Comments on: Mic Comparison – Four More Clips

By: Fran Guidry

Fran Guidry — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:05:38 +0000

Charles, I just emailed you the key.

I don’t know if you pay attention to cognition and bias issues, but we humans simply can’t operate without bias, and all the rigamarole with matching and blinding is a very minimal effort to defend against the limits of our perception and decision making systems.

These clips with the labels on them are worse than useless for comparative listening. The knowledge of the source will be a large part of the listening process and the decision will be made on grounds other than the objectively audible differences.

Besides, its a lot more fun this way (grin).

Fran

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:41:56 +0000

Hi Fran,
Thanks for taking the time and effort to do these shootouts. I find them very helpful and entertaining. I see that this is over two years old, but since it looks like you’re still emailing the mic identities…
F and I seem to share the most similarity with each other. Likewise for G and H. F and I sound a little smoother to me, where as G and H might have a little more high end detail. For me, I found F and I more pleasant, while G and H were bordering on harsh in this particular application. I’m guessing that F and I are the LD’s and G and H the SD’s:
F- KSM44
G- CMC64
H- KSM141
I- M179

By: Igor

Igor — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:47:47 +0000

“Like you I started out looking for the “best” mic, and spent thousands of dollars only to find myself now believing that mics make a lot less difference than I expected.”

At least you were honest enough to admit it. Many guys aren’t. Not only are they not honest enough to admit it to themselves, but they encourage others to make the same mistakes they did.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:16:37 +0000

I like F and G. Please send me the key.
Tom

By: Fran Guidry

Fran Guidry — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:25:55 +0000

Hi, Byron, sorry it took me so long, but I finally emailed you the key.

Fran

By: Bryon

Bryon — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:41:23 +0000

Hi. I know this is old, but could you send me the key?

I liked all but F. Can’t say between H, I or G which I like better. I did notice the flatter response of G, but I can’t say it’s better than the slight scoop on H & I.

Thanks!

By: Fran Guidry

Fran Guidry — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:45:10 +0000

Thanks for stopping by. I just sent you the key.

Fran

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:07:05 +0000

I liked F the best but this one was very close i gotta see the key Fran lets do the next test on vocals

By: Fran Guidry

Fran Guidry — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:52:44 +0000

Ted, I just emailed you the key.

Fran

By: Ted

Ted — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:52:48 +0000

Fran,

The differences are audible, but much smaller than typical forum claims would have you believe. Moving or angling the mic by 1/2″ would likely result in much greater difference than changing mics would, and a great recording could be made with any of these mics.

Having said that, I have never heard any of these mics, so I can’t provide an educated guess as to which is which. Please email me the results for this and your previous test.

Thanks and best regards,

Ted