Review of very low cost condenser mic's on e-bay

In my (spoken word source) quality tests in 2008, a 320kps CBR mono MP3 (LAME encoder) was pretty much identical to the source 48k PCM. In the polarity test, cancellation was over 80dB. I'm not advocating MP3s for source files though.
A 44.1k/16 PCM is about 5MB per track (mono) minute (x2 for stereo). A one minute 320kps CBR MP3 is about 2MB per minute.. mono or stereo. Unlike PCM audio, the x2 stereo size does not apply. MP3s reduce the quality for stereo whilst the file size is about the same.
 
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Noiz2 said:
Well, for dial up yes... ;~)

48/24 is about 1 gig per hour ( a little more actually but close). I'm pretty regularly sending/ receiving 2- 6 gigs of files. Some where north of 8 and it starts getting easier to send a pen drive.
Click to expand...

Fiddling with the calculator, tends to agree with that 1GB/HR. However, what that has to do with the bandwidth provided by my web server account, I have no idea. Of course it may not be the webserver, but the ISP that is slow. Anyway took about 5 minutes to transfer the file to my blog, and maybe 3 or 4 before the sound playback ran freely. I forget what my account provides for bandwidth, something like 5gb/mo? Prices go up/service goes down despite their claims.
 
Here is a comparison of the Octava MK-012, Lyxpro, RE-20, SM7, MKH-415, Tram TR-50. Note that you should always go to hair and makeup before sitting in front of the camera.

- The crossfades are slow, so there is 1 or 2 seconds where both microphones are up.
- There is clipping during the pop test.
- I know, it's not a mic stand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mniyClIcB7s
 
Thanks, Paul F - that was very interesting. I must say, that the Senn MKH-415 sounded the best to my ears, despite being ~6 inches further away (which, to be fair, might actually be an advantage with regard to the plosive pop sounds). But I'm really amazed how good the LyxPro sounded - my only ding against them, would be that they appear to emphasize sibilants a bit more (not a good feature). The Octavas, true to form, didn't impress me.

All in all, I must say the Lyxpro seems to me like a decent option, especially for the price. Thanks for the test!
 
Well, Paul, we can not really compare broadcast dynamics, shotguns, and radio mic's with small diaphragm condensers. Apples, oranges, and grapes, so to speak. BUT, I actually like the LyxPros better than the Octavas. Considering the price difference that is amazing. Glad I bought them.

Could hear the echo with the shotgun despite it being a rather large room. I don't get much in my living room with my shotgun mic's, must be all the junk I have in here.

Thanks for doing the test.
 
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