Great guitar micing comparison by sweetwater

[DRodriguez]

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/guita ... c-shootout

Go listen to a bunch of mics compared accurately. So you don't have to buy a mic you're not going to like.

[ognoy]

Thanks for sharing! This is awesome! Will dive into this when I have more time on my hands.

[Olin]

Sometimes it's a little bit disappointing to already have the mics you think sound best as there's not really a reason to keep looking for/at mics. Bit surprised by the SM7B in this though, I usually really like how they sound and hated it here.

[drolo]

who else has tried to play all the tracks at once ?

[ibarakishi]

who else has tried to play all the tracks at once ?

more mic = more tone

[Kacey Y]

I think it's great that they post something like this*. It's definitely a useful tool for people shopping who can't just try something out and want a general idea of what the basic tonal differences of different microphones are.


*But....

It doesn't convey the more nuanced differences between mics beyond just a static shot of a tone. Different mics have different amounts of headroom, different off axis rejection, etc. and it's really difficult to convey that through clip comparisons. It's also worth noting that different microphones may have what seems like a negligible tone difference from another, but how they sound when pushed hard (or not hard enough) or with different EQ boosted or cut showcases a lot more differences.

Some mics have kind of a "baked in" EQ curve that sounds pleasing solo on certain sources, but if you're trying to EQ it differently in a mix, it can get messy. Some mics are kind of bland compared to others with a flat EQ, but then when you want to shape the sound in the mix, respond really well to more extreme EQ and compression, where others might get unpleasant sounding with similar mixing.

Still, not naysaying, it's super helpful to have comparisons like this. Especially with such a variety of industry standard and budget alternative mics.

[tremolo3]

Man, this is awesome!

[crochambeau]

Bit surprised by the SM7B in this though, I usually really like how they sound and hated it here.

(no bass rolloff, no mid-range emphasis)

My guess is that they lined up the optimal sound with another mic, and it resulted in some proximity effect with the SM7. I recall them saying they couldn't get it "close enough" to absolutely line up due to the screen.. I find I prefer a bit more distance than that with mine.

Still, cool project. I'll listen to them all at some point, but I really need to not get microphone lusty at the moment.

[DRodriguez]

Usually the SM7B is used (in my experience) because of how good it's proximity effect sounds. Like RE-20's to get that classic radio beef.

I think it's great that they post something like this*. It's definitely a useful tool for people shopping who can't just try something out and want a general idea of what the basic tonal differences of different microphones are.

*But.... [shortened for length]

Absolutely. But if one were invested, they could take these samples and run them through eq and compression. Through them in with some drums, etc. But this is a more honest representation and wide ranging than anything else I've found out there. There's a lot of hearsay used out there with mics, better to have some concrete ideas.

Headroom, different off axis rejection, etc is really impossible to demonstrate without going hands on. And not many people are so fortunate.

[crochambeau]

Usually the SM7B is used (in my experience) because of how good it's proximity effect sounds. Like RE-20's to get that classic radio beef.

I get picky about guitar sounds in particular though, too much proximity boost and I start to lose traction on clarity. I haven't listened to enough clips to form up an educated opinion, but at first glance it seemed the bandwidth on the SM7 is tilted low, so any VU leveling between all the mics is going to essentially rob us of upper end. Had they pulled it out an inch and goosed a little gain to compensate it might be a different animal.

Might not, it's really in can of worms territory as it is.

[DRodriguez]

You can always download the raw audio and volume match to your preferred method. The A-weighted seemed to do a good job at perceived loudness. A weighting is known for ignoring low end, so I don't believe it would detract too much from the SM7. I personally am not a huge fan of the sm7 on a lot of things, but it can do wonders on a vocal.

who else has tried to play all the tracks at once ?

https://clyp.it/jyxtky5t?token=8dd10ad7 ... 85b1b96fee

[Kacey Y]

Absolutely. But if one were invested, they could take these samples and run them through eq and compression. Through them in with some drums, etc. But this is a more honest representation and wide ranging than anything else I've found out there. There's a lot of hearsay used out there with mics, better to have some concrete ideas.

Headroom, different off axis rejection, etc is really impossible to demonstrate without going hands on. And not many people are so fortunate.

Yeah, agreed on both counts. Listening to people describe what something sounds like is...of limited usefulness. Even if you assume they're being accurate, whatever that means. Having some kind of relatively objective comparison is really helpful. It's pretty difficult to get access to a lot of different mics to test/shoot out, unless you're going into a studio to record. Most people don't have that kind of luxury, even if they do they may not have the time to spend to be auditioning lots of different mics on every source. I tend to go by a "make whatever you have work" philosophy, personally. So if someone is looking for a bright mic or a dark mic or a neutral mic, having comparisons like this is helpful steering in the right direction, since forum posts/threads on mics can get really unfocused and highly subjective.

The SM7B is the first "pro" microphone I ever bought. So I used it on pretty much every source, in every configuration I could think of. It's definitely a work horse, you can throw it on almost anything in a pinch, but there's only a few applications where I think it really stands out as a best pick. A lot of what makes it really useful is difficult, if not impossible to tell from a tone comparison demo. Since it's mostly about headroom, off axis rejection and how the mic sounds stays pretty neutral on very loud/bassy sources that blow out a lot of other mics. If someone told me they were going to buy 10 mics to start seriously recording, I'd suggest they make sure one of them is a SM7B.

[DRodriguez]

I got bored before work so here's all the mics thrown into a binaural VR plugin as if you are on a large stage and you have 21 amps around you in a in a 8 foot circle

21 amps behind you in a in a 8 foot semi circle

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8obr0pmhtmp6k ... i.wav?dl=0

21 amps around you in a in a 8 foot circle

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5e6gsofp9a19k ... 2.wav?dl=0

[crochambeau]

You can always download the raw audio and volume match to your preferred method.

Whoa, shit, that's cool.

Have we established a similar guitar track on ILF for use in pedal demos? That would be a great way to attempt an apples to apples comparison across all the weirdo circuits.

Of course, levels and gain are an uncontrolled aspect... and playing response to any given build goes out the window... so yeah, more worms, worms everywhere.

[goroth]

Not to mention impedance sensitive circuits not doing fun stuff if you are reamping.