NEW Drum Overhead Recordings

Alan Dossett, Texas-based drummer extraordinaire took some time out from his busy gigging and teaching schedule to record some X-Y stereo drum overhead samples for me. Here are OktavaMod Edition MK-219, MK-011 (medium diaphragm) and MK-105 mics. Cables are Mogami Gold into Geoffrey Daking IV preamps into RME adi-8 into RME Fireface 800.

MK-219
MK-011
MK-105

U47FET / OktavaMod MK-319 samples - Male voice & Acoustic Guitar

From Hawaii comes a verse of "Guilty Blues" delivered by Stephen Smitty Smith through a Neumann U47 FET (Klaus Heyne modified) and an OktavaMod MK-319 Floating Dome PE. Recorded by Rick Asher Keefer at Sea-West Studios, Hawaii.

Single take, one track per mic, mics separated 4" at mouth level angled slightly downward and inward. Chain: Mics -> Monster cable, Jensen 990 ->Apogee Rosetta 24 bit / 44.1K -> Pro Tools 002. No EQ or compression. Rick said "The two mics are VERY Close ... Its almost scary!! Neumann is slightly faster in attack time and just a hair "closer" sounding... But BOY they are close.... And Klaus really worked hard to get my U47 FET to sound BEAUTIFUL".

U47FET
MK319DPE

NEW (accapella) Female Vocal Samples - Gefell M930 / OktavaMod MK-102, 104, 104, 319

Singing angel Chloe Manor landed at OktavaMod studio recently to demonstrate a few OktavaMod Edition microphones. We recorded four takes, each with a different OktavaMod Edition mic and with a Gefell M930 for reference. At my request, Chloe chose a tune with lyrics containing tough-to-record "S" sounds.

Set up - Microphones were placed in front of Chloe at 11 and 1 o'clock positions, mouth height, about 8" from her face, separated by 5" and aimed in toward her mouth. She sang into the center gap between mics, no pop filters used and sang the same lyrics in each of the four different takes presented here. The files below are pairs of tracks recorded simultaneously during each take. Signal chain: mic -> Evidence Audio LYRIC HG cable -> ART MPA Gold - > Akai DR4D A/D ->Yamaha AW2816. No EQ or compression, all files individually normalized to 95%.

Female Vocal Take 1 - Gefell M930
Female Vocal Take 1 - OktavaMod Edition MK-102
Female Vocal Take 2 - Gefell M930
Female Vocal Take 2 - OktavaMod Edition MK-104
Female Vocal Take 3 - Gefell M930
Female Vocal Take 3 - OktavaMod Edition MK-105
Female Vocal Take 4 - Gefell M930
Female Vocal Take 4 - OktavaMod Edition MK-319

While these recordings demonstrate the OktavaMod Edition MK-102, 104 and 105 share a strong family resemblance, it should be noted these tracks were close mic'd in a vocal booth well-damped with broadband absorbers so on-axis sound predominates. All of these mics have slightly different polar response curves and would produce greater degrees of variation between each other had the tests been conducted in a live room. Of these three mics, the OktavaMod Edition MK-102 has the most neutral off-axis response, while the OktavaMod Edition MK-104 has strongly attenuated midrange frequencies off-axis and the OktavaMod Edition MK-105 has a moderately attenuated midrange and minimally attenuated HF off-axis. So vocals recorded with these mics in a live room will take on different auras of ambient room color progressing from neutral (102) to "scooped" (104) to "airy" (105).

January 23, 2007 Update - U48 / MKL-2500 Blind Test
Everyone likes a good audio guessing game. Here are four more files from Henry Shapiro. Can you identify the Neumann U48, the OktavaMod MKL-2500 cathode follower mic and the OktavaMod MKL-2500 plate load mic?

This is one vocal performance sung into all four mics simultaneously. All mics run into API 3124.

The fourth file is a compiled track consisting of (in no particular order) the OktavaMod MK-319 DPE, the U48, the 2500 cathode and 2500 plate mics. Can you spot the mics?

Vocal 1 / Vocal 2 / Vocal 3 / Vocal 4

If you wish to download these (or any) files:
In Windows - Right click the link and select Save Target As
For the Mac - Hold CTRL, click the link, choose Save As

There is now poll set up if you'd like to cast your votes: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/OktavaMod/polls

This is a Yahoo! Groups space, a little bit cumbersome (you have to login and a join the group) but offers a way to do anonymous polling. It looks like this:

Which vocal track is the Neumann U48?
Vocal 1, Vocal 2, Vocal 3
Which vocal track is the OktavaMod MKL-2500 cathode follower?
Vocal 1, Vocal 2, Vocal 3
Which vocal track is the OktavaMod MKL-2500 plate load?
Vocal 1, Vocal 2, Vocal 3

You can cast one vote for each question. A running tally will be visible.

Vocal Samples - Neumann U48 / OktavaMod MK-319
Swing instrumentalist & vocalist Henry Shapiro tossed off some acappella vocals for me recently. He sang through his Korby-cleaned U48 and his OktavaMod MK-319 Floating Dome PE while recording both mics to separate tracks. Both tracks were recorded simultaneously during the same vocal take. Vintage song, vintage sound.

U48 / Hardy M1
OktavaMod MK-319 Dome PE / Hardy

Acoustic Guitar / MK-219 session

On September 4, 2006 Joe Harter of Acoustic Cloud studio in Riverside CA ran some tests with a stock MK-219 and an MK-219 Premium Electronics upgraded mic. Here are his set up notes and his audio. Note: These are 5MB .WAV files for best quality.

Tacoma DR-20 dreadnaught with Elixir 12 gauge strings tuned to E flat. Each mic was placed exactly in the same spot for each take. The mic was located at Joe's favorite spot for his guitar - about forehead height, 16" out from his head, a little to the left of his head and aimed down at the 12th fret. Mogami cable, John Hardy M1, Echo Audifire8 firewire interface to 2800 Athlon PC running Sonar 4. No EQ, no effects, not normalized.

Joe specializes in acoustic guitar recording and really nailed the difference between a stock MK-219 and a modified MK-219.

Acoustic Guitar, Stock MK-219 (Harter recording)
Acoustic Guitar, modified MK-219 with Premium Electronics (Harter recording)

Voice Test - Neumann M149 and OktavaMod MK-219 PE

Jitendra Ramprakash, voice-trainer & poet, recites an excerpt from the great 20th century Indian poet Muktibodh's classic 'Andhere Mein' ("In The Dark" - English translation by KB Vaid.), as part of the mic tests for 'Rehearsal Room', New Delhi.

These are 4MB .wav files.

Please note: the English translation rights have not been secured - this is a non-commercial voice test only.

Voice, Neumann M149
Voice, OktavaMod MK-219 PE

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