I'm a multi-instrumentalist, composer/songwriter, who is not the most technical person. I know how to get decent sounds out of live instruments and voices, I know my way around my DAW(s), I still remember some stuff from an audio engineering course long ago, but I don't have a ton of hands-on experience with, say, high end Neumann mics. I've sung into a few of them, at least.
What I have been able to rely on is my ear. You can read of a list of specs to me and my eyes will start to glaze over... but how does it SOUND?
Well, there's nothing better than reading a written review to find out how something sounds, right? Ha.
Rating a piece of music gear often has to be taken in context with the gear that surrounds it. Most importantly for a mic is the room it is used in, where it is placed respective to the sound source, and what mic pre is being used.
Hey, stop droning on and on, how's it sound?
I immediately liked the way this mic sounded on vocals the best. I would imagine mid-range acoustic instrument like violin, oboe, clarinet, are also going to be great. There is a certain presence to the mid- to upper-mid range frequencies that is nice and smooth. It's worth trying on other instruments, and on acoustic guitar it really becomes important where you're pointing it, how far away your guitar is from the mic, and what kinds of reflections the room sends back at you. Hi-pass filter will be your friend for sure, regardless.
Mic has no switch, it uses only a cardioid pattern. So I wouldn't use this to have 3 backing vocalists stand around to sing together.
I don't particularly like the windscreen, I think a pop filter works better. Windscreen isn't "muffly" sounding, per se, but it does start to bend in that direction.
You see from the product photos here what comes with the mic. The mic mount is great and include an adapter for different mic stand thread widths. You can tell a lot of care went into the design and manufacture of this microphone. I'm super impressed!
I'd say the ideal buyer of this mic would be for a podcaster or voice-over studio... there are a TON of $250-$150 mic out there appealing to the bedroom youtuber, but if you're ready to spend a little more, this mic is a perfect option for you (remember, though: cable required is XLR, phantom power and mic pre needed... no USB allowed, chief!). For musicians I'd definitely recommend to add to your vocal mic arsenal, and it is worth experimenting with in other contexts.
Thanks for the opportunity to review.
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