Small Diaphragm Comparison

[Boris Lau]

Hi there,

in case someone is interested:

http://www.borislau.de/base/a.mp3
http://www.borislau.de/base/b.mp3

(or use .wav if you like)

One is Neumann KM184, one is Beyerdynamic MC930. Recorded in my cube room...

Best,

Boris

--
http://www.borislau.de - computer science, music, photos

[[email protected]]

I'm guessing the "a" is the 184. It has greater clarity and presence
on my crappy computer speakers. I'm not online in my studio so I'm
listening at home.

On Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:33:54 +0100, Boris Lau
> wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>in case someone is interested:
>
>http://www.borislau.de/base/a.mp3
>http://www.borislau.de/base/b.mp3
>
>(or use .wav if you like)
>
>One is Neumann KM184, one is Beyerdynamic MC930. Recorded in my cube room...
>
>Best,
>
>Boris

[straightnut]

On Dec 4, 6:33 pm, Boris Lau > wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> in case someone is interested:
>
> http://www.borislau.de/base/a.mp3http://www.borislau.de/base/b.mp3
>
> (or use .wav if you like)
>
> One is Neumann KM184, one is Beyerdynamic MC930. Recorded in my cube room...
>
> Best,
>
> Boris
>
> --http://www.borislau.de- computer science, music, photos

Don't know anything about the mics, but I lke sample a better. Sounds
more natural. Nice playing.
Jeff

[Boris Lau]

Soundhaspriority wrote:
> So sorry! The MC930 is a small diaphragm.

indeed it is. And which one do you think sounds better? ;-)

Boris

--
http://www.borislau.de - computer science, music, photos

[Boris Lau]

Thanks for your reply, I have another direct comparison recorded at a
higher distance, I will listen to that again and think about your input.

> Note: On my system, the stereo image appears skewed right.

Actuall, both files are mono. Or to be more precise, they are stereo,
but the channels contain exactly the same data.

Best,

Boris

--
http://www.borislau.de - computer science, music, photos

[straightnut]

On Dec 5, 1:58 pm, Boris Lau > wrote:
> Soundhaspriority wrote:
> > So sorry! The MC930 is a small diaphragm.
>
> indeed it is. And which one do you think sounds better? ;-)
>
> Boris
>
> --http://www.borislau.de- computer science, music, photos

After listening again hours later, I come to the the same conclusion,
that sample A is just more refined, complete, musical, smoother, less
edgy than sample B. I feel that sample B has an ever so slightly
aggressive or nasal quality to it and lacks completeness or clarity in
the lower freguencies. That said, I'm very untrained as a critical
listener. I plan to do a lot more of this kind of training. Thanks for
the samples.
Jeff

[straightnut]

On Dec 5, 9:05 pm, straightnut > wrote:
> On Dec 5, 1:58 pm, Boris Lau > wrote:
>
> > Soundhaspriority wrote:
> > > So sorry! The MC930 is a small diaphragm.
>
> > indeed it is. And which one do you think sounds better? ;-)
>
> > Boris
>
> > --http://www.borislau.de-computer science, music, photos
>
> After listening again hours later, I come to the the same conclusion,
> that sample A is just more refined, complete, musical, smoother, less
> edgy than sample B. I feel that sample B has an ever so slightly
> aggressive or nasal quality to it and lacks completeness or clarity in
> the lower freguencies. That said, I'm very untrained as a critical
> listener. I plan to do a lot more of this kind of training. Thanks for
> the samples.

Overposting here, but I listened again and change my mind a bit. This
time I tried my new ATH-M50 headphones(I was listening through Sony
MDR-F1 open air phones originally) and find that sample A sounds a bit
smeared compared to sample B's clarity, but I still feel A is more
musical for this piece of music.
I assumed my main objection to B was a boosted high end somewhere and
decided to look at the response patterns which shows a large peak in
the highs of one over the other. But I was surprised to see a dip in
the lows of the other which I thought had a stronger bass presence.
Maybe I have them backwards. I'm really curious now which is which.
I'm listening through my laptop sound card headphone output, so I
don't know what effect that has.
Jeff

[Federico]

What was the audio chain?
F.

[Boris Lau]

Federico wrote:
> What was the audio chain?
> F.

Mics going directly into Yamaha i88x firewire interface, set to
24bit/44.1kHz. The Preamps in that thing are said to be the ones from
the Yamaha DM2000, if that is of any help.

Boris

[Boris Lau]

Thanks for your responses,

(a) is in fact the cheaper Beyerdynamic, while (b) is the Neumann KM184.

I'm still not sure which one I like better though. From this recording,
I would prefer (a). But maybe it's good to go for (b) because of the
higher presence, and adding a close larger diaphragm mic to get some
warmth? Or maybe (b) is better for micing percussions to get some
sizzle? Or (a) is better because it just sounds better?

I guess I have to try more...

Boris

Boris Lau wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> in case someone is interested:
>
> http://www.borislau.de/base/a.mp3
> http://www.borislau.de/base/b.mp3
>
> (or use .wav if you like)
>
> One is Neumann KM184, one is Beyerdynamic MC930. Recorded in my cube
> room...
>
> Best,
>
> Boris
>


--
http://www.borislau.de - computer science, music, photos

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007 03:14:41 -0500, Boris Lau wrote
(in article >):

> Thanks for your responses,
>
> (a) is in fact the cheaper Beyerdynamic, while (b) is the Neumann KM184.
>
> I'm still not sure which one I like better though. From this recording,
> I would prefer (a). But maybe it's good to go for (b) because of the
> higher presence, and adding a close larger diaphragm mic to get some
> warmth? Or maybe (b) is better for micing percussions to get some
> sizzle? Or (a) is better because it just sounds better?
>
> I guess I have to try more...
>
> Boris

Next time try a schoeps cmc64 or cmc641.

Regards,

Ty Ford



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