Hey everyone - long time listener, first time caller.
I've been scouring the internet for information on mid-range (ie. not Schoeps or Sennheiser) hypercardioids for interior dialogue. It's been quite a frustrating process, as everyone has conflicting opinions and there are barely any samples out there at all.
I HAVE NOT USED ANY OF THESE MICS, but I've rather collected what I've found from DAYS of readying every post about hypers and film over eight different boards and my thoughts on the very few samples I could find. I'm LOOKING FOR YOUR THOUGHTS IF YOU'VE USED THESE MICS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY SAMPLES - since there seemed to be VERY few. I'm always a believer of listening, rather than reading with mics.
Please let me know what you think and if I'm off on any of these. These are in no way my own opinions, but a kind of "meta" version of what I've read. Please feel free to blast these out of the water if I'm off.
AT4053b - The few samples I found of this seemed solid, but quite bassy and didn't sound flat or "natural" - a bit more hyped. Seems robust and have heard good reviews on the other capsules. Has a high-pass (which helped a tad with the deep bass) and a -10dB pad. Low noise floor with relatively hot output. A few have compared this to the MKH50. Mostly positive reviews. ~$600 new, can't find used.
AKG SE300b/CK93 - I've only heard one recording of this, and it seemed "good" but not great. The low ends were pushed and it seemed like some of the detail in the mids was lost. I've heard that the cardioid capsule is usable, but the shotgun is so-so. Has a -10dB pad and high pass. Many positive reviews, but it seems like most of those people only have this particular mic and didn't compare it to others. I've heard these tend to be a bit lower output and are a bit noisy. ~$480 new, used around $275-300
Audix SCX1-HC - Many say this is a fairly "natural" sounding mic and is closer to the Schoeps MK4 - although it is unclear how many have done A/Bs. No high-pass or pad from my understanding. I haven't heard any clips of this yet. I've heard that these share the same capsules as the MBHO - but not really sure if I can believe it. Audix is machined and assembled in the USA, and from my understanding the MBHOs are machined and assembled in Germany - which doesn't quite match up with the rumor. Anyone have proof of this? Low noise floor. $500 new, $400 used
Peluso CEMC6 - I've seen this come up a few times, but haven't really heard anyone talk about what it actually sounds like with dialogue. I've heard conflicting reports of if it sounds similar to the MK4 or not. From what I gathered from guitar recording reviews, it seems to have a "metallic" attack - which I have no idea if that would be a pro or con with speech. The price certainly seems right. I saw one person mention this was being used on "Prison Break" and a Clint Eastwood film - but the guy mentioning it was a Peluso dealer. Does have two pads (-10 and -20dB) and two roll offs. From what I gathered from the guitar reviews, it is quite similar to the MBHO (which remains a mystery to me besides the little I've read in this forum - which is summed up as "good" and "natural" and incredibly hard to get in the USA). These are assembled and designed in the USA from parts sourced in the USA and other countries. This seems interesting to me, since the other Peluso mics are well regarded and the price is good. ~$400 new
Other interesting brands that have been mentioned include the Busman BSC1 and the MBHO mics, but I haven't heard ANY comments on sound quality for dialogue, handling noise, etc. I'm excluding the Oktava MK012 from this, just because I feel its a bit more under the performance of the others mentioned above. Anyone have any thoughts on these? Am I missing any others?
Does anyone have any thoughts or clips of these? I'd love to hear some comparisons. Please keep the "you must save up for the Schoeps" comments out of this thread, it's been well documented that the Schoeps kicks butt, but I'd love to hear about the other mics.
I've been scouring the internet for information on mid-range (ie. not Schoeps or Sennheiser) hypercardioids for interior dialogue. It's been quite a frustrating process, as everyone has conflicting opinions and there are barely any samples out there at all.
I HAVE NOT USED ANY OF THESE MICS, but I've rather collected what I've found from DAYS of readying every post about hypers and film over eight different boards and my thoughts on the very few samples I could find. I'm LOOKING FOR YOUR THOUGHTS IF YOU'VE USED THESE MICS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY SAMPLES - since there seemed to be VERY few. I'm always a believer of listening, rather than reading with mics.
Please let me know what you think and if I'm off on any of these. These are in no way my own opinions, but a kind of "meta" version of what I've read. Please feel free to blast these out of the water if I'm off.
AT4053b - The few samples I found of this seemed solid, but quite bassy and didn't sound flat or "natural" - a bit more hyped. Seems robust and have heard good reviews on the other capsules. Has a high-pass (which helped a tad with the deep bass) and a -10dB pad. Low noise floor with relatively hot output. A few have compared this to the MKH50. Mostly positive reviews. ~$600 new, can't find used.
AKG SE300b/CK93 - I've only heard one recording of this, and it seemed "good" but not great. The low ends were pushed and it seemed like some of the detail in the mids was lost. I've heard that the cardioid capsule is usable, but the shotgun is so-so. Has a -10dB pad and high pass. Many positive reviews, but it seems like most of those people only have this particular mic and didn't compare it to others. I've heard these tend to be a bit lower output and are a bit noisy. ~$480 new, used around $275-300
Audix SCX1-HC - Many say this is a fairly "natural" sounding mic and is closer to the Schoeps MK4 - although it is unclear how many have done A/Bs. No high-pass or pad from my understanding. I haven't heard any clips of this yet. I've heard that these share the same capsules as the MBHO - but not really sure if I can believe it. Audix is machined and assembled in the USA, and from my understanding the MBHOs are machined and assembled in Germany - which doesn't quite match up with the rumor. Anyone have proof of this? Low noise floor. $500 new, $400 used
Peluso CEMC6 - I've seen this come up a few times, but haven't really heard anyone talk about what it actually sounds like with dialogue. I've heard conflicting reports of if it sounds similar to the MK4 or not. From what I gathered from guitar recording reviews, it seems to have a "metallic" attack - which I have no idea if that would be a pro or con with speech. The price certainly seems right. I saw one person mention this was being used on "Prison Break" and a Clint Eastwood film - but the guy mentioning it was a Peluso dealer. Does have two pads (-10 and -20dB) and two roll offs. From what I gathered from the guitar reviews, it is quite similar to the MBHO (which remains a mystery to me besides the little I've read in this forum - which is summed up as "good" and "natural" and incredibly hard to get in the USA). These are assembled and designed in the USA from parts sourced in the USA and other countries. This seems interesting to me, since the other Peluso mics are well regarded and the price is good. ~$400 new
Other interesting brands that have been mentioned include the Busman BSC1 and the MBHO mics, but I haven't heard ANY comments on sound quality for dialogue, handling noise, etc. I'm excluding the Oktava MK012 from this, just because I feel its a bit more under the performance of the others mentioned above. Anyone have any thoughts on these? Am I missing any others?
Does anyone have any thoughts or clips of these? I'd love to hear some comparisons. Please keep the "you must save up for the Schoeps" comments out of this thread, it's been well documented that the Schoeps kicks butt, but I'd love to hear about the other mics.
