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Mic shootout – 6 condensers from $120 – $1900 – Female vocals

As part of the Home Recording 101 class at Revolution Audio, this past Thursday we did a shootout of 6 vocal mics. The mics selected were some of the top sellers at the store and ranged in price from the M-Audio Nova at $119 to the AT4060 at $1905.

You may wonder why there are so many M-Audio mics in this shoot out.  Well that’s because they make good mics for the price, we had a variety on hand, and it seems like these mics don’t get a lot of attention.

The mics:

  • M-Audio Nova
  • Audio Technica AT2035
  • M-Audio Solaris
  • M-Audio Sputnik
  • AKG C 414 B-XL II
  • Audio-Technica AT4060

The source was Kate singing the first line of ’9 Crimes’ by Damien Rice. Each recording is a separate take, though she is very consistent. No processing has been done. Drop all the files into your DAW, keep the piano track active if you like. Scroll down to the bottom to get the files. The order of the files has been changed so you’ll need to guess which is which.

Leave a comment with which mic sounds like the best fit for her voice and I’ll email you the answers.

Other things to think about:

Which mic sounds like it’s the cheapest?
Which mic sounds the most expensive?
Which 2 mics are the tube mics?

M-Audio Nova $119nova

  • affordable large capsule cardioid condenser
  • 1.1” evaporated gold diaphragm
  • solid brass capsule
  • Class A solid state electronics
  • 20Hz-18kHz frequency response
  • includes hard mount, cable  and soft case

Audio-Technica AT2035 $235at2035_2

  • Large diaphragm for smooth, natural sound and low noise
  • High SPL handling and wide dynamic range provide unmatched versatility
  • Custom shock mount provides superior isolation
  • Switchable 80 Hz high-pass filter and 10 dB pad
  • Cardioid polar pattern reduces pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of desired sound source
  • Includes custom shock mount and protective pouch

M-Audio Solaris $399solaris

  • affordable large diaphragm cardioid condenser
  • 1.1” solid brass capsule w/ evaporated gold diaphragm
  • Class A solid state electronics
  • all Solaris microphones exhibit no more than +/- 1dB variation from each other
  • cardioid, omni and figure-8 polar patterns

M-Audio Sputnik $899sputnik

  • vintage tube design
  • 3-micron evaporated gold Mylar diaphragm
  • low-current 6205M dual triode tube
  • cardioid, figure-8, and omni polar patterns
  • -10dB (attenuation) pad
  • 80Hz high-pass filter
  • solid brass body with polished nickel finish
  • dedicated power supply with included 7-pin cable
  • professional shockmount
  • soft cloth bag
  • custom flight case

AKG C 414 BXL-II $1299c414-b-xli

  • High sensitivity and extremely low self noise
  • Five switchable polar patterns for placement and application flexibility
  • Two-color LEDs provide quick visual indication of selected polar pattern and output overload
  • Elastic capsule suspension greatly minimizes structurally-transmitted noise from chassis vibration
  • High sound pressure level capability and wide dynamic range
  • Completely immune to electrostatic and electromagnetic interference from digital gear, computer monitors, etc. thanks to solid metal housing and transformerless output stage
  • Three switchable bass cut filters and three pre-attenuation pads with LEDs for quick visual indication
  • All switchable components operate in low impedance circuits for ultra-high reliability even in extremely humid conditions

Audio-Technica AT4060 $19054060

  • Vintage tube sound with the versatile performance necessary for the most demanding studio applications.
  • Wide dynamic range, low self-noise and high max SPL capability.
  • Carefully-controlled cardioid pattern maintains uniform off-axis response.
  • Dual large-diaphragm elements for extended frequency response.
  • Hand-selected tubes are aged and individually tested to ensure peak performance.

The sound files

Get the files here: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1053122/vocal%20mic%20shootout.rar

Leave a comment with your guesses and I’ll email you the answers.
Answers are now here

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This entry was posted by Jon on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Gear, Microphones, Shootout, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. 44 Responses to “Mic shootout – 6 condensers from $120 – $1900 – Female vocals”

  2. By DW on May 29, 2009 | Reply

    M-Audio Nova – f
    Audio Technica AT2035 – a
    M-Audio Solaris – e
    M-Audio Sputnik – c
    AKG C 414 B-XL II – d
    Audio-Technica AT4060 – b

  3. By Spydog on May 29, 2009 | Reply

    This was a great exercise for me, thanks for posting this. It was fun for me (I’m a bit of a noob with all this audio stuff, but I love it) to listen to the different tracks and just hear the subtle differences. I don’t really know the reputations of the various mics, so my guesses would be wild guesses. Here’s what it sounded like to my inexperienced ears though:

    A – a little harsh on the top end, not as smooth as some others (also, could hear a fragment of a conversation on the recording)

    B – there was some sort of very deep rumble through the whole track…not sure if that was the mic’s fault (I also heard the rumble on the first few seconds of track E but it went away on that track)…this mic seemed a bit darker/warmer than the others to me

    C – this mic was a touch hotter than most others; sounded good, but not great

    D – I liked this mic, although not as much as F; this one had a bit more of a bump in the low-mids than F

    E – hard to get past that low rumble followed by a pop of some sort in the latter part of the track…again, not sure if any of that was the mic’s fault

    F – this mic seemed the most even, smooth and articulate to me

    Looking forward to hearing the answers. Hope I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself with this response. :)

  4. By Junior on May 29, 2009 | Reply

    Great shootout, looking forward to hearing the answers. I don’t know the reputations of any of the mics, too, but let’s say my guess:

    M-Audio Nova – e
    Audio-Technica AT2035 – f
    M-Audio Solaris – c
    M-Audio Sputnik – b
    AKG C 414 BXL-II – a
    Audio-Technica AT4060 – d

  5. By Ray on Jun 10, 2009 | Reply

    a – sounded good to my poor ears. This one seemed to have the most bleed from the headset when solo’ed. Is it more sensitive?

    f – seemed to be the most “real” (whatever that means)

    What’s amazing is how similar they are given the wide variation in price.

  6. By Daniel on Jun 10, 2009 | Reply

    a – AT 2035
    b – M-Audio Nova
    c – M-Audio Sputnik
    d – AKG 414
    e – AT 4060
    f – M-Audio Solaris

    Thanks so much for doing this test, and I can’t wait to find out what is what!

    -Daniel

  7. By Jon on Jun 11, 2009 | Reply

    Way off on those answers Daniel. :D

  8. By powlow on Jun 11, 2009 | Reply

    f sounds the most suitable for her voice
    e is also quite suited but a diferent colour
    b + d seem to lack presence
    c seems quite noisy and resonant
    a sound muffled and somehow cheap

    great shootout : looking forward to the results!

  9. By Daniel on Jun 11, 2009 | Reply

    Wow! I was kind of shocked when I saw which microphone was which…ashamed almost!

    Jon, for the record it was either D, or E that sounded best to me. :)

    Thanks again for such a revealing shootout!
    -Daniel

  10. By powlow on Jun 11, 2009 | Reply

    ah the trusty 414…glad that one sounded like one of the top mics! Justifies my “can’t go wrong with a 414″ theory :)
    however, the nova is a bit of shock…still, its a case of what’s more suited to a certain source.
    Great surprising results Jon.

  11. By Olaf on Jun 11, 2009 | Reply

    M-Audio Nova b
    Audio Technica AT2035 a
    M-Audio Solaris e
    M-Audio Sputnik c
    AKG C 414 B-XL II f
    Audio-Technica AT4060 d

    Thanks so much for doing this podcast!

  12. By Dave on Jun 15, 2009 | Reply

    Really, none of these sound that bad to me. And there is a lot of variation in the takes. But here it goes…

    I like B and E the least.

    I like C and D the next least.

    Which leaves A and F as the two I liked best.

    Overall, I think A sounds the nicest to me.

  13. By Sti on Aug 10, 2009 | Reply

    Howdy
    A is the cheapest sounding.
    D (or F) is the most expensive sounding.
    C and E possible tube mics? (Haven’t got a clue !).
    Thanks for doing this …

  14. By Terence Morris on Aug 11, 2009 | Reply

    C and D sound fuller and more 3D – I would guess these are the tube mics – I like them best, with C having the edge. Okay.

    C AT 4060
    D Sputnik
    A Nova
    B AT 2035
    E AKG
    F Solaris

  15. By Terence Morris on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply

    Please can you email me the answers.
    Thanks

  16. By Terence Morris on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply

    Yikes – I’m stunned. What preamp did you use?
    Thanks!

  17. By Jon on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply

    These were all very quickly recorded with an M-Audio Projectmix, which IMO sounds pretty poor. 6 mics on 6 stands going into the interface.

  18. By Sti on Aug 13, 2009 | Reply

    Jon, was the Solaris record in cardioid pattern like the others?

  19. By Terence Morris on Aug 13, 2009 | Reply

    Well, thanks for the time/effort. Did you notice there was ground noise on the 4060, at first I thought my system was out of wack. Just mentioning that.

  20. By Jon on Aug 13, 2009 | Reply

    All the mics were in Cardioid.

  21. By Bill L on Sep 10, 2009 | Reply

    My choice would be “f” as to which one I would use on her vocals. I feel that “c” would be an acceptable choice, if used with a de-esser. I’m interested in knowing which is which!

  22. By Moi on Sep 30, 2009 | Reply

    Dunno wich would be each,
    but I clearly prefer D, at least in her vocals.

    I wanna know the relations please; thanks!

  23. By Brett R on Oct 6, 2009 | Reply

    I don’t feel I have the ears yet to pick up the subtle differences but it is very interesting to do this as an exercise. I liked C and E the most. Next A, D, F and B. But what do I know!

  24. By Nordan Manz on Oct 6, 2009 | Reply

    Hello! I want the answers!

    thanx!

  25. By Brett R on Oct 6, 2009 | Reply

    Thanks Jon-nothing like a blind taste test to mess up your mind!

  26. By Jon on Oct 7, 2009 | Reply

    Email sent!

  27. By ehsan on Oct 12, 2009 | Reply

    c Sputnik
    d AT4060
    f Solaris
    a AT2035
    e AKG
    b Nova

  28. By ehsan on Oct 13, 2009 | Reply

    plz send me the answers

  29. By Sylvio on Oct 16, 2009 | Reply

    I really don’t know hauahau… please send the aswer!!

  30. By tommy on Oct 23, 2009 | Reply

    I want the answers, too! Looking into buying a Sputnik…

  31. By Joseph on Nov 11, 2009 | Reply

    I just got the AT 2035 and I am anxious to know how it did. If you could email me the answers that would be great. Thanks!

  32. By oytun on Nov 13, 2009 | Reply

    Sputnik E
    AT4060 A
    Solaris D
    AT2035 B
    AKG C
    Nova F

    thank you for doing this..

  33. By Ryan on Nov 20, 2009 | Reply

    I’ve never used any of these mics so I have no business guessing. But like Joseph, I’m curious how the Audio-Technica AT2035 held up in the competition. I about to buy one.

  34. By John on Dec 3, 2009 | Reply

    I have not used any of these mics so I will not guess which is which. I am also a total noob so forgive my poor sound desriptions.

    a: Highs come through clearly. I like this one the best.
    b: sounds a bit muffled.
    c: Like this one about same as I like a. Very clear and haunting sound.
    d: sounds a bit muffled.
    e: lots of clicks. sounds pretty clear though.
    f: sounds clear. I still like a then c, then f.

    Thanks for posting this test. It was fun even for my untrained ears. I really like the tonal qualities of the vocalist.

    Looking forward to receiving the answers as I am about to order my first LDC mic and the results of this test may help me in my choice.

  35. By FaireDesVagues on Dec 5, 2009 | Reply

    for me D is the best for her voice
    after
    A > C > E > B > F
    good test, thanks

  36. By Sairu on Dec 11, 2009 | Reply

    E).- M-Audio Nova
    F).- C 414 BXL-II
    C).- M-Audio Solaris
    B).- M-Audio Sputnik
    A).- Audio-Technica AT2035
    B).-Audio-Technica AT4060

    Can u please send me the awnser? im think i will buy the Audio-Technica AT2035 but i wanna know how it sounds thankz

  37. By Sairu on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply

    yo i just pass to let you this, its a small Mix clip that i made using the female vocals here. just for fun

    http://www.zshare.net/audio/699136453128876c/

  38. By Andre on Jan 8, 2010 | Reply

    Thanks for the samples! I want to buy a mic to start a home studio and this test gave me a good idea on how these mics compare to each other.

  39. By Lemuel on Mar 8, 2010 | Reply

    Wonderful test! Please email me the answers! Thanks!

  40. By Jon on Mar 8, 2010 | Reply

    http://audiogeekzine.com/mic_shootout-f.txt

  41. By Joe on Apr 7, 2010 | Reply

    cant believe how off some of these comments are about which mic is which. The tube mics which can be heard very clearly are A and B. A is probably the Sputnik and B is the AT 4060. The other good mic in this shootout was the Akg 414 which sound like E. The rest of them sound flat and cheap

  42. By Joe on Apr 7, 2010 | Reply

    What is going on. Some of you actually thought D sounded the best. As soon as I heard D it was very obvious it was one of the cheapest mics. it sounded horrible.

  43. By Jorge on Apr 29, 2010 | Reply

    B AT4060
    D AKG
    F Solaris
    A Nova
    E Sputnik
    C AT2035

  44. By Jorge on Apr 30, 2010 | Reply

    please email me the answers

  45. By Jon on Apr 30, 2010 | Reply

    Answers are here: http://audiogeekzine.com/mic_shootout-f.txt

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