Guess the original Neumann 67!!!

[tskguy]

Hey guys

So I had the pleasure of shooting out my Poctop 67 clone with one of my capsules and a Ioaudio TX vs an original Neumann 67!!! And my friend Ben Sneesby happened to have one of his fine microphones the Mahalia there as well.  Wave was kind enough to grace us once again with some Beatles.  Take a guess and post what you think.

https://soundcloud.com/eric-heiserman-1/1-1
https://soundcloud.com/eric-heiserman-1/2-1
https://soundcloud.com/eric-heiserman-1/3-1

 

[tskguy]

For you purest out there. Original wave files below.


https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55530129/%231.wav
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55530129/%232.wav
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55530129/%233.wav

 

[Biasrocks]

My quick impression,

#1 - Distorted, compressed and peaky sounding. Sounds like a tube overloading.
#2 - More open, has a euphoric sound, a nice balance of frequencies.
#3 - Has some slight compression going on, would need a de-esser on this one.

I would choose #2 over the other two samples for this particular voice. I think it would take compression well and require less corrective eq in a mix.

Regards,
Mark

 

[tskguy]

Very good guess!! I will let you all know the answer once we get some more guesses

Eric

 

[dmp]

Very cool - thanks you guys for doing this.

 

[bruno2000]

Thanks for dong this.
#1 Not very pleasing.  Wrong mic for this singer.
#2 Nice, more natural sounding
#3 There's something about this mic that I like.  More full bodied?  Ben's mic?
My $0.02
Best,
Bruno2000

 

[Melodeath00]

Well I guess my ears are not working this morning, because if you told me all three takes were with the same mic, I wouldn't have batted an eye. Granted, I'm using a cheap PC headphone output instead of my usual D/A, but I don't think it would make a difference in this case...

 

[Dylan W]

#2 Natural, balanced. Would be very impressed if this were not the Neumann.
#1 Has the same natural midrange as #2 but not as open sounding
#3 Not as detailed, to my ears

There's almost an "emotional" thing that I hear in old German mics (ie mics with excellent capsules)... a truth in the midrange that makes me believe what the singer is saying. That may sound kind of ethereal, but I don't know a better way to put it.

I heard this in #2 and #1, though #1 was muddied by distortion (maybe in the head amp?). This quality was not present to my ears in #3.

Dylan

 

[dandeurloo]

I listened on my laptop.  I like to do that because SSSSS pop out like crazy on it.  But #2 was my favorite and then #3.  I will listen on headphones once I get a chance but I am very curious which mic is which. 

 

[micaddict]

Thanks for doing this!

#1 doesn't give me the U67 feeling in this sample. Too bright and somewhat distorted. If it is the Neumann, some filters were likely removed. The distortion does add to the Lennon vibe.

#2 I like best. Smooth and relaxed. Quality sound. Feels like coming home.

#3 is in the ballpark. Perhaps slightly less loud?

Preliminary reaction, mind.

Now, can we have something more relaxed, please? Even speech would be fine.

 

[tskguy]

Very cool to see everyones reaction.... Sadly I only had access to the original 67 for the brief moment in the studio!!
So Daves beatles is the only clip,
And just so you know,

The 67 costs the owner $6000
My 67 ran me $700
And the beez mic runs around $2800
Should I tell everyone or let go for a little longer. 

 

[bruno2000]

Very cool to see everyones reaction.... Sadly I only had access to the original 67 for the brief moment in the studio!!
So Daves beatles is the only clip,
And just so you know,

The 67 costs the owner $6000
My 67 ran me $700
And the beez mic runs around $2800
Should I tell everyone or let go for a little longer. 

I believe the above is the order of the tests.
Am I right?
Best,
Joe neil

 

[micaddict]

Should I tell everyone or let go for a little longer. 

Well, um..... we are sort of curious, of course. 
And since there'll be no other samples ....
I could go back for a second listen, under better conditions.
On the other hand, they say the first impression is the best impression.

 

[tskguy]

Ok so no one else wants to play, that's cool.

Here you go,
#1 was Ben's mic.
#2 was vintage Neumann 67
#3 was my Poctop 67 with capsule.

I personally liked them all, but my personal favorite when doing the blind test was my mic.
Maybe that's why I tuned the capsule that way!
My second was the Neumann

Eric

 

[peterc]

Eric

What was the recording chain?

 

[warpie]

Interesting thing is the rather big difference in sound between these three mics.

 

[micaddict]

Thanks, Eric.

#1. Ben's Mahalia.

First, we must keep in mind that this is not a U67 clone. For starters, the headbasket is a three-layer cylindrical shape (but smaller than the one on a U47). The circuit is different, too, as are the tube type and tranny. But yes, I believe it was designed to be in the U67 ballpark.
Earlier samples I've heard sounded darker and cleaner.
BTW, Ben can and will tune the sound color to your liking.
As for the more obvious distortion than the others here, that could be in this particular mic or maybe something with the gain staging? Wild guessing. What pre was used?


#2. U67.

Again, this one felt like coming home. I own an original U67.


#3. D-67 with Eric's capsule, Dan's PCB and Max' BV12 (GroupDIY; some forum we have here). Syt-5 body, I surmize. Tube brand?

Close-ish, but I'd like to hear more. And could it be the samples weren't exactly matched, volume-wise? Where I'm sitting, I don't have the means to check. I can only go by my ears.


We need to hear more of these babies actually "transduce" sound, folks. Building is great, but this is what we're eventually doing it for. Or is it? :

 

[HellfireStudios]

I find acoustic guitar to be one of the more telling instruments when it comes to microphone tonality. Could we hear some examples of acoustic guitar?

-James-