Four KM-84 Clones - Blind Test

[joulupukki]

This is all just for fun – nothing too scientific here, but I definitely learned which mic(s) I'd want to use next time I record an album. In this video I didn't include my Graeme Woller KM84 build because I feel like it sounds nearly identical to the MP SDC-84.

The microphones I compare in this video are (in no particular order):

1. Neumann KM-184
2. Microphone Parts SDC-84
3. KM84+ from @jp8 (in a Takstar CM-60 donor mic)
4. KM84++ from @jp8 (in a Takstar CM-63 donor mic)

Can you pick out the KM-184? Do you have a favorite? I know the KM-184 is slightly different than a KM-84. I'm working on finding one to A/B. But in the meantime...

 

[k brown]

84 and 184, a little more than slightly different.

 

[joulupukki]

84 and 184, a little more than slightly different.

Fair enough. Theoretically it should be easy to hear the 184 in the blind test, right?

 

[dreamix]

Im not a superfan of this microphone, but I liked Mic A... it sounded more like the old 84 to me

 

[Tim Campbell]

I liked D the best and B the least

 

[Drea]

I like in every samples B . A is to brittle it’s the 184. The other doesn’t the same . Good mics but not my gear.

 

[Paul W]

It could be interesting if somebody would correct the 184's frequency response to match the 84's, more or less undoing the faster bass rolloff and the resonant peak in the treble.

The recordinghacks mic database has this graph to illustrate the differences, but I don't know if it's realistic (I assume it's based on Neumann's published frequency response plots, which are clearly idealized, if not fictitious.)

(I'm finding that when I listen to mics with very similar frequency response curves on AudioTestKitchen, I generally can't tell them apart.)

I'd be very interested to know what differences other people hear once overall frequency response is matched.

 

[solowiej]

for me:
B
D
C
A

 

[HerbertR]

I also like D best, then A, C and clearly B as last one.

 

[scondon]

Fun test, thanks for taking the time to do this. They're very similar. I downloaded the wav files and would have liked to have a voice sample included. Any of them would be usable but if pressed I would rank them:
D
C
A
B

 

[joulupukki]

Fun test, thanks for taking the time to do this. They're very similar. I downloaded the wav files and would have liked to have a voice sample included. Any of them would be usable but if pressed I would rank them:
D
C
A
B

Thanks for your answers!

Thanks for the feedback as well. With the voiceover I ended up chopping it up quite a bit to condense it for time when I had the video loaded in Final Cut Pro. If I can carve away a little bit of time today I’ll see if I can reconstruct the voiceover clips so they don’t have all my mess-ups and then add it to that same Dropbox folder. I’ll drop a quick note in here if/when I get around to that.

 

[joulupukki]

@scondon That was a lot easier than I thought. It's not the full audio, but at least 1.5 minute's worth. Those 4 new files are added to the Dropbox folder (00-Voiceover-*.WAV).

 

[scondon]

Thank you joulupukki! The main takeaway for me is how similar these sound. On some sources I can't tell any difference, others I'm feeling certain I've identified some difference in frequency response but then second guess myself on listening again. Wild guess: I think D is the 184 and B is the micparts. I'd be happy with any of these mics but if I had to pick D feels the best to me, then C or A, then B.

 

[craigmorris74]

I’ve never used the km-184, but feel like it’s D, because I have used the 3u capsules on 84 style mics, and think those are B and C. B I’m not as familiar with the tone.

I could be totally wrong!

 

[OneRoomStudio]

I liked D the best and B the least

I had exactly the same reaction. C and A were a toss-up. They seemed to have treble peaks in slightly different places (C seemed to be slightly "brighter," whereas A had less "brightness" and more "air"). They were both fine. D sounded great though, and I was not a fan of B.

 

[solowiej]

Fascinating. I'm learning how to listen and also about my own hearing, which I've been told is weak in high frequencies. So maybe why I like B as compensation...

 

[ze marcelo]

Can you pick out the KM-184?

No

Do you have a favorite?

Microphone C


Great job man, waiting for the answer.

 

[museric]

This is great (and timely for me - I have a new pair of the Takstar mics that I intend to modify). First a listen on my studio headphones: I can work with B and D - still deciding which is my favorite. C is a close third - I did like how it handled the distorted guitar - a bit more edgy than the others in a way that I thought was appropriate. And A is my least favorite of all - but overall workable. I'm not liking how it sounded on snare, and more of the examples seemed to have some high end emphasis that I didn't like as much as with the other mics.

And I took a second listen later today in the studio monitors and I feel pretty much the same. There are elements that I like most in B and D (I'm leaning towards D as my favorite) and A and C are workable but at times brittle or otherwise overemphasized at the top end from what I typically like in an SDC.

This was a lot of fun to listen through and compare, thank you!

 

[soapfoot]

I didn't read the other replies before answering (or at least I didn't pay attention to what was said), and to be honest I don't have a lot of confidence in my discernment here.

I kept going back and forth between impressions. Some sources I might prefer one mic, and then the next clip I'd prefer what had been my least favorite

B and D sounded pretty similar to me; stronger bottom end in those two examples in the electric guitar clips (of course I can't account for slight differences in positioning). D was just slightly nicer to me overall--similar in the bottom end, but I felt like D was just a touch nicer in the top end.

I'll probably make myself look foolish here, but I suspect the km184 was A.

 

[joulupukki]

It’s been really fascinating to hear different opinions about these microphones, especially when accompanied by reasons for liking/disliking them. Thank you all who’ve participated in this so far. I’ll post the answers to which microphones they are this evening in the description of the YouTube video.

If you haven’t commented with your favorite and you guess for which one is the Neumann KM-184, get your answer in soon!