A= Coles 4038 B= Royer 121 C= AEA R84 D= KSM 313 Dont you realize that your videos are useless if you don't show the results at the end of the video. It's a shame because this video is really well done. I HAVE YOUR TESTS I'm sure everyone else.
just curious , what speakers did you listen on ? I thought "A" for clean ( B seemed too present in the upper mids ) and A or D for overdrive had a nice thick tone . I listened on Yamaha NS10M with the old tweeters .
Consumers have gotten so used to free stuff, they no longer appreciate the work that goes into a comparison like this, nor creating a video of this quality. If one is truly interested in buying one of these mics, why not support the folks that created the video and call them up? They even have a "free try before you buy" program. Who does that for stangers? Certainly not my company.
If you're upfront about needing to get the final results somewhere else, that' fine. If you say nothing about getting the final results elsewhere, title a video "ribbon mic comparison", but then don't finish the comparison in the video, people feel they aren't getting what they were offered. You don't have to offer things for free, but if you make an offer that looks free and then pull the rug out, people are gonna be pissed.
I would say C was my favourite between all of these. B and D both did a good job too, but there was something about the clarity and detail of C that really stood out.
S'funny, I listened again on my laptop and C was the best. I'll relisten to this test through monitors and headphones. Last time I heard this demo I had been listening to loads of different condenser mics, which probably tainted my ears. Something to beware of!
How stupid for not telling is which mic what's which. I liked B the best, and C was too bright and really weird sounding on the distorted guitar, so how do I order B if I don't know what mic it is?
the Coles 4038 was used a lot as an overhead drum mic on The Beatles recordings. It has a tendency to darken cymbals in a way no other mic does - it takes upper frequencies of the cymbal from sharp to sweet.
PLEASE answer! I have been looking at various ribbon mics and I have noticed they are almost all BI directional (or figure of 8 however you wanna call it) and they sound really nice BUT 1. Do the mics take in equal sound from both sides? 2. If so does the audio track need to be mono or stereo? (Of it's mono will it take In just one side?) 3. If the mic does take in equal audio, isn't the sound of it completely subjective to the room it's placed in? I know that last question is the same for all mics but what I mean is: if you throw a 57 on the grille of an amp cracked to 11 it won't make a difference if you're in a stadium or studio. But if it takes in sound from the back and front then SURLEY it would matter? Thanks 😊
@Adam Callan. !. Front side is positive while back side of figure 8 is negative. 2. You are tracking a single track with one microphone, but you can use figure 8s with MS stereo technique. Read more on MS stereo recording to understand how this works (you'll need another mic, a cardiod.) 3. It's not equal. One great power of a figure 8 is the "null point" on the sides of the mic. Cancellations on the side. This is a powerful tool. About ribbons vs 57s, it's a different ballgame completely. Push a 57 right up on the grill and you get bass boost proximity effect. Ribbons must be placed back further... even 6 inches is maximum closeness for an AEA R92. Otherwise, the ribbon literally bangs up on the mic housing and even destroy your ribbon. Handle with care. Royer actually writes in their manual. "Do not lend this microphone to people who are unfamiliar with the use of ribbon microphones." Finally, ribbons just sound so good when digital recording. Your 57 will sound so brittle and harsh on high ends once you've done a few sessions with a Coles or Royer and AEA.
I found C to be the most unique sounding, really coloured in comparison to the others. I think I prefer A but honestly I could see applications for them all!
They all sound fabulous to me for both clean and overdriven sounds. I Found A to be the darkest and C the brightest while D had more midrange overtones. All fab though. ♫
for me its mic c on the clean sound the others seem to expose a weird hi pitch ring ? of which might b ok in the mix and maybe best suits the style of how the instrument is being played ? no ?mic b for the overdrive good mids and bottom end and a little more gain presence ?bottom end sounds wooley on a c & d mics again mic b sounds good on its own but in the mix ??
i thought A and D were very neutral with a flat response, where as B sounded like it had a top end boost, and C had a nice boost in the low mid range! I could see myself using mic B for acoustics and male vocals for the high end presence, i would love to try C on a bass amp or a Peavy 5150 or the 6505! and i think i could find just about any use for A and D around my studio! i love the flatter response and high clarity, leave me a ton of room to play with the audio files in Pro Tools!
I wish places like this would keep in mind that majority of musicians are working musicians that cannot afford all these expensive gear that they use to demo everything. It would be great to have shootouts using everyday gear, more affordable , that would be more realistic
I completely go for D, I found B and C very similar on clean but C cut a little on the mid for driven guitar. B brought the low end on clean and A just sounded duller in all. What's D?, please let me know!!! :D
+rockdohc We don't want to spoil it for future viewers. Just email us at mics(at)soundpure.com and we'll send you the answers (and hi res files, if you like)!
+louderthangod Thank you very very much!! I was guessing B is Shure…with little bright sound. Others were unable to determine for me. Well…AEA is slightly deep, Coles is flat sound…I felt.
C Had the nicest low end, more pronounced than the others on clean for me, but sounded more brittle than the others driven Overdriven its D for me, sounded the least muddy
Mr. Pimpleburger, I don't mean to insult but I think you may be blowing out of proportion the reasons why we do these shootouts blind. First, we probably have less interest in spamming you than you have in receiving it. Also, we may attempt to start a conversation with you about the mics but if you'd rather not chat about em, no worries - grab the results and be done with it. You won't find any pressure coming from us.
B and A respectively were my overall favorites, but really there was nothing wrong with any of them. Then, D and C. They all sounded great, but I thought B had a fuller sound, with A a perhaps better for some applications for clean. But I would use any of the four with a smile on my face. Thank you for the shoot out.
A&D were great for the clean tone imho. i'd give the edge to A as it was a little more creamy/clean whereas D felt a little more in your face clean. B&C were great for the overdriven sound and those felt more like a coin toss to me. at the end of the day all sounded great and i think anyone of them would be a great addition to any studio
I'm think B is the best but i also think that C is the most accurate. I felt A was missing some high end? D was very good as will but B was prob my fav. D might have won for the overdriven. but very very close
All great sounding ribbons! I think A is my favourite. but B had a very nice mid range tonality to it... I could also see myself choosing C and D over the others if it fit the mix better... Can I just have all of them?? hahaha
+Rick Salt Exactly! The floor introduces a proximity effect, which turns up the bass in the two mics closer to it. It's still giving two valid comparisons, between the two bottom mics and the two top mics, but an amp stand would make this more valuable. Still, they all sound great. C and D seem to add some slight reverb characteristics (or better pick up what's there), but I love all four. Any effects/eq/compression? Or is that reverb in c and d a near-reflection off that same floor?
it takes about the same time complaining here about not reveiling the mics as it does sending them a mail ! ! ! even though the video is 6 years old, they came back to me within a couple of hours, the answer is more than polite, they're not pushing anything on me and even include a link to high res. files... thanks sps :)
Thanks! It's been a lot of fun doing these shoot outs, and you should start seeing more of them from us in the future. If you haven't gotten in touch with any of us here to get the results, definitely do that - it just takes a quick email to us. You'll get the results, and we might try to start a conversation with you, but we won't fill your inbox with spam or other junk that you don't want.
You really hit nail on the head there - None of these 4 mics would be a bad choice for a ribbon mic - they're just various shades of great, depending on the scenario.
soundpurestudios people are arrogant when you mail them. ....and there is quite a bit post processing going on. Ribbons never sound that bright and open unless they all have a cinemag transformer integrated which just isn't the case with these particular mics. Nothing but a waste of time.
its amazing the effort they go through do they really think people care. you can use a 50 cent plastic mic you bought at a garage sale and most listeners arent going to care even hear a difference. people buy cds because they like the band and the song not because the recording engineer used a certain type of mic.
I asked them by email more than 5 times and they never answer. It is so easy to write a commment with the results. Everybody has the same feeling about this test. I aprecciate a lot you efford and time. The videohas great quality, but It's a complete waste of time if you dont show the results at the end.
A= Coles 4038
B= Royer 121
C= AEA R84
D= KSM 313
Dont you realize that your videos are useless if you don't show the results at the end of the video. It's a shame because this video is really well done. I HAVE YOUR TESTS I'm sure everyone else.
This is not correct
its been 8 years don't you think you could tell us which mic is which?
this channel sucks
So which was which WTF?
All about dat mic B. So warm and clear.
just curious , what speakers did you listen on ?
I thought "A" for clean ( B seemed too present in the upper mids ) and A or D for overdrive had a nice thick tone . I listened on Yamaha NS10M with the old tweeters .
listening on JBL LSR305's; most honest pair of monitors for under $600 ($300)
Lysergik Dubz I went to sweetwater.com and there was 88 reviews on the
lSR305's , 5 stars , everyone praising them .
Thanks for the info
thanks for wasting my time
I sat through the whole thing just to find I have to call long distance to find out which mic was which. Assholes.
u47tube No long distance charges on email! Hit us up at Mics@soundpure.com and we'd be happy to reveal which is which.
Consumers have gotten so used to free stuff, they no longer appreciate the work that goes into a comparison like this, nor creating a video of this quality. If one is truly interested in buying one of these mics, why not support the folks that created the video and call them up? They even have a "free try before you buy" program. Who does that for stangers? Certainly not my company.
If you're upfront about needing to get the final results somewhere else, that' fine. If you say nothing about getting the final results elsewhere, title a video "ribbon mic comparison", but then don't finish the comparison in the video, people feel they aren't getting what they were offered.
You don't have to offer things for free, but if you make an offer that looks free and then pull the rug out, people are gonna be pissed.
I would say C was my favourite between all of these.
B and D both did a good job too, but there was something about the clarity and detail of C that really stood out.
S'funny, I listened again on my laptop and C was the best. I'll relisten to this test through monitors and headphones. Last time I heard this demo I had been listening to loads of different condenser mics, which probably tainted my ears. Something to beware of!
I'm guessing C is the AEA 84 since it is modeled off of the AEA RCA 44 clone, and sounds pretty similiar but with more highs.
Mic C sounds for me "mixed, finished". You put it in a mix and it fits. Then just be creative and drive more upper-midrange or whatever else in.
How stupid for not telling is which mic what's which. I liked B the best, and C was too bright and really weird sounding on the distorted guitar, so how do I order B if I don't know what mic it is?
'B' is the best
i just saw this video then realized it's super old...what was the results?
I liked A for this application. It rounded off the guitar nicely
B sounded best to me. A sounded anemic. D was good but maybe too characterful.
All about that B mic! Guess KSM 313
10 minutes wasted
B was my favourite in both examples.
the Coles 4038 was used a lot as an overhead drum mic on The Beatles recordings. It has a tendency to darken cymbals in a way no other mic does - it takes upper frequencies of the cymbal from sharp to sweet.
WASTE OF TIME, WHICH SOUND WAS WHICH MICROPHONE!?
+stijndeklerk
A= AEA R84
B= Shure KSM313
C=Royer R-121
D= Coles 4038
i can t understand the reason why we should not know which is which..whats the point exactly?
PLEASE answer!
I have been looking at various ribbon mics and I have noticed they are almost all BI directional (or figure of 8 however you wanna call it) and they sound really nice BUT
1. Do the mics take in equal sound from both sides?
2. If so does the audio track need to be mono or stereo? (Of it's mono will it take In just one side?)
3. If the mic does take in equal audio, isn't the sound of it completely subjective to the room it's placed in?
I know that last question is the same for all mics but what I mean is: if you throw a 57 on the grille of an amp cracked to 11 it won't make a difference if you're in a stadium or studio. But if it takes in sound from the back and front then SURLEY it would matter?
Thanks 😊
E
E
@Adam Callan. !. Front side is positive while back side of figure 8 is negative. 2. You are tracking a single track with one microphone, but you can use figure 8s with MS stereo technique. Read more on MS stereo recording to understand how this works (you'll need another mic, a cardiod.) 3. It's not equal. One great power of a figure 8 is the "null point" on the sides of the mic. Cancellations on the side. This is a powerful tool. About ribbons vs 57s, it's a different ballgame completely. Push a 57 right up on the grill and you get bass boost proximity effect. Ribbons must be placed back further... even 6 inches is maximum closeness for an AEA R92. Otherwise, the ribbon literally bangs up on the mic housing and even destroy your ribbon. Handle with care. Royer actually writes in their manual. "Do not lend this microphone to people who are unfamiliar with the use of ribbon microphones." Finally, ribbons just sound so good when digital recording. Your 57 will sound so brittle and harsh on high ends once you've done a few sessions with a Coles or Royer and AEA.
What's Mic B???
Thank you so much for the compliment. We're glad you enjoy!
So what's the "Mic B"? )))
Thanks for wasting my time - a shootout without results. Great.
I found C to be the most unique sounding, really coloured in comparison to the others. I think I prefer A but honestly I could see applications for them all!
B. I want a "B".
I am certain that the order is as follows: A - Shure KSM 313, B - Coles 4038, C - Royer R121, D - AEA R84.
I definitely like B - Coles 4038!
You would be wrong.
Coles would be the darkest of the bunch...
No
Mic B by a long shot. The others are just too muffled and don't have nearly as much detail.
Shure KSM313. That's what all the official Mesa Boogie promo vids use. It's the only thing that makes 'em sound any good!!! Ahhh! No I'm kidding...
thank you soundpure for your great service, and for being humble when i speak you on the phone, you guys rule!
Bad strategy of advertising Soundpure...
I will never buy something from you !
Will you soon tell us which was which? We can`t wait no more...
As a Duesy aficionado myself, mic B really brought out the sound of the Duesenberg better than the others.
what r the pre's?
B was the favorite. I listened on my laptop though.
Tomorrow, I will listen through my monitor speakers.
I like A for clean, B for distortion.
So which one is A, B, C and D ?
They all sound fabulous to me for both clean and overdriven sounds. I Found A to be the darkest and C the brightest while D had more midrange overtones. All fab though. ♫
Just tell us which is which.
My personal order of preference on both clean & dirty BDAC.
C or D. What are they? B was terrible
With this particular setup they are using my ears gravitate towards the 'B' mic for clean playing and the 'C' mic for the distorted playing.
for me its mic c on the clean sound the others seem to expose a weird hi pitch ring ? of which might b ok in the mix and maybe best suits the style of how the instrument is being played ? no ?mic b for the overdrive good mids and bottom end and a little more gain presence ?bottom end sounds wooley on a c & d mics again mic b sounds good on its own but in the mix ??
Mic C all the way for my style of music... anyone know which one that was?
It's our pleasure. Thanks for giving us a ring and for the kind words!
Dude. Which mic is which?
yeah i think mic B is best of them
i thought A and D were very neutral with a flat response, where as B sounded like it had a top end boost, and C had a nice boost in the low mid range! I could see myself using mic B for acoustics and male vocals for the high end presence, i would love to try C on a bass amp or a Peavy 5150 or the 6505! and i think i could find just about any use for A and D around my studio! i love the flatter response and high clarity, leave me a ton of room to play with the audio files in Pro Tools!
I wish places like this would keep in mind that majority of musicians are working musicians that cannot afford all these expensive gear that they use to demo everything. It would be great to have shootouts using everyday gear, more affordable , that would be more realistic
So what are the mics?
Oh! powerful B !! but in overall the A sounds the great best to me... Excellent videos, thanks.
I DON'T Want to play this game. I'd like to know which is the very first mic.
I completely go for D, I found B and C very similar on clean but C cut a little on the mid for driven guitar. B brought the low end on clean and A just sounded duller in all.
What's D?, please let me know!!! :D
B A C D in order of favourite to least
What is Mic A? Thanks
I would like to also add that I would love to know which is which. Definitely not buying a ribbon mic today.
!!!
No answer!?
5 minutes for what?
+rockdohc We don't want to spoil it for future viewers. Just email us at mics(at)soundpure.com and we'll send you the answers (and hi res files, if you like)!
+rockdohc
A= AEA R84
B= Shure KSM313
C=Royer R-121
D= Coles 4038
+louderthangod
Thank you very very much!!
I was guessing B is Shure…with little bright sound. Others were unable to determine for me. Well…AEA is slightly deep, Coles is flat sound…I felt.
A and D sounded flatter and less aggressive which I like for these cleaner guitar sounds. Listening on MacBook Pro by the way.
gonna guess at royer aea coles shure in that order.
You should check out the sE VR2. They say it holds its own with ribbons more than twice its price. I'd like to see it compared. If so I'd buy one def.
Headsup - they don't tell you what mic you're listening to!
C clean , A dirty. I feel like these should be farther back from the amp like double the distance. No one has phoned them?
i didnt know that a ribbon wouldn't pick up the acoustic sound of playing the guitar in the same room
C Had the nicest low end, more pronounced than the others on clean for me, but sounded more brittle than the others driven
Overdriven its D for me, sounded the least muddy
Mr. Pimpleburger, I don't mean to insult but I think you may be blowing out of proportion the reasons why we do these shootouts blind. First, we probably have less interest in spamming you than you have in receiving it. Also, we may attempt to start a conversation with you about the mics but if you'd rather not chat about em, no worries - grab the results and be done with it. You won't find any pressure coming from us.
B and A respectively were my overall favorites, but really there was nothing wrong with any of them. Then, D and C. They all sounded great, but I thought B had a fuller sound, with A a perhaps better for some applications for clean. But I would use any of the four with a smile on my face. Thank you for the shoot out.
that A has got to be the coles.... ?
A&D were great for the clean tone imho. i'd give the edge to A as it was a little more creamy/clean whereas D felt a little more in your face clean. B&C were great for the overdriven sound and those felt more like a coin toss to me. at the end of the day all sounded great and i think anyone of them would be a great addition to any studio
B and C sounded great.
Actually all of them sounded great. I'll take 2 of each please.
I watched this entire video and you don't say which is which? shame on you. that is why it has twice as many thumbs down. Mic A was my fav
For me it's either A or D. I didn't care too much for B. C was ok.
Please tell me what is what. =)
I'm think B is the best but i also think that C is the most accurate. I felt A was missing some high end? D was very good as will but B was prob my fav. D might have won for the overdriven. but very very close
I agree 100%
A is fuller and richer, B is thinner and dull IMHO. D and C is in between them with this order. I'd go with the mic A.
Useful video but I'm glaring at the omission of Beyer ribbons.
they dont sell beyer mics apparently.
B, no doubt
IMHO the best is С
I like C also the most, and i think it would sit best in a mix.
All great sounding ribbons! I think A is my favourite. but B had a very nice mid range tonality to it... I could also see myself choosing C and D over the others if it fit the mix better... Can I just have all of them?? hahaha
the floor !!!! lifting the amp off the floor might be included in the setting .
+Rick Salt Exactly! The floor introduces a proximity effect, which turns up the bass in the two mics closer to it. It's still giving two valid comparisons, between the two bottom mics and the two top mics, but an amp stand would make this more valuable. Still, they all sound great. C and D seem to add some slight reverb characteristics (or better pick up what's there), but I love all four. Any effects/eq/compression? Or is that reverb in c and d a near-reflection off that same floor?
+Rick Salt ...also, it's a ported speaker, and the bottom mics are closer to the ports then the top ones.
overkill??
Position are not the same, how could you compare, lol...
it takes about the same time complaining here about not reveiling the mics as it does sending them a mail ! ! ! even though the video is 6 years old, they came back to me within a couple of hours, the answer is more than polite, they're not pushing anything on me and even include a link to high res. files... thanks sps :)
For me... clearly B
B here on the clean.
I feel like it would be a lot easier to compare them if there wasn't so much time between each one
OK....I know which one I like....but I'd like to know WHAT it was, so I can BUY ONE!
for my money, SP has some of, if not, the best archtop sound and production video's on youtube...just sayin....
B and D sounded wonderful to my ears. But I am using a cheap speaker. X)
Mic C the best.
Thanks! It's been a lot of fun doing these shoot outs, and you should start seeing more of them from us in the future. If you haven't gotten in touch with any of us here to get the results, definitely do that - it just takes a quick email to us. You'll get the results, and we might try to start a conversation with you, but we won't fill your inbox with spam or other junk that you don't want.
You really hit nail on the head there - None of these 4 mics would be a bad choice for a ribbon mic - they're just various shades of great, depending on the scenario.
The Coles is badly setted up : look at the rear of the mike (figure 8) aims at the fixing arm whever it should be pointing at the air !!! Pro ????
cool nice video
soundpurestudios people are arrogant when you mail them.
....and there is quite a bit post processing going on. Ribbons never sound that bright and open unless they all have a cinemag transformer integrated which just isn't the case with these particular mics. Nothing but a waste of time.
B is my favorite
b will be perfect for me
I want a nice ribbon mic. for vocals… ☮🔥
its amazing the effort they go through do they really think people care. you can use a 50 cent plastic mic you bought at a garage sale and most listeners arent going to care even hear a difference. people buy cds because they like the band and the song not because the recording engineer used a certain type of mic.
C&D were my favorite
so whats what ?
❤
Royer best sound!
I asked them by email more than 5 times and they never answer. It is so easy to write a commment with the results. Everybody has the same feeling about this test. I aprecciate a lot you efford and time. The videohas great quality, but It's a complete waste of time if you dont show the results at the end.
What the hell is that video for? Waste of time!
Thanks for the waste of time. So, you build expectation and then disappoint by not providing the results? Sleazy yes, smart? Not at all.
Vovox cable , the best .