[Paul Dorman]

On 12/23/2020 8:49 AM, Ty Ford wrote:
I'd like to see two blind tests:

1) 5 mics. 4 real U87s, and 1 U87 Clone.
2) 5 mics. 4 Clones, and 1 Real U87.

I'm willing to bet very, very few people could correctly pick
out the 1 Clone, and the 1 Real, in two blind audio tests. Especially
since there are variations even between the real U87s!

I once EQed an RE20 to sound like a U 87 for my voice. For that one incident, the difference was very difficult to tell.
That, by no means, indicates the any similarities.

We (Louis Mills, Mark Patey and I) could tell the difference between a U87 i and a U 87ai.

I guess, what I'm thinking here is that, depending on your tests, you might be convinced of anything. You'd have to run exhaustive tests on music, room (pattern response), preamp loading, and probably a few things I've forgotten to mention here to get any solid data. Would I trust your findings? Probably not.


You'd want to have a controlled test, where everything else is the
same: pre-amp, room, etc.

Would I trust anyone who claims they picked out the 1 clone,
and the 1 real? Definitely Not!