New Shootout: Emulations vs Clones

Well done, Vin. It's been more than a year since I've heard some of these and my ears are telling me the same thing as then. The Flea 47 blows the others out of the water. That become especially apparent in the mix audio. The sound is somehow bigger without being louder. It just envelopes the listener in a way the other mics cannot.

The Advanced Audio mics are just really good value for the money. I remember when you were first running various recording samples by Jack and myself, we both thought that CM49 sounded great on your voice and it still does. I know my Flea 47 was a bit of a revelation to you and put you on the path to buy a Flea 49 (something I suspect your wife would like to smack me in the head for doing), but if you had done a full album with that mic, it would have sounded pretty damn good. Not as good as the Flea, but pretty damn good. For anyone that wants to get the 49 vibe and not spend $4300 on the Flea, the CM49 is a nice option at under $1k.

I liked the CM48T more this time around than I did the first time. I think it was the night you were recording these tracks when you did some takes with the 48. We were both impressed by the sound of it but trying to make it sit in a mix made it lose something. It's not losing anything now so I'm going to attribute how I felt about it that night to user error at the time.

The Slate stuff never fails to disappoint my ears. It's the microphone version of a Dementor; it sucks all the joy out of the world. That may be a bit harsh, but so is the mic. The FG47 MKII made you sound like you had a sock stuffed in one cheek. I wasn't paying close attention to the screen and it kinda startled me when I heard it the first time. I looked up, saw what it was, and mumbled "Figures" to myself.

The 563 model sounded okay, better than the Slate, but I felt it lacked the character of even the AA mics. I feel like it could work on some voices but I don't think it compliments yours.

The surprise to me was the Antares Mic Modeler. Based on my own experiences with it 15 or so years ago, I expected it to be much worse. Of course they've no doubt improved the software in that time, but then I realized there was more to it than that. I bought that software back when I didn't have much money to invest in microphones. The only mic I owned that was on the input list was a Shure SM58. You're imputing with a Neumann U87 Ai. My guess is that's the biggest difference. I'm doubtful that most people using that mic are going to have a $3200 Neumann on the front end. It would be interesting to hear what comes out of that plugin when using less expensive mics for the input.

Anyway, that's my change back from a nickle. For others, YMMV.

Well done Vincent, thanks. The Neumann U87AI, was of course excellent. Not necessarily best for your voice, but clearly a great mic. I preferred the MicMod Telefunken U47 and the Flea 47. They both have that bigger than big sound where you hear more reverb tail and it feels like it excites the room more. That's why I personally like U67's, I want it BIG and intimate too. The Slates were again, reminiscent of the originals, but just 2 dimensional. The other mic modeler was pretty good actually, but the AA mics always seem just too plain for my taste.

So, if I was shopping for something similar, , I'd look at the Mic Mod, or maybe the Golden Age Premier 47. The Flea's probably beyond my price range.

In the vintage sweepstakes...
1st Flea (fantastic!)
2nd AA CM49 (great-er than)
3rd AS CM48T (just a bit less great than
CM49-but still great)

As always, your U87ai sounded great/more modern.

IMHO the CM48T would work as well for me,
as the CM49. Hmm... Now it's on my potential GPS (Gearlust Propensity Syndrome!).

Thanks again Vincent, for doing all this!
Chris

P.S. I'm biased towards "vintage" generally!

I couldn’t help myself. 

I’m kind of glad I held off till part two to leave my thoughts. I’m already getting such cool reactions and questions here and on Facebook.  I’ll save all of my thoughts for my video, but I will make a few comments. 

Martin John Butler & chessparov your descriptions of the U87ai hit the nail on the head. A great mic, but maybe not the best for my voice and more modern. That is literally how I feel everytime I use it. Lol. 

jtc111, the U87ai is definitely the reason the emulations sound good. I may do a video featuring both EFX and Mic Room with the U87ai and a much cheaper mic. The CMV563 is a little unfair as it doesn’t sound like a U47 or an M49, probably more like my BLUE, but it was the closest Mic Room had. Mic Room actually has decent U67 and TLM 170 Emulation. They work well with the U87. While modern, the U87 is pretty neutral and captures a lot of frequency info. The TLM 170 emulation saved a recording I made with a peaky coloratura soprano.  

In general I think the real mics have more of a 3D quality than the emulations. In the mix a lot of that is less noticeable until you hear the FleA. It’s huge and warm and I even cut out a bunch of mids to really help it cut, since my voice is mid heavy already. This is the shootout that made me go crazy trying to get a hold of a FleA 49. I knew if their 47 sounded this good their 49 must sound spectacular. I personally lean toward the 49 style mics on my voice.  They require less EQ on my part, but neither the CM49 and FG49 don’t have the warmth. 

For $595 that CM48T is a bargain. If I wanted to bring in a small brass or string section and wanted a few extra mics a pair of those would work great. I wanted to try it on a trumpet when I had it here, but my friend was just crazy busy at the time and I didn’t get to try it.  The CM49 is really nice, specifically for vocals. I always felt a pair might sound good on piano.  Honestly, this is where I would use mics by Warm and Advanced Audio, etc, for the extra mics around the studio.  That said, I’ll probably be selling my CM49 to fund a high end 67 clone or a FleA 49 Next which should pair with my FleA 49. First and foremost my studio is about high end vocals so it makes sense. 

Our new YouTube video conclusion to our Emulations vs Clones series.

Apologies for the digression, but I would really like to hear a comparison between the Flea47 and the Pearlman TM-1, of which I own 2. It seems like none of the comparisons/"shootouts" I see include the Pearlman. Would also like to hear the Pearlman47 as well.

Yeah, I don't usually put much stock in "shootouts" but I trust you to do a good and fair job.

I keep waiting for Chad's Signal Art 47 to be included on Audiotestkitchen. I'm pretty sure he sent them one, and I'd really love to hear it in that context of comparison.

Ha! Couldn't think of a better resource to run it through its paces. This is perfect. Thanks to you and Chad in advance, and while I will be eagerly awaiting any video review and summary, I am hoping you will also be sharing your thoughts along the way. This is one of my top contenders.

I fully expect Chad's UT47 FET, to be way cool too. I'll watch your latest video tonight Vincent.
Chris

It's totally fine. Laurence/Zhivago/My Fair Lady...
You're in good company!

My "Intermission", might be just to break it up, into a couple of installments ala Mini-Series!
Chris