

THE 'CHUCK' IS SHIPPING NEXT WEEK.