In recent weeks and months, I have had the opportunity to test some amazing microphones. Everything from high-end ribbon mics and valve (tube) condensers to more cost-effective small diaphragm condensers and hand-held dynamics. But what happens when you decide to invest some serious cash in a microphone? I recently had the opportunity to try the Lauten Audio Eden LT-386. Might this be the only 'conventional' microphone you ever have to buy? Let's find out.
What Do You Feel Are The Qualities That Make A Good Microphone Shock Mount?
Microphone shock mounts are simple little devices that serve a handful of important purposes such as decoupling microphones from stands and providing a safety net if the worst should happen in the event of a stand toppling over. There are some great shock mounts out there, some bad. What shock mounts do you use and why? What makes a good shock mount and what make a bad one?
Treat Your Ears To A Vintage Drum Kit Recorded With Old School & New Mics From AKG, Neumann, Lewitt, Soyuz, and Sennheiser
Learn how Production Expert team member Kevin Becka chose to mic up a vintage drum kit with a combination of great vintage mics together with some modern mics. Listen to the great sound he was able to capture in Blackbird's Iconic Studio A ISO 3.
Our Top 5 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphones You Can Buy New Today For Around £250
In this article, I'm going to give you my top 5 large diaphragm condenser microphones you can buy new, today for Less than £250. All prices listed are currently available to UK buyers in July 2018 from the same online retailer. Some of the mics listed are considerably cheaper than £250 and some just a tiny bit over, but not by enough to knock them out of our list. Over the years we at Production Expert have either reviewed or used all of these mics in some way, shape or form which has helped inform our choice for this list.
Use The Neumann App To Check SRA And See With Your Eyes What Your Stereo Microphone Array Will Sound Like In Your Ears.
The Neumann App is indispensable for checking the Stereo Recording Angle of a stereo mic array. This is important for making sure that you are catching all of your sound source and that it falls within the panorama available between your speakers. It can get complicated but this free app makes it simple.
Great Value Reproductions Of Vintage Studio Gear Are Currently Very Popular. We Try The Warm Audio WA-47 Tube Mic On Guitar Vocals Percussion To Get Our Retro Vibe On
I'm not sure exactly when it was that vintage became cool, or maybe it has always been cool and I'm just late to the party, but as soon as it did, people started to copy it. In the fashion world stressed jeans started to appear. These are just a brand new pair that have been battered and teased to look like old warn in jeans for the sake of style. In our world of music and all things high tech the goal is that vintage sound or tone but without the vintage headaches of poor reliability and instability and often massive investment.
Hands Down The Best Way To Setup & Tear Down A Tube Microphone - Expert Tutorial
If you own or have access to a cherished tube condenser mic, it's important to protect your investment and keep it in tip-top shape. Besides everyday wear-and-tear, the thing that can cause mic failure is operator error when handling the mic before and after a session. Below are time-tested techniques for the proper setup and tear down of tube mics developed by The Blackbird Academy located at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
Microphone Modelling Technology Is Now A Part Of Modern Recording. We Try The Antelope Audio Edge & Verge In A Recording Session
There is currently a massive buzz around the new microphone modelling platforms, and like it or loth it, mic modelling or virtual microphones are here to stay. We take a look at the latest offering from the team at Antelope Audio to find out if you can use nothing but their microphone modelling platform in a studio recording session.
Thinking About Buying A Royer Labs R-10 Ribbon Microphone Soon? Hear It Now On Drums, Guitar & Acoustic Guitar
The R-10 is Royer's most cost-effective mic starting at around £450 ex-taxes for a single mic and only £780 ex-taxes for a matched pair in a solid flight case. Think of the R-10 as the little brother to the more widely known and highly regarded Royer R-121 and you won't go far wrong.
Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset. Now You Can Record In Binaural With Your iPhone.
In this review Production Expert team member Julian Rodgers starts by looking at what binaural recording is, how it works and how the Sennheiser Ambeo headset achieves what it does in a cnvenient, easy to use package.
How to Check The Polarity Of Your Microphones Using No Equipment Other Than Your Mouth - Expert Tip
In this free video tutorial, Production Expert Team member Julian Rodgers demonstrates a simple method for testing the polarity of mics.
Test - Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphones For Drum Overheads
In this article we test 6 different pairs of 'Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphones' recording drum overheads. This is not to decide which pair are 'best' but to let you hear how changing mics can really make a difference.
Townsend Labs Announce Version 1.2 Including 9 New Mic Models
The team at Townsend Labs are very proud to announce version 1.2 of the Sphere plug-in, which is the software element of the Sphere L22 modelling microphone system. The update, which is free of charge to all new and existing Sphere L22 owners, adds nine new microphone models, bringing the total number of included microphone models to over 20.
Comparing Microphone Types On Lead Vocals - Real World Test
While not all of these mics would be an obvious first choice for this application, it was an interesting exercise. The response to sibilant sounds was particularly interesting to me. Which would you choose of these four and if you could include another mic in this test what would it be?
Tip - How Three Top Audio Professionals Choose Microphone Preamps
In this article from Universal Audio, James Rotondi asks three of the worlds top audio recording, mixing and production professionals about how they choose the mics pres for recording and what matters to them when it comes to sonic quality, usability and tonal balance.
Free Tutorial - How to Record And Mix Drum Kit With A Limited Number Of Microphones
In this video from the team at Audient, producer, engineer and drummer Hamish Dickinson of Phoenix Sound in Nottinghamshire, UK, takes us through his ideas and techniques for microphone selection and positioning when using a limited number of mics on a drum kit.
Comparison - Miking An Acoustic Guitar With A Vertical XY Array
In this short video example Production Expert team member Julian Rodgers compares the results achieved by rotating an XY array of small diaphragm condensor mics through 90 degrees so they are arranged vertically with the conventional horizontal orientation.
News - Antelope Audio Showing New Edge Strip Microphone And Preamp At Music Messe
The team at Antelope Audio are proud to be demonstrating their new Edge Strip mic modelling solution for the first time in Europe at Musikmesse 2018 in Frankfurt, Germany.
RØDE Announce The SoundField By RØDE NT-SF1 Ambisonic Microphone
Just in time for NAB, Australian pro audio powerhouse, RØDE Microphones, is proud to announce its first broadcast-grade, 360-degree surround sound capture microphone and flagship product of a new brand in the RØDE family.
Results - 79% Can Hear The Differences Between A Condenser & Ribbon Microphones
The voting results are in and they are not that surprising. We combined all the results from the six listening tests and the numbers show that 79% of users who took part in the shootout can clearly hear the differences between condenser and ribbon microphones.