Studio Projects C1. Does anyone use this mic? I have heard great reviews
about it, even from ProRec.com
I am thinking about getting it, mainly because of the reviews and cheaper
cost of the mic.

~ Phil

"Phillip" wrote in message
. com...
Studio Projects C1. Does anyone use this mic? I have heard great reviews
about it, even from ProRec.com
I am thinking about getting it, mainly because of the reviews and cheaper
cost of the mic.

Buy it, try it. If you don't like it, eBay it. By the way, have you looked
at PMI audio? You can often get some great prices there. They sell a lot of
Studio Projects stuff.

"Phillip" wrote:

(snipped). Does anyone use this mic? I have heard great reviews
about it, even from (snipped).
I am thinking about getting it, mainly because of the reviews and
cheaper cost of the mic.


"Doc" wrote:

Buy it, try it. If you don't like it, eBay it. By the way, have you
looked at (snipped)? You can often get some great prices there. They
sell a lot of (snipped) stuff.



Yeesh, this kind of commercial shilling went out of style over a decade
ago. No one's biting.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

I've used it, and I own two of the C3 (duel capsule - multi pattern
version of the same mic). I do recommend them highly (for the price).
They have a very big low end, and also a somewhat exaggerated high
end. The mid range is nice and punchy though. They sound great on
many vocals, but can be sibelant (but are still useable). They have a
very loud output, and low noise.

They're not made very well. The top steel mesh just fell out on one of
mine. that's the only problem I've had in about a year of constant
use. But seeling how the metal mesh is held on with just a couple
drops of superglue, I assume that this will happen to all of them
eventually.

I recommend the C3. the omni pattern is very usable.

I use mine for clarinet, accordion, occasional vocals, rehearsals,
single or double miking of drums. It's great when you want something
to pop out of the mix. It also does an excellent job of recording a
drumset from some distance. The exaggerated bottom end makes the bass
and toms sound big and like they were close miced.

Of course, there are a variety of other mics that are similar quality
at a similar (or cheaper) price. Audio Technica 2020 and 2035,
Beringher large Diaphram, as well as the B3, etc. Have you considered
a Rode C5? That's a really first class mic (small diaphram) that
doesn't seem to have any faults. It's not the same kind of sound, but
is probably more usable for most things. It's relatively flat, not too
harsh sounding. I don't know about using it for vocals though. The C1
exaggerates everything. the Rode is a more natural sounding mic.

Doc wrote:

Buy it, try it. If you don't like it, eBay it.

Better yet, return it to your dealer for a refund or exchange for
something else. The manufacturers don't get any feedbak about their
products if people keep buying them and (as far as the dealer and
manufacturer is concerned) keeping them.

I had one on demo for a while. It was pretty good. I didn't really need
it so I returned it. But if you need a mic like this, as Doc says, give
it a try You'll never know whether it's good for you by reading what
someone else says, unless there's a real physical defiect, which there
isn't.

On Sun, 5 Feb 2006 23:09:55 -0500, Phillip wrote
(in article ):

Studio Projects C1. Does anyone use this mic? I have heard great reviews
about it, even from ProRec.com
I am thinking about getting it, mainly because of the reviews and cheaper
cost of the mic.

Phil



U get what U pay for.

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

Ty Ford wrote:

U get what U pay for.

True, but sometimes the slope is steeper and sometimes it's not.

Unfortunately, the C1 was a reasonable, cheap microphone that got totally
over-hyped.

The truth is, it's a pretty good budget LDC that punches slighly above it's
weight. Problem is, some idiot posted all over the internet that it sounded
"Exactly like a Neumann U87". Before you knew it, it was folk-law,
propagated by many home users that didn't know any better. The inevitable
back-lash occurred, and the mic got a bad rap.

The mic is probably in the league of mics like the Rode NT1. It is *not*
the most transparent mic I own. It can be harsh and sibilant on some
voices. Some like the mic, others hate it.

Personally, I have gotten some very nice female vocals from the mic. I like
it a lot for some voices, but it ain't no swiss army knife and it ain't no
Neumann.

Bill.

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ty Ford wrote:

U get what U pay for.

True, but sometimes the slope is steeper and sometimes it's not.

Bill Ruys wrote:

Problem is, some idiot posted all over the internet that it sounded
"Exactly like a Neumann U87". Before you knew it, it was folk-law,

They did? It does? It is? Funny, but this is one of the
lesser-discussed mics around here. Must have been on one of those
sponsored forums.

I'm amazed at how many different opinions there are of each of the many
mics in the $200 (or $100, or $900, or $2500) price range there are. I
can only conclude that most of these are from people who either tried
one and immediately liked it, or from people who have tried one, didn't
like it, then tried another and liked it bettter. Differences between
mics aren't all that subtle, but neither are differences between voices
and rooms.

There is no such thing as a universal mic. Back in the day when we
though of the RCA 44 and 77, and Neumann U47 and U87 as "the universal
mic" we were closer to having "the universal studio." We didn't put a
mic 2 inches from a singer, we didn't try to present the listener with
the dimensions of the singer's tonsils or the volume of his spit, and
we pretty much recorded everything in the same kind of room and in the
same way.

Today everything is different, so everything sounds different. There's
no reason why you can't use a $200 mic if it works, but that doesn't
mean it deserves universal praise. Not only does recording the way we
do it today give us more freedom to take as much time as we need, it
requires it.

On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 23:04:45 -0500, Bill Ruys wrote
(in article ):

Unfortunately, the C1 was a reasonable, cheap microphone that got totally
over-hyped.

The truth is, it's a pretty good budget LDC that punches slighly above it's
weight. Problem is, some idiot posted all over the internet that it sounded
"Exactly like a Neumann U87". Before you knew it, it was folk-law,
propagated by many home users that didn't know any better. The inevitable
back-lash occurred, and the mic got a bad rap.

The mic is probably in the league of mics like the Rode NT1. It is *not*
the most transparent mic I own. It can be harsh and sibilant on some
voices. Some like the mic, others hate it.

Personally, I have gotten some very nice female vocals from the mic. I like
it a lot for some voices, but it ain't no swiss army knife and it ain't no
Neumann.

Bill.

Bill,

I think you hit it with the NT1 analogy. Rode has gone on to make some much
better mics. The NT2-a and NT2000, for example, are better than the NTK and
NT1000. The NT2-a and NT2000 should be listened to.

For the sub $200 budget (and sound), try the AT 2020/AT 2021 combo.

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

Mike Rivers wrote:
Bill Ruys wrote:

Problem is, some idiot posted all over the internet that it sounded
"Exactly like a Neumann U87". Before you knew it, it was folk-law,

They did? It does? It is? Funny, but this is one of the
lesser-discussed mics around here. Must have been on one of those
sponsored forums.

The "idiot" appears to have been Ted Perlman. He's a fairly renowned
producer (he's up for a Grammy for the latest Burt Bacharach), but that
doesn't mean that his opinions are golden.

http://www.prorec.com/prorec/article...56A650081ECF9/


Here's what I know about the C1 so far:

Some people say that it sounds just like a U87.

Some people say that it sounds just like a cheap Chinese condenser.

Some people say that a U87 sounds like a cheap Chinese condenser to
begin with.

Take your pick.

This conversation has caused one of my C3's to develop a very bad 60
cycle hum. They are very sensitive mics (and don't like to be
insulted).

"Lorin David Schultz" wrote in message
news:btEFf.181761$AP5.112362@edtnps84...
"Phillip" wrote:

(snipped). Does anyone use this mic? I have heard great reviews
about it, even from (snipped).
I am thinking about getting it, mainly because of the reviews and
cheaper cost of the mic.


"Doc" wrote:

Buy it, try it. If you don't like it, eBay it. By the way, have you
looked at (snipped)? You can often get some great prices there. They
sell a lot of (snipped) stuff.



Yeesh, this kind of commercial shilling went out of style over a decade
ago. No one's biting.

??

If you're implying I'm "shilling" for PMI, you're completely off the mark. I
bought a couple of B-stock mic pre's from them at a firesale price and free
shipping, (at the suggestion of someone in here a while back) and noticed
they sell Studio Projects stuff among others. They seem to have excellent
prices.

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
ups.com...


I'm amazed at how many different opinions there are of each of the many
mics in the $200 (or $100, or $900, or $2500) price range there are. I
can only conclude that most of these are from people who either tried
one and immediately liked it, or from people who have tried one, didn't
like it, then tried another and liked it bettter. Differences between
mics aren't all that subtle, but neither are differences between voices
and rooms.

I believe the reason there are so many reviews/opinions for low-end mics is
that lots of home users buy them. They are much more a mass-market item
than a $5000 microphone. One of the reasons that there were so many
favourable reviews for the C1, is that it was the first real condensor mic a
lot of people owned. So for a lot of people, their bench mark was an $89
dynamic mic.

I'm no audio professional, but I've been recording for a number of years
now. I am hearing and appreciating more and more difference between mics as
my ears mature. The C1 has a good low noise floor and a character of it's
own that really compliments my other mics. If I had to choose only one mic
in it's price range, it probably wouldn't be the C1, but it is still very
good value for money. If I could have bought a mic like the C1 for a couple
of hundred bucks 10 years ago, I'd have thought I'd found a real gem. With
the sea of cheap condensor mics out there, it's easy to forget that someone
just starting out can get a pretty good microphone for just a few hundred
dollars. Heck, look at the AT2020! As Ty often points out, it's quite a
mic for $99.

Bill.

Bill Ruys wrote:

I believe the reason there are so many reviews/opinions for low-end mics is
that lots of home users buy them. They are much more a mass-market item
than a $5000 microphone.

Exactly. And many of these people have only one microphone, and they
choose it because of what they read on line or in magazines. "I have
this mic and I like it" doesn't tell me as much as "I have been using
mics for 30 years and this one reminds me of that one that I used ones"
means a lot more. But mostly what you get is the first kind of "on line
review."

I'm no audio professional, but I've been recording for a number of years
now. I am hearing and appreciating more and more difference between mics as
my ears mature. The C1 has a good low noise floor and a character of it's
own that really compliments my other mics.

That's good information.

If I had to choose only one mic
in it's price range, it probably wouldn't be the C1, but it is still very
good value for money.

And someone else with a similar amount of experience that you have
might choose the C1 as his one and only mic if he could only keep one.
It depends on what you do, how you judge a sound, and how you're
listening.

If I could have bought a mic like the C1 for a couple
of hundred bucks 10 years ago, I'd have thought I'd found a real gem.

You could - the Neumann TLM-103, only it costs $1000, not $200. Hence
the validity of "good value for the money." But sometimes we want good
sound, or a certain sound, for a price that we can afford. With a
reasonable budget, there are usually a few choices, and one will
probably be cheapest. This prompts the "why shouldn't I get (the one
that's cheapest)? " question, and there's no good answer unless there's
a reliability or maintenance problem, or it's particularly hard to buy.
(like the virgins on the banks of the Yangtzee river who assemble the
mic only work on alternate Tuesdays on months with an R)

With
the sea of cheap condensor mics out there, it's easy to forget that someone
just starting out can get a pretty good microphone for just a few hundred
dollars.

It's also easy to forget that a $100 mic is not likely to be your only
investment if you're serious, and that for $100, you can learn a lot
about recording with just about any microphone. When you get to the
point where you know that your microphone is what's holding you back
from getting a better sound, then you should know what to look for and
don't have to shop by price and net reputation alone.

And someone else with a similar amount of experience that you have
might choose the C1 as his one and only mic if he could only keep one

I could get all my work done if I only had a C1. It works on vocals,
guitars, horns, percussion, etc.

There are other mics like that - the ADK Hamburg or Vienna, for example. Or
the Neuman 87 in the higher priced category. Or my current higher-end
favorite, the Brauner Phantom C, one of the best sounding mics ever made.




--
Regards,

Ted Perlman
Producer-Arranger-Composer-Guitarist

www.tedperlman.com