Roy W. Rising wrote:
Thank you. You have made my point. The truth about obsolescent
microphones that require "special" loading is revealed by the more honest
NON-loading of a high quality modern preamp. After all, isn't verity,
accuracy, fidelity ... truth ... what it's all about?
My friend, audio lesson #1 is that all audio is by *definition* -
"distortion". Nothing you record is "the truth" itself, everything you
record is a mere reflection in a mirror dimly of what "the truth" was.
And art is beauty after all, so really - and I digress - but how does
listening to the recording make you _feel_? Does it make you feel what
you were feeling when you witnessed the musical event? Why do some
people call certain recordings "clinical"? Could not a recording be
more "true" if it had an emotional impact closer to the listening
experience at the moment it occured, would that not be a truer
reflection on the emotional level, closer to "true beauty"?
In any event, you asked what is different about expensive micpres.
They usually sound better. More compelling. They involve the listener
more, They can reveal more of the source to the listener, they can have
more dimensionality, more depth, richer color, be more liquid, more
vivid, and many other things merre specs cannot describe. With the
right microphone of course. Specs do not tell the whole story,
certainly micpres with virtually identical specs can sound totally
different. Our ears can discern qualities far more subtle than
published specs reflect. Hey, you can be developing cancer before it
shows up in modern tests as well.
And the Mackie and Behringer preamps you call "high quality modern
preamps" certainly DO in fact present a load to a microphone. The way
devices interact can be a good thing if you know what is going on, or a
bad thing if you don't. This hardly renders entirely usable top of the
line but older mics obsolete. Many of these mics are still prefered day
in and out by longtime professionals who enjoy success at least as
great as that which has shaped your opinions. And sadly, your tone
suggests you have little respect for such people and consider yourself
their superior.
I really don't get the impression you have done much comparitive
listening, I get the impression your intellectual preconceptions (as
opposed to sensitive comparisons) are "coloring" your viewpoint. Maybe
buy some test cds and compare how different converters, mics and
micpres sound. Or if if you can hear it at all.
http://www.mercenary.com/3daudio.html
Or test your listening environment with some of these -
http://www.chesky.com/core/productli...e=Test%20Discs
I love the LEDR tests on the Chesky Test Vol.1.
Or read "Drawing on the right side of the brain" By Betty Edwards
for practical excersises that show clearly the effect intellectual
preconceptions (the left brain's domain) has on our ability to create
an image as it actually presents itself. When we learn to "see" as
things are, rather than as we believe them to be, we become better
artists (here's a few before and after examples of people's drawings,
and practicing this disclipline for 5 days.)
http://www.drawright.com/gallery.htm
A cross-discliplinary paradigm, if you will.
Will Miho
NY TV/Audio Post/Music/Live Sound Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits