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Post by Ward on Aug 9, 2023 11:43:16 GMT -6
The 1973 sure has that Soyuz sound capture signature to it! I have to say, on acoustic I prefer the 1973 . . . but I think a KM84 is still better.
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Aug 9, 2023 20:47:13 GMT -6
To me, the 73 has a character. The Bomblet sounds similar and fine, but doesn't strike me as having much character. I had a Bomblet for a week back when I was trying out the wonderful 0-17 and the 0-11's. Having those mics around, the Bomblet seemed dull in comparison. The 73 certainly has a sound. It's obviously warm in a similar way a ribbon mic is warm. I'd love to have one for a week to see if it found a spot as a main mic for something. Maybe acoustic or electric guitar? My first choice on acoustics is a Neumann KM-84, and I hope to get one before the end of the year, but the 73 could be interesting. No joke, the 1973 is just kicking ass on electric guitar. I keep wanting to scream "this is the best electric guitar mic I've tried", but don't want to be that guy... After a week of feeling that way, I saw a Pete Thorne video pop up where he did a massive electric mic shootout at sweetwater. At the end of that, he bought and walked out of there with a 1973. That's telling, as he's mostly a guitar guy and has used everything under the sun (I've also never heard a bad tone from the guy on his videos I've watched). I was lazy for years and just did the 57 thing. Got stuck on the SM7 for a while, then started multi mic'ing for a few years. Got sick of little phase issues that seemed inevitable (always a tradeoff). I'm a huge ribbon mic fan, but only do that on rare occasions where I back one way off and get some room tone (natural can sound amazing). Last 5 years or so I've moved to just using condenser mic's on electrics, unless the tones get super fuzz and heavy (back to a 57 lol). Was really happy moving back and forth between my Vanguard V4 and Chandler TG depending on the tone. This 1973 is like the best of all worlds. There's "just" enough low end information for things to sound punchy but not boomy and unmanageable. The focus it brings reminds me a lot of more modern ribbon mics, with a nice rise in the higher frequencies without being too harsh. I'm telling you, there's something special here. But still early on in the relationship here. Love the Soyuz mics I have and the Bomblet on the AC30 cab with blue Alnicos has been super cool. What cabs/combos are you digging this on? Everything, LOL? Pete is so awesome. Long followed his channel and some of his original instrumentals are just badass. Seems like a great guy. |
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Post by andersmv on Aug 10, 2023 6:27:19 GMT -6
Works well on the Matchless with the Celestion. Only gotten to use the 1973 on a Vox and fender clone so far, but was great on them as well. I haven’t tried anything higher gain yet, but don’t do a whole lot of that out here.
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Post by sparkey on Aug 10, 2023 13:54:04 GMT -6
do you need the launcher deluxe with that 1973? or do you just turn it into a bomblet if you add that to a 1973?
bomblet is the 1973 capsule with a transformer,
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Post by drumsound on Aug 10, 2023 14:08:19 GMT -6
Soyuz sent me a pair of Bomblets, along with another 1973 to go with mine. I’ll be doing a pretty extensive video comparing them, whole song using them. Here’s a quick video on electric guitar, as that’s what I’m starting with. I’ll be splitting the 1973 to the Launcher Deluxe on everything, pairing a 1973 with the Launcher Deluxe comes out to the same $$$ as a Bomblet. These new 1973’s are amazing on electric guitar. I’ve been hesitant to say it’s “the best” mic I’ve used on electric, but I’m certainly feeling more strongly about that opinion the more I use it. It’s especially amazing going through the Launcher. Matt, thanks for the preview. Your videos are always worth a little time on out end. This does confirm a couple of things for me: 1) Unless the amp is really clean, I don't really connect with condensers on amps 2) The Launcher never makes anything sound better. *ducks* |
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Post by andersmv on Aug 10, 2023 15:07:35 GMT -6
Soyuz sent me a pair of Bomblets, along with another 1973 to go with mine. I’ll be doing a pretty extensive video comparing them, whole song using them. Here’s a quick video on electric guitar, as that’s what I’m starting with. I’ll be splitting the 1973 to the Launcher Deluxe on everything, pairing a 1973 with the Launcher Deluxe comes out to the same $$$ as a Bomblet. These new 1973’s are amazing on electric guitar. I’ve been hesitant to say it’s “the best” mic I’ve used on electric, but I’m certainly feeling more strongly about that opinion the more I use it. It’s especially amazing going through the Launcher. Matt, thanks for the preview. Your videos are always worth a little time on out end. This does confirm a couple of things for me: 1) Unless the amp is really clean, I don't really connect with condensers on amps 2) The Launcher never makes anything sound better. *ducks* Hey, all good. I helped you save some money at least! I go through phases, I'm in a condenser/amp phase the last few years, we'll see what happens next. The thing I'm liking with condensers on amps right now, is that it just ends up being less work for me come mix time, and things fit better with less work. The amps sit in the mix the way they should, but on their own/outside of the context, they still sound thin on pretty much everything. I also have to be careful about bright amp tones, some clients are very particular about dialing in the amp the way they want in the room, and then I have to make sure that sounds good. That's a whole other conversation, but sometime they're just not a good fit. I'm already working on the mix for that song I'm doing in the video. I did a slight high and low pass on the amp tracks done with the 1973, and then hit 3 dB of compression with the waves Renaissance Axx compressor. The tracks fit great, that was easy... Although the Launcher can be subtle sometimes, I've really come to appreciate it. Would be curious to hear what you don't like about it, would give me some things to think about/listen for now that I'm starting to come out of the honeymoon phases with them. |
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Post by earlevel on Aug 10, 2023 19:02:14 GMT -6
Yeah....but...from a design/engineering perspecive...WTF??! Is there some kind of super-awesome saturation that is happening that is part of that noise spec? Because, otherwise, I just don't get it. I agree that it seems high for a FET. Interesting. OTOH, as far as it being a problem, it's a very typical noise figure for a tube mic. C800g: 18 dBA, U67: 21/17/20 depending on pattern (17 dBA cardioid), AKG C12: 22 dBA. Unless the requirement is to record something very quiet, no one is going to turn down those mics based on self noise (unless they are recording quiet sounds and need another type of mic entirely). My Soyuz 017 FET is spec'd at 18 dBA (the tube version 20 dBA). I don't have any noise issue recording vocals. (It also has very high sensitivity, doesn't need a lot of gain at the pre.) |
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Post by andersmv on Aug 10, 2023 19:26:11 GMT -6
None of the Soyuz mic's I've tried have been anything to write home about as far as noise floor is concerned. They've all seemed about "normal" to me, and I've yet to have any issues. I've generally found that to be true with any mics that have "character", you have to live with a little noise. Again, no complaints here with any of the Soyuz mics being noisy though, it's yet to bother me. I was doing singing some vocals on my bomblet/1973 demo today and my parts in the verses are pretty quiet. When I'm recording my voice, I'm usually on my Vanguard V13 or Chandler TG mic, both of which are ungodly quiet (the new generation 2 Vanguard V4's are like DPA level quiet). I noticed the noise floor on both the Soyuz mics with my headphones pretty loud when doing the takes, beyond that I havn't really given it any thought since then.
The spec's aren't impressive by modern standards, I can't imagine they're going to give most people problems though.
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Post by drumsound on Aug 10, 2023 22:21:45 GMT -6
Matt, thanks for the preview. Your videos are always worth a little time on out end. This does confirm a couple of things for me: 1) Unless the amp is really clean, I don't really connect with condensers on amps 2) The Launcher never makes anything sound better. *ducks* Hey, all good. I helped you save some money at least! I go through phases, I'm in a condenser/amp phase the last few years, we'll see what happens next. The thing I'm liking with condensers on amps right now, is that it just ends up being less work for me come mix time, and things fit better with less work. The amps sit in the mix the way they should, but on their own/outside of the context, they still sound thin on pretty much everything. I also have to be careful about bright amp tones, some clients are very particular about dialing in the amp the way they want in the room, and then I have to make sure that sounds good. That's a whole other conversation, but sometime they're just not a good fit. I'm already working on the mix for that song I'm doing in the video. I did a slight high and low pass on the amp tracks done with the 1973, and then hit 3 dB of compression with the waves Renaissance Axx compressor. The tracks fit great, that was easy... Although the Launcher can be subtle sometimes, I've really come to appreciate it. Would be curious to hear what you don't like about it, would give me some things to think about/listen for now that I'm starting to come out of the honeymoon phases with them. I'm not saying I wouldn't want either of those mics, I'm just not putting them on amps. What I hear once the amp starts to break up is BREAK UP, and not cool tone of an amp being pushed. I hear all of the things that I associate with the bad side of distortion, not the the things we go for in distorted tone. I feel like dynamic mics give me the things I like about distortion on electric guitar. Condensers just sound like the mic pre gain is too high with condensers. That's just me, I suppose. I'm sure I have a bunch of records with condensers on amps, just like I have a bunch with 57s on amps to, but I can't stand that sound either. The Bomblet when you're not pushing the amp sounds georgious. The Launcher just makes everything sound like a 57... |
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Post by chessparov on Aug 10, 2023 23:10:22 GMT -6
And the negative Tony?  At this point I'm hoping my original Launcher*... Might be handy sometimes for my Psychedelic flights of fancy. And the like. Interested in OG Reggae Dub also. Effects... Chris *I suspect the later Deluxe Launcher is somewhat mellower. I hope! |
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Post by paulcheeba on Aug 11, 2023 2:20:42 GMT -6
And the negative Tony? At this point I'm hoping my original Launcher*... Might be handy sometimes for my Psychedelic flights of fancy. And the like. Interested in OG Reggae Dub also. Effects... Chris *I suspect the later Deluxe Launcher is somewhat mellower. I hope! I love the launchers. They do sound sexy. I haven’t heard a bad example of a Soyuz yet. |
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Post by bricejchandler on Aug 11, 2023 3:14:33 GMT -6
And the negative Tony? At this point I'm hoping my original Launcher*... Might be handy sometimes for my Psychedelic flights of fancy. And the like. Interested in OG Reggae Dub also. Effects... Chris *I suspect the later Deluxe Launcher is somewhat mellower. I hope! I love the launchers. They do sound sexy. I haven’t heard a bad example of a Soyuz yet. What do you use the launchers on? it seems like it would sound cool for stuff like close mic drums where you want to add a little excitement |
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Post by paulcheeba on Aug 11, 2023 7:33:48 GMT -6
I love the launchers. They do sound sexy. I haven’t heard a bad example of a Soyuz yet. What do you use the launchers on? it seems like it would sound cool for stuff like close mic drums where you want to add a little excitement I was using them on ribbon mics in the room and getting a much bigger sound. I should try close mics..... |
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Post by andersmv on Aug 11, 2023 9:04:27 GMT -6
I've got an old RCA PB-90 from 1932, it's kind of the precursor to the 44 series. It can sound amazing, but you're always fighting the noise floor a little bit. Vocals sound great with the PB-90 going through the Launcher, instant vibe city. The Launcher does add a tiny bit of noise, so I can't always get away with that pairing if the vocal is quieter. At that point, I'll move the RCA over to my AEA TRP preamp. For single mic drums, the PB90/Launcher is great. If you're in situations where you've got a ribbon mic in front of a loud source, it's easier to hear what the Launcher is doing. Takes care of transients in a nice and subtle way, like pushing an API preamp harder (which is basically what the Launcher is at the end of the day, a transformer and opamp).
You notice the Launcher more when you start to stack things. A lot of times, you can't really tell what it's doing by itself, and that's a turnoff for many people. "What the hell is it doing?". Ya well... Try it again in a few more years. I've been doing this for over 15 years now, being out here in my current studio space is the first time I've actually had "my own space" for a while. Everywhere else I've had access to great facilities, but haven't really gotten the chance to work somewhere day in/day out for longer than like 2-3 years. Now that I've been out here for like 7 years, I know my space really well and have had a somewhat consistent setup that I'm comfortable with. All that to say, I notice little things more than I used to. It's not that I have golden ears or anything, I just know this space and gear really well at this point and have started focusing on smaller things more. They stick out to me more here.
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Post by andersmv on Aug 25, 2023 11:06:19 GMT -6
Here’s my full review, full session files in the video description!
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Post by teejay on Aug 25, 2023 13:57:25 GMT -6
Liked the 1973/Launcher on instruments...Bomblet on the vocals.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,098 
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Post by ericn on Aug 25, 2023 16:01:29 GMT -6
Hey, all good. I helped you save some money at least! I go through phases, I'm in a condenser/amp phase the last few years, we'll see what happens next. The thing I'm liking with condensers on amps right now, is that it just ends up being less work for me come mix time, and things fit better with less work. The amps sit in the mix the way they should, but on their own/outside of the context, they still sound thin on pretty much everything. I also have to be careful about bright amp tones, some clients are very particular about dialing in the amp the way they want in the room, and then I have to make sure that sounds good. That's a whole other conversation, but sometime they're just not a good fit. I'm already working on the mix for that song I'm doing in the video. I did a slight high and low pass on the amp tracks done with the 1973, and then hit 3 dB of compression with the waves Renaissance Axx compressor. The tracks fit great, that was easy... Although the Launcher can be subtle sometimes, I've really come to appreciate it. Would be curious to hear what you don't like about it, would give me some things to think about/listen for now that I'm starting to come out of the honeymoon phases with them. I'm not saying I wouldn't want either of those mics, I'm just not putting them on amps. What I hear once the amp starts to break up is BREAK UP, and not cool tone of an amp being pushed. I hear all of the things that I associate with the bad side of distortion, not the the things we go for in distorted tone. I feel like dynamic mics give me the things I like about distortion on electric guitar. Condensers just sound like the mic pre gain is too high with condensers. That's just me, I suppose. I'm sure I have a bunch of records with condensers on amps, just like I have a bunch with 57s on amps to, but I can't stand that sound either. The Bomblet when you're not pushing the amp sounds georgious. The Launcher just makes everything sound like a 57... No it’s not just you, there is always a sweet spot between clean and totally distorted where an amp just sings. I think another thing is that we have moved away from rooms where there is space for an amp to breathe to either reflective or over tamed closets. |
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Post by drumsound on Aug 25, 2023 22:44:38 GMT -6
I'm not saying I wouldn't want either of those mics, I'm just not putting them on amps. What I hear once the amp starts to break up is BREAK UP, and not cool tone of an amp being pushed. I hear all of the things that I associate with the bad side of distortion, not the the things we go for in distorted tone. I feel like dynamic mics give me the things I like about distortion on electric guitar. Condensers just sound like the mic pre gain is too high with condensers. That's just me, I suppose. I'm sure I have a bunch of records with condensers on amps, just like I have a bunch with 57s on amps to, but I can't stand that sound either. The Bomblet when you're not pushing the amp sounds georgious. The Launcher just makes everything sound like a 57... No it’s not just you, there is always a sweet spot between clean and totally distorted where an amp just sings. I think another thing is that we have moved away from rooms where there is space for an amp to breathe to either reflective or over tamed closets. What I'm talking about is how condensers breaking up from amp break up in a way that I find unpleasing. Not the sweet spot of the amp, but that I often hear the not sweet spot of the mic the moment the amp starts to HINT at distortion. |
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Post by andersmv on Aug 29, 2023 14:53:23 GMT -6
I've been in the habit of adding some sort of slight, harmonic distortion to guitar tracks at mix time for a lot of stuff that's sent to me (that I didn't record). A lot of amp tracks I get are kind of harsh, and compression makes it worse. Push it a bit with something tapey (UAD's Oxide can be an easy fix a lot of times. If I need to get more surgical then the Waves J37 gives me a lot more shaping options to tinker with). That might be why I like the Launcher so much on electrics, it just supports a phase I'm currently in.
So I recently got some Coil Audio preamps and have been blown away by them. They add a lot of body and thickness, but can be a bit darker on some things. I've been playing around with the Launcher Deluxe in the saturate mode (no boost, just color) and plugging it in at the preamp output. The Coil Audio guys are really adamant about a lot of the sound of the preamp coming from the impedance choice and load on the front end, so I tried the Launcher before and after the preamp. Sure enough, I preferred it after. It's a much bigger difference sound wise, as I can control how hard I hit the Launcher with the preamp output. I'm still getting the body from the Coil, but with a little more clarity added up top and a very small dip in the mids. Really run combo where I can get the EQ/Sonic options and drive the Launcher less if I want to. Really curious to try it on electric at some point.
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Post by knucklehead89 on Aug 31, 2023 17:19:54 GMT -6
Just picked one of these up last week and so far I’ve used it on guitars and a vocal and it’s a killer mic. Definitely a keeper
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Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 1, 2023 23:21:15 GMT -6
Good news, welcome to the forum knucklehead89.
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Post by christopher on Sept 2, 2023 2:07:26 GMT -6
Hey, all good. I helped you save some money at least! I go through phases, I'm in a condenser/amp phase the last few years, we'll see what happens next. The thing I'm liking with condensers on amps right now, is that it just ends up being less work for me come mix time, and things fit better with less work. The amps sit in the mix the way they should, but on their own/outside of the context, they still sound thin on pretty much everything. I also have to be careful about bright amp tones, some clients are very particular about dialing in the amp the way they want in the room, and then I have to make sure that sounds good. That's a whole other conversation, but sometime they're just not a good fit. I'm already working on the mix for that song I'm doing in the video. I did a slight high and low pass on the amp tracks done with the 1973, and then hit 3 dB of compression with the waves Renaissance Axx compressor. The tracks fit great, that was easy... Although the Launcher can be subtle sometimes, I've really come to appreciate it. Would be curious to hear what you don't like about it, would give me some things to think about/listen for now that I'm starting to come out of the honeymoon phases with them. I'm not saying I wouldn't want either of those mics, I'm just not putting them on amps. What I hear once the amp starts to break up is BREAK UP, and not cool tone of an amp being pushed. I hear all of the things that I associate with the bad side of distortion, not the the things we go for in distorted tone. I feel like dynamic mics give me the things I like about distortion on electric guitar. Condensers just sound like the mic pre gain is too high with condensers. That's just me, I suppose. I'm sure I have a bunch of records with condensers on amps, just like I have a bunch with 57s on amps to, but I can't stand that sound either. The Bomblet when you're not pushing the amp sounds georgious. The Launcher just makes everything sound like a 57... It’s not just you. The first demo with a band I was in, our guitarist was dimed clean, Fender twin amp style at “11” and the u87 to Amek preamp was overloaded the whole way. Into ADAT and that’s why I have a reel to reel as my emoji  I really like the soyuz anyway. The 1973 is cool, the bomblet reminds me of something vintage from my youth. A very… characterful mic |
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Post by drumsound on Sept 2, 2023 11:18:32 GMT -6
I'm not saying I wouldn't want either of those mics, I'm just not putting them on amps. What I hear once the amp starts to break up is BREAK UP, and not cool tone of an amp being pushed. I hear all of the things that I associate with the bad side of distortion, not the the things we go for in distorted tone. I feel like dynamic mics give me the things I like about distortion on electric guitar. Condensers just sound like the mic pre gain is too high with condensers. That's just me, I suppose. I'm sure I have a bunch of records with condensers on amps, just like I have a bunch with 57s on amps to, but I can't stand that sound either. The Bomblet when you're not pushing the amp sounds georgious. The Launcher just makes everything sound like a 57... It’s not just you. The first demo with a band I was in, our guitarist was dimed clean, Fender twin amp style at “11” and the u87 to Amek preamp was overloaded the whole way. Into ADAT and that’s why I have a reel to reel as my emoji I really like the soyuz anyway. The 1973 is cool, the bomblet reminds me of something vintage from my youth. A very… characterful mic I came up on a Mackie into ADATs. Then the boss bought a TAC Magnum (very similar to an Angela) and our flagship mic (eventually) was a U87 that I'm still using. Especially after the console upgrade, I started to hear the ADAT shortcomings and I bought the 2" machine even though I was an employee. My friend and SW guy has tried to get me into a Bomblet and I probably need to do it someday. I'd only buy one in the black brass finish... |
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Post by andersmv on Sept 2, 2023 12:43:31 GMT -6
I wanted to keep one of the bomblets Soyuz sent to review, but I’m going to hold off and save for an 017 Fet at some point.
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Post by chessparov on Sept 2, 2023 13:09:11 GMT -6
Sometime Anders could you give us a "Do's/Don'ts" sort of advice on both the... Original Launcher? Deluxe? I did make the Poor Man's version of the Deluxe. By getting a separate Phantom Power Box BTW. Thanks for all those exceptional videos and music! Chris |
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At this point I'm hoping my original Launcher*... Might be handy sometimes for my Psychedelic flights of fancy.
