As part of the Home Recording 101 class at Revolution Audio, this past Thursday we did a shootout of 6 vocal mics. The mics selected were some of the top sellers at the store and ranged in price from the M-Audio Nova at $119 to the AT4060 at $1905.
You may wonder why there are so many M-Audio mics in this shoot out. Well that’s because they make good mics for the price, we had a variety on hand, and it seems like these mics don’t get a lot of attention.
The mics:
- M-Audio Nova
- Audio Technica AT2035
- M-Audio Solaris
- M-Audio Sputnik
- AKG C 414 B-XL II
- Audio-Technica AT4060
The source was Kate singing the first line of ’9 Crimes’ by Damien Rice. Each recording is a separate take, though she is very consistent. No processing has been done. Drop all the files into your DAW, keep the piano track active if you like. Scroll down to the bottom to get the files. The order of the files has been changed so you’ll need to guess which is which.
Leave a comment with which mic sounds like the best fit for her voice and I’ll email you the answers.
Other things to think about:
Which mic sounds like it’s the cheapest?
Which mic sounds the most expensive?
Which 2 mics are the tube mics?
M-Audio Nova $119
- affordable large capsule cardioid condenser
- 1.1” evaporated gold diaphragm
- solid brass capsule
- Class A solid state electronics
- 20Hz-18kHz frequency response
- includes hard mount, cable and soft case
Audio-Technica AT2035 $235
- Large diaphragm for smooth, natural sound and low noise
- High SPL handling and wide dynamic range provide unmatched versatility
- Custom shock mount provides superior isolation
- Switchable 80 Hz high-pass filter and 10 dB pad
- Cardioid polar pattern reduces pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of desired sound source
- Includes custom shock mount and protective pouch
M-Audio Solaris $399
- affordable large diaphragm cardioid condenser
- 1.1” solid brass capsule w/ evaporated gold diaphragm
- Class A solid state electronics
- all Solaris microphones exhibit no more than +/- 1dB variation from each other
- cardioid, omni and figure-8 polar patterns
M-Audio Sputnik $899
- vintage tube design
- 3-micron evaporated gold Mylar diaphragm
- low-current 6205M dual triode tube
- cardioid, figure-8, and omni polar patterns
- -10dB (attenuation) pad
- 80Hz high-pass filter
- solid brass body with polished nickel finish
- dedicated power supply with included 7-pin cable
- professional shockmount
- soft cloth bag
- custom flight case
AKG C 414 BXL-II $1299
- High sensitivity and extremely low self noise
- Five switchable polar patterns for placement and application flexibility
- Two-color LEDs provide quick visual indication of selected polar pattern and output overload
- Elastic capsule suspension greatly minimizes structurally-transmitted noise from chassis vibration
- High sound pressure level capability and wide dynamic range
- Completely immune to electrostatic and electromagnetic interference from digital gear, computer monitors, etc. thanks to solid metal housing and transformerless output stage
- Three switchable bass cut filters and three pre-attenuation pads with LEDs for quick visual indication
- All switchable components operate in low impedance circuits for ultra-high reliability even in extremely humid conditions
Audio-Technica AT4060 $1905
- Vintage tube sound with the versatile performance necessary for the most demanding studio applications.
- Wide dynamic range, low self-noise and high max SPL capability.
- Carefully-controlled cardioid pattern maintains uniform off-axis response.
- Dual large-diaphragm elements for extended frequency response.
- Hand-selected tubes are aged and individually tested to ensure peak performance.
The sound files
Get the files here: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1053122/vocal%20mic%20shootout.rar
Leave a comment with your guesses and I’ll email you the answers.
Answers are now here
Also Interesting:
I want the answers, too! Looking into buying a Sputnik…
I just got the AT 2035 and I am anxious to know how it did. If you could email me the answers that would be great. Thanks!
Sputnik E
AT4060 A
Solaris D
AT2035 B
AKG C
Nova F
thank you for doing this..
I’ve never used any of these mics so I have no business guessing. But like Joseph, I’m curious how the Audio-Technica AT2035 held up in the competition. I about to buy one.
I have not used any of these mics so I will not guess which is which. I am also a total noob so forgive my poor sound desriptions.
a: Highs come through clearly. I like this one the best.
b: sounds a bit muffled.
c: Like this one about same as I like a. Very clear and haunting sound.
d: sounds a bit muffled.
e: lots of clicks. sounds pretty clear though.
f: sounds clear. I still like a then c, then f.
Thanks for posting this test. It was fun even for my untrained ears. I really like the tonal qualities of the vocalist.
Looking forward to receiving the answers as I am about to order my first LDC mic and the results of this test may help me in my choice.
for me D is the best for her voice
after
A > C > E > B > F
good test, thanks
E).- M-Audio Nova
F).- C 414 BXL-II
C).- M-Audio Solaris
B).- M-Audio Sputnik
A).- Audio-Technica AT2035
B).-Audio-Technica AT4060
Can u please send me the awnser? im think i will buy the Audio-Technica AT2035 but i wanna know how it sounds thankz
yo i just pass to let you this, its a small Mix clip that i made using the female vocals here. just for fun
http://www.zshare.net/audio/699136453128876c/
Thanks for the samples! I want to buy a mic to start a home studio and this test gave me a good idea on how these mics compare to each other.
Wonderful test! Please email me the answers! Thanks!
http://audiogeekzine.com/mic_shootout-f.txt
cant believe how off some of these comments are about which mic is which. The tube mics which can be heard very clearly are A and B. A is probably the Sputnik and B is the AT 4060. The other good mic in this shootout was the Akg 414 which sound like E. The rest of them sound flat and cheap
What is going on. Some of you actually thought D sounded the best. As soon as I heard D it was very obvious it was one of the cheapest mics. it sounded horrible.
B AT4060
D AKG
F Solaris
A Nova
E Sputnik
C AT2035
please email me the answers
Answers are here: http://audiogeekzine.com/mic_shootout-f.txt
Hi – the link to the mic-shootout-f.txt doesn’t work anymore.
I m realy curious about it.
Is there any possibility to get the answers ?
Best, Hendrik
Jon send me the answers there are here :
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qNZjeCzuLVOwe_Mt1dYwgMq8wJ6FVqZx-FfCMhYJbVY/edit?hl=fr
It’s fun to consider that only a obviousy well formed engeneer as Joe was right.
Jon,
Can you share the answers, the link doesn’t work anymore!
Here are the answers to the shootout
1 4060 -b
2 414 -e
3 Sputnik -a
4 Solaris -c
5 2035 -d
6 Nova -f
The Sputnik was my fav, by far. Then the 414, but felt a little lifeless (interesting, since I had the same opinion in the studio earlier this week…chose a u67 instead). The remainder sounded hollow & cheap. However, my biggest complaint is the room. There’s a resonant frequency in there in the singer’s midrange. The cheaper mics expose it well. It just rings through. The Sputnik doesn’t give into it, though. Sounds like a very clear representation of the singer’s voice & is very very sensitive without picking up the room. Maybe something internal to the mic housings? Time to ditch my AT2020s.
Should I be worried if I can’t tell the difference to save my life? I’m a somewhat educated musician, although I’m just getting into home audio recording. I’m obviously going for the cheapest given the results. What % of the population would be able to tell the difference anyways?
Meeeh, maybe I can tell some difference, but it’s not like it makes that big of a difference that I can justify a $2k mic in any way (not even a $235 mic lol).
Anyways thank you for posting this, it was very educating, and perhaps also illustrative of my hearing impairment