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Post by dariamicrophones on Mar 14, 2021 18:25:48 GMT -6
Hahaha Ches^ you nailed it my friend!!
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 14, 2021 18:28:33 GMT -6
I absolutely am aware of Guosheng Zhuang. I bought a Warbler MKIV last year in fact. That mic is built like a tank-I accidentally had mine drop from a mic stand, crashed hard on a wood floor and afterwards was freaking out. But alas, no physical damage and it sounded like a champ. Mr.Zang is amazing, his mics cannot be beat regardless of the price! Just a total excellent value. Outstanding components. And to Mr.Epstein, I completely respect that a mic advertised 'modern and bright' is not for you. I understand it is not for everyone and probably not for the majority-esp those who love fat and warm and vintage. I have no intentions of making mics inspired by older vintage mics but I completely respect those that do. I much prefer bright mics over warm mics. But really, it all comes down to what fits the voice best. Thanks for the feedback on the voice switching guys-this is outstanding feedback. I'll clean up the website this weekend and I will continue to add clips/specs/and engineer testimonials over the next few weeks/months. I work for a major tech company full time and this is for sure a project of passion for me. I just created a coupon code. If anyone from this sites purchases a Daria Mic-use coupon code RGO at checkout for 10% off. That is one small way I can thank you guys for such a warm welcome! First, there are TWO "p's" in my name. OK?
I agree with that last sentence. I also find it to be totally in conflict with your explanation for liking "bright mics". It is far easier to make any "neutral" voiced mic to sound good with nearly any voice than to get nearly any mic with "bright voicing" to sound even barely acceptable on a vocalist with even a hint of sibilence. I've been wrestling with this problem for years, since I have that problem. I also own about 85 micsrophones at last count. Some very expensive, some quite cheap. For some strange reason, the more valuable of those mics are also the most "neutral" sounding (which still leaves a very wide range for variation, wider in my view than the. "modern" hyped mics, which all merely sound "too bright".)
If you ask me, the whole "hyped treble" craze is a byproduct of the fact that most "modern" "MEs" don't have the traditional training of real engineers who came up in the traditional studio system.
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Post by mrholmes on Mar 14, 2021 18:47:08 GMT -6
I absolutely am aware of Guosheng Zhuang. I bought a Warbler MKIV last year in fact. That mic is built like a tank-I accidentally had mine drop from a mic stand, crashed hard on a wood floor and afterwards was freaking out. But alas, no physical damage and it sounded like a champ. Mr.Zang is amazing, his mics cannot be beat regardless of the price! Just a total excellent value. Outstanding components. And to Mr.Epstein, I completely respect that a mic advertised 'modern and bright' is not for you. I understand it is not for everyone and probably not for the majority-esp those who love fat and warm and vintage. I have no intentions of making mics inspired by older vintage mics but I completely respect those that do. I much prefer bright mics over warm mics. But really, it all comes down to what fits the voice best. Thanks for the feedback on the voice switching guys-this is outstanding feedback. I'll clean up the website this weekend and I will continue to add clips/specs/and engineer testimonials over the next few weeks/months. I work for a major tech company full time and this is for sure a project of passion for me. I just created a coupon code. If anyone from this sites purchases a Daria Mic-use coupon code RGO at checkout for 10% off. That is one small way I can thank you guys for such a warm welcome! First, there are TWO "p's" in my name. OK?
I agree with that last sentence. I also find it to be totally in conflict with your explanation for liking "bright mics". It is far easier to make any "neutral" voiced mic to sound good with nearly any voice than to get nearly any mic with "bright voicing" to sound even barely acceptable on a vocalist with even a hint of sibilence. I've been wrestling with this problem for years, since I have that problem. I also own about 85 micsrophones at last count. Some very expensive, some quite cheap. For some strange reason, the more valuable of those mics are also the most "neutral" sounding (which still leaves a very wide range for variation, wider in my view than the. "modern" hyped mics, which all merely sound "too bright".)
If you ask me, the whole "hyped treble" craze is a byproduct of the fact that most "modern" "MEs" don't have the traditional training of real engineers who came up in the traditional studio system.
The treble madness comes from the idea to impress with cheaper designs capsules. Making the impression that they can do the nice top end like their expensive counterparts. I remember my Chinese mic fight last year. Never again I need tools which save me time. Biggest surprise is the newest version of the Oktava MK012. Seems they deliver with the mods now. Friend of mine called me today and was blown away, Dam- it - saving money never works this way neveeeerrrrrrrrr
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Mar 14, 2021 19:38:16 GMT -6
Guys, Let me get your feedback on another thing. What would you think about a 500 series interface? Imagine having a 500 series interface in your rack. Imagine if we could get transformers in there as well. I think with the way technology is moving forward there is great opportunities for new concepts to be realized. Any thoughts you guys have let me know and I will notch them all down to see what is possible. Mics are a crowded field right now, everybody and their brother is selling a generic mic with their name on it. It’s a war you will never win on price, you have to set yours apart. How you do that is up to you just realize your going to find any claims under a microscope so don’t go the bullshit route. Expanding is a great long term goal, but build your mic offerings first, guys who are all over the place early on useally don’t last.
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Post by dariamicrophones on Mar 14, 2021 20:07:55 GMT -6
Guys, Let me get your feedback on another thing. What would you think about a 500 series interface? Imagine having a 500 series interface in your rack. Imagine if we could get transformers in there as well. I think with the way technology is moving forward there is great opportunities for new concepts to be realized. Any thoughts you guys have let me know and I will notch them all down to see what is possible. Mics are a crowded field right now, everybody and their brother is selling a generic mic with their name on it. It’s a war you will never win on price, you have to set yours apart. How you do that is up to you just realize your going to find any claims under a microscope so don’t go the bullshit route. Expanding is a great long term goal, but build your mic offerings first, guys who are all over the place early on useally don’t last. You're exactly right my friend. The 500 offering is a dream project. If my crypto keeps going up though, maybe sooner than later! But right now I can't offer John the nearest rounded bitcoin, maybe the nearest rounded dogecoin instead haha!
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Post by brenta on Mar 14, 2021 20:12:47 GMT -6
On a side note, I don’t really get the price of the Manley Reference. I’d heard the capsule was Chinese, and now we get another clue that Feilo makes the mic. I don’t really care where stuff is made, I care what it sounds like. But Manley likes to brag that their gear is “Made in Chino, not China.” So they are trashing Chinese gear while selling it for a huge markup.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Mar 14, 2021 20:46:07 GMT -6
On a side note, I don’t really get the price of the Manley Reference. I’d heard the capsule was Chinese, and now we get another clue that Feilo makes the mic. I don’t really care where stuff is made, I care what it sounds like. But Manley likes to brag that their gear is “Made in Chino, not China.” So they are trashing Chinese gear while selling it for a huge markup. Capsule is Chinese, the mic is assembled in Chino. Now think about this API talks about being all discreet, last time I looked their VCA’s were THAT and not discreet.
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Post by dariamicrophones on Mar 14, 2021 22:10:50 GMT -6
On a side note, I don’t really get the price of the Manley Reference. I’d heard the capsule was Chinese, and now we get another clue that Feilo makes the mic. I don’t really care where stuff is made, I care what it sounds like. But Manley likes to brag that their gear is “Made in Chino, not China.” So they are trashing Chinese gear while selling it for a huge markup. I have no idea if it is made in Felio or not, that is just what I have heard on other forums in the past. I think almost everything else they make is made in the USA in Chino like you said. Regardless, the Manley Reference is a world class mic and everything I have ever owned from them has been top notch. The last Reference I owned was a special edition- it was white and red and it was one of the most beautiful mics I have ever seen. Check out this video of a tour of the Manley warehouse. This is just an incredible video and EveAnna is an amazing person. She also provides amazing service-anytime I have emailed her company- she personally emailed back in great detail.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 14, 2021 22:26:15 GMT -6
Manley made/makes great stuff. Evana was a real jerk to me in an email years ago, so I don’t have the highest opinion of her.
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Post by Guitar on Mar 15, 2021 7:49:46 GMT -6
Mic looks good, website is good as of this AM. I would add some thoughts about the voicing switch.
Think it would be really smart to add a second voicing, a "Flat" voicing, to go with the regular bright one.
I'm talking no more than 3 dB of rise in the high frequencies, on an acoustic measurement plot.
These are the kinds of microphones I respond to the most, and they are typically the most expensive as well. Even a flat setting with no peaks would be great, but I realize that's probably not going to happen with a typical LDC capsule.
But a flat-ish setting would possibly get my money. I'm not going to buy a "bright mic," just won't. I'm allergic.
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Post by drumsound on Mar 15, 2021 8:05:39 GMT -6
Guys, Let me get your feedback on another thing. What would you think about a 500 series interface? Imagine having a 500 series interface in your rack. Imagine if we could get transformers in there as well. I think with the way technology is moving forward there is great opportunities for new concepts to be realized. Any thoughts you guys have let me know and I will notch them all down to see what is possible. 500 series generally implies one channel to me. Why wants or needs a one channel interface? I've thought about a small interface to record outside of the studio, for people with a great piano or other types of "can't bring it to the studio" things. Even for that I'd want at least 4 channels. (stereo close and stereo room mics). I'm confused by you concept.
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Post by Guitar on Mar 15, 2021 8:08:05 GMT -6
The Wes Audio one looks like 8 channels. I think that would be the goal, makes sense with a 10 slot rack if the interface is 2 slots.
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Post by superwack on Mar 15, 2021 9:42:18 GMT -6
I think an 8 channel 500 series rack with a swappable interface card (Pro Tools / USB / TB...) would be an awesome solution - I actually suggested it to the guys at Lynx at NAMM in Anaheim but I don't think I have any interest as an individual module.
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Post by Ward on Mar 15, 2021 10:13:54 GMT -6
Manley made/makes great stuff. Evana was a real jerk to me in an email years ago, so I don’t have the highest opinion of her. Manley took a turn on June 10th 1999. Things changed.
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Post by drbill on Mar 15, 2021 10:29:04 GMT -6
Three comments from my perspective on this thread.... 1.) I do not want converters or digital stuff anywhere near my analog 500 racks. 2.) MXL 990 - my candidate for the worst mic ever made. 3.) I like mics that have a personality. A strong personality. One that sticks in my mind that is easy to "hear" on a source while it's still in the locker. Multi-personality mics are usually "OK" at a lot of things, and never great at any of them. That's my personal opinion. OK - 4 things. Making bright mics that are transformer-less is a bold move for a company. I applaud you on that - at least you will stand out. My personal experience is that EQ is the perfect answer for getting brighter vocals - not a brighter mic. For me, using a bright mic to track with is akin to tracking guitars with reverb, delay, compression, etc. pre-baked in that may end up in a busy track that you haven't built yet. There is always more to do later, and sometimes you end up handcuffed. Even the act of mastering can make an "OK" bright vocal unbearably bright after the fact. EQ after the fact allows one to get the brightness EXACTLY where it needs to be without being handcuffed. That's my take on it, and honestly, probably the take that most experienced engineers will lean into. Some of my fav and most sought after mics - C12's - are "bright" - or should I say open - but in a completely different way than any modern Chinese made mic. My $0.02 - devalued to $0.004256 for streaming payout.
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Post by Ward on Mar 15, 2021 10:34:18 GMT -6
Two comments from my perspective.... 1.) Do not want converters anywhere near my analog 500 racks. 2.) MXL 990 - my candidate for the worst mic ever made. 1 - perhaps the idea is to have an all in one lunchbox in time? So you have a lunchbox in one hand and a MacBook in the other . . . and off to the gig you go? 2 - Even worse than the MXL V67?
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Post by drbill on Mar 15, 2021 10:42:32 GMT -6
Two comments from my perspective.... 1.) Do not want converters anywhere near my analog 500 racks. 2.) MXL 990 - my candidate for the worst mic ever made. 1 - perhaps the idea is to have an all in one lunchbox in time? So you have a lunchbox in one hand and a MacBook in the other . . . and off to the gig you go? 2 - Even worse than the MXL V67? 1. Yeah, I get the concept. I don't like it. Digital "stuff" does not belong tied into analog racks and power supplies. IMO of course. 2. Yeah, way worse than the V67. The V67 is useable in an unruly bright way. The 990's were the phase mush pit of the early 00's. Unusable. I threw two in the trash. Literally.
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Post by Ward on Mar 15, 2021 10:50:51 GMT -6
Yeah, way worse than the V67. The V67 is useable in an unruly bright way. The 990's were the phase mush pit of the early 00's. Unusable. I threw two in the trash. Literally. I gave them away, and apologized for it to the recipient. And some MXL pencil dick condenser as well. (Ooops, language infraction)
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Post by drbill on Mar 15, 2021 10:54:35 GMT -6
Yeah, way worse than the V67. The V67 is useable in an unruly bright way. The 990's were the phase mush pit of the early 00's. Unusable. I threw two in the trash. Literally. I gave them away, and apologized for it to the recipient. And some MXL pencil dick condenser as well. (Ooops, language infraction) I got those 990's in a pairing with the pencil 603/604's. Those were immenantly useable as compared to the 990's. Kept the pencils for awhile while the 990's hit the trash can. Decent on a snare that you need to brighten up. Workable on toms when you don't want your 84's wrecked.
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Post by Guitar on Mar 15, 2021 12:41:59 GMT -6
I had the 991's and they were pretty bad too, the pencil versions of the 'classic' 990.
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Post by chessparov on Mar 15, 2021 21:21:31 GMT -6
I know of a couple of "vocal exceptions", where the 990 sounded excellent on them. But I wasn't one of them! Same for the 58 compared to other singing friends. Whereas (Laguna Local Legends) Steve and Beth Wood, sound great on a 58. Chris
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Post by lpedrum on Mar 15, 2021 21:41:13 GMT -6
I had the 991's and they were pretty bad too, the pencil versions of the 'classic' 990. That said, a few years back a similar mic, the transformerless Monoprice 600800, got a rave review in Tape Op. Their current "upgrade," the LC100 sells for $40.
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Post by chessparov on Mar 15, 2021 21:49:53 GMT -6
See guys. See!! (Now I wonder about a special "KH"modded 990-where did I put Klaus' #) Chris
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Mar 16, 2021 8:03:27 GMT -6
I know of a couple of "vocal exceptions", where the 990 sounded excellent on them. But I wasn't one of them! Same for the 58 compared to other singing friends. Whereas (Laguna Local Legends) Steve and Beth Wood, sound great on a 58. Chris Yeah that’s the thing with the 990 99% of the time (is this where they got the model #) it sounds like total ass, but that one percent of the time it’s golden.
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Post by drbill on Mar 16, 2021 10:36:47 GMT -6
9 9 0 I don't ever want to see those numbers put together in that order for anything ever again. LOL. Eric - I think the "1%" is a huge exaggeration. heh heh
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