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Post by Martin John Butler on May 12, 2020 20:34:09 GMT -6
Whew, DHL is FAST. I got my SA67 today. I only had five minutes to test it, just to check if everything was working.
My first impression is that Joshua has done it. This one sounds perfectly balanced and has that distinctive U67 honk. Gain is good, noise seems normal, no extra sibilance at all. I'm so glad it seems like a home run this time and jogged my Neumann U67 memory after using it.
It'll take me some time to dial it in and find the most compatible preamp and settings, EQ, etc. but it's behaving like a 67 should, took a little EQ beautifully, though I barely needed to touch it.
More to come, but I think congratulations will be in order for Joshua, it's a good and proper profesional mic now and I'm impressed.
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Post by ragan on May 12, 2020 21:54:45 GMT -6
Whew, DHL is FAST. I got my SA67 today. I only had five minutes to test it, just to check if everything was working. My first impression is that Joshua has done it. This one sounds perfectly balanced and has that distinctive U67 honk. Gain is good, noise seems normal, no extra sibilance at all. I'm so glad it seems like a home run this time and jogged my Neumann U67 memory after using it. It'll take me some time to dial it in and find the most compatible preamp and settings, EQ, etc. but it's behaving like a 67 should, took a little EQ beautifully, though I barely needed to touch it. More to come, but I think congratulations will be in order for Joshua, it's a good and proper profesional mic now and I'm impressed. Congrats, Martin. I really want to hear that thing on your voice.
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Post by reddirt on May 13, 2020 3:48:29 GMT -6
Great to hear Martin (Lyell who?); hope it does exactly what you have waited for. My SA 87 (Heisserman / Sowter) is everything i'd hoped. Cheers, Ross
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 13, 2020 9:02:41 GMT -6
I love 87's reddirt. They just fit most tracks somehow while others are hit and miss.
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Post by teejay on May 13, 2020 16:40:48 GMT -6
Whew, DHL is FAST. I got my SA67 today. I only had five minutes to test it, just to check if everything was working. My first impression is that Joshua has done it. This one sounds perfectly balanced and has that distinctive U67 honk. Gain is good, noise seems normal, no extra sibilance at all. I'm so glad it seems like a home run this time and jogged my Neumann U67 memory after using it. It'll take me some time to dial it in and find the most compatible preamp and settings, EQ, etc. but it's behaving like a 67 should, took a little EQ beautifully, though I barely needed to touch it. More to come, but I think congratulations will be in order for Joshua, it's a good and proper profesional mic now and I'm impressed. Congrats, Martin. I really want to hear that thing on your voice. I’d “like” this 10 times if I could.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 14, 2020 7:07:13 GMT -6
I'll try to do a quick vocal/guitar demo soon and post here. I'll do a complete production further down the road. I used it a little yesterday with the Dizengoff D4. Today I'll try it with the Stam SA73 to see which is the better fit for me. It does that natural compression thing and doesn't add sibilance, which is a great start.
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Post by soundintheround on May 14, 2020 11:56:10 GMT -6
Still waiting for mine to ship.....
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Post by veggieryan on May 14, 2020 13:30:18 GMT -6
It does that natural compression thing and doesn't add sibilance, which is a great start. That's what I am looking forward too... woohoo!
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Post by the other mark williams on May 14, 2020 13:48:32 GMT -6
Still waiting for mine to ship..... Yeah, me too.
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Post by the other mark williams on May 14, 2020 13:49:28 GMT -6
It does that natural compression thing and doesn't add sibilance, which is a great start. Man, that's exactly what I'm hoping for.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 14, 2020 15:07:01 GMT -6
It's strange, when there's no extra sibilance being added by a mic, you don't even think about it, you forget all about the issues you've been trying to resolve and just do what you're doing.
The new SA67 has plenty of top and good transparency, it's just not emphasizing the sibilant areas. I'll try to record something soon. I would have done it today, but I'm sharing my space with my wife while the covid-19 virus runs its course, so it may take me a day or two to get some recording time in.
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Post by the other mark williams on May 14, 2020 15:58:44 GMT -6
It's strange, when there's no extra sibilance being added by a mic, you don't even think about it, you just do what you're doing. Only when there's an issue do you notice it and then try to workaround it. The new SA67 has plenty of top and good transparency, it's just not emphasizing the sibilant areas. I'll try to record something soon. I would have done it today, but I'm sharing my space with my wife while the covid-19 virus runs its course, so it may take me a day or two to get some recording time in. Thanks, Martin! I'm planning to record a couple examples for everybody whenever mine arrives, too. I figure the more data points, the better.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 8:02:06 GMT -6
The 1980 U87 I used to have just worked on everything. It had no extra sibilance, proper proximity effect, rarely needed EQ, no plosives, fine noise level, no harshness, brightness or anything else you don't want. I used it every day for 11 years until I sold my home studio. That's why my mic search has ben such a complicated thing. I didn't have the budget to just buy a U87 or the Soyuz 0-17, so I went through a bunch of good but not great mics that were less expensive. Not cheap, but not quite as pricey as the Neumann or other high end clones.
This is why we've all been rooting for Stam, they're bringing that level of quality at a more affordable price. The important thing was it couldn't be a compromise.
I need some time to record with the SA67, get used to preamp compatibility, placement, EQ, etc., but this time I believe Stam's done it. I think the SA67 will stand up to the Soyuz 0-17, (of course they're different, but similar in some ways), and the reissue Neumann U67. That would be the real test, putting it next to the $7,000 reissue.
Down the road a piece, once social distancing has eased, I'll get to a studio and compare to a couple of vintage 67's. Until then, I'll do what I can here for now.
If you've been on the fence regarding ordering he SA67, I think you'll be happy if you go for it.
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Post by brenta on May 15, 2020 9:42:26 GMT -6
Martin, your new SA67 has a Tim Campbell capsule, correct?
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 10:03:50 GMT -6
Yes, the new updated version. Tim tweaked the design until he had it just right. Joshua has three vintage U67's to test against and worked with Tim until it was perfected.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 14:25:15 GMT -6
OK Real Gear buddies, I did a quick and dirty vocal with the new Stam SA67 to compare with a track I did last year with the Chandler REDD 47.
Chandler had talked about how the engineers at Abbey Road didn't hesitate for a minute about throwing the Chandler right up against their best Neumann's when they had finished development. So in that sprit, I thought why not try that with the SA67.
Now, this Chandler track had been carefully labored over and I probably comped a couple of takes, (I don't recall), and for the new Stam track I just went for it and didn't take time to comp for a better performance. I matched levels by ear, so I have no idea how close I came. Also I sang certain parts in each take a bit softer or louder, and heaven knows if my mic positions were even close, but my thinking was you can get a general idea of how the SA67 sounds. I used the Dizengoff D4 preamp and both vocal tracks are fairly raw. I used no compression, no EQ, only a little reverb and an HPF around 40 Hz. I'll try other preamps as I get more time with it.
So, here ya go..
https%3A//soundcloud.com/martin-john-butler/redd-47-vs-stam-ii-test
https%3A//soundcloud.com/martin-john-butler/stam-sa67-ii-test
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Post by timcampbell on May 15, 2020 14:34:18 GMT -6
Well I think the 67 sounds great on your voice.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 14:38:55 GMT -6
Thanks Tim, I'm getting more and more excited as I get to know the new SA67. You did an amazing job with this. I had a few moments where my body memory of using a Neumann U67 kicked in and the new mic gave me that same feeling.
Of course we all know that no two mics ever sound exactly the same, but the goal to me was to get the true 67 sound, and I think you and Joshua simply nailed it this time. I can only imagine how sweet this will be in a great studio with a little compression, etc..
I'll do a shootout with a vintage U67 when the Covid restrictions are gone. I'd love to put this up next to the Neumann reissue, that would be really interesting and the fairest comparison.
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Post by geoff738 on May 15, 2020 14:51:54 GMT -6
Just a very cursory listen, but I think either would work really well for your voice.
Congrats on the new acquisition!
Cheers, Geoff
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 14:54:48 GMT -6
Thanks Geoff, much appreciated.
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Post by brenta on May 15, 2020 15:15:30 GMT -6
Sounds great, Martin. The SA67 sounds huge on your voice. I'm hearing those Neumann mids. Nice work Stam and Tim Campbell.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 15:21:35 GMT -6
Thanks Brenta, much appreciated.
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Post by stam on May 15, 2020 16:16:21 GMT -6
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!
It sounds truly truly magical. Both mic sound great to me.
To be honest any mic would sound great on your voice, what a voice.
Thanks for posting this. I am so glad we went with Tim Campbell on these mics.
Best K67 capsule replicas I have ever tested. Different league.
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Post by Martin John Butler on May 15, 2020 17:01:23 GMT -6
I'm getting more and more excited as I get to know it better. Thanks so much Joshua, I think there's a bit of fairy dust sprinkled on this one.
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Post by wiz on May 15, 2020 17:09:05 GMT -6
Sounds really great!
congrats
Cheers
Wiz
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