Microphone Samples

Testing Methods

Have you ever read a bad review on a microphone? No, the reason being is sound can be very subjective, especially when you add in price levels of performance. What is considered a great microphone in the less than $200 range can be thought of as a piece of junk compared to the $4000 range. I personally have seen the opposite too. During a microphone shootout, a $400 microphone blew away a $2000 Tube microphone. That was my opinion. It was directly related to the sound that I was looking for, and the $2000 tube did not deliver like the lower price microphone did. I have also seen certain microphones sound great on one person's voice and no one else's. This microphone becomes priceless to that vocalist and worthless to the rest.

In my evaluations, I try to give some realistic guidance based on Price, Application, and Sound. If you notice, I do not include Quality in my categories. Some people mistake the three categories the make up of quality. Quality is the end result of a manufactured product that meets the original design specs and has no bearing on price, sound differences, and specifications compared to other microphones.

In selecting a microphone, the first thing we must do is come up with the application. This can be one specific use, or multiple uses. After that, we decide on a budget. Then within that budget we decide if our needs (the specific uses) meet our budget requirements. From there we create the options of purchase (the microphones that fit all the above requirements). At that point we now decide if we like the sound of that particular microphone for that specific use. This is something you can only do. I have provided multiple MP3's of recordings made with these microphones. Attention to detail was taken in the recording process to make sure the end result did not give false impressions to the listener. See the test for more detail on the testing process. Enjoy!