the main problem with the internet is you really dont have to pass any kind of test to post on it and reading people's posts you have no idea where the hell they come from or what kind of experience they have or what kind of standards they have at all.
Why not take me as an example. I went to AES this year and heard from an obnoxious number of manufacturers that "well, the floor of AES is a horrible place to demo gear, you can't tell anything here". Well, for many years I recorded production sound for feature films for a living and often my recording environment was FAR worse than the floor of a convention hall in respects to noise and background ambient level. There isnt much I COULDNT tell from the floor of AES, its the work environment I know better than the inside of a recording studio for sure. I also record rock and roll records. To read an average post I make about what I like or dont like, shit, the guy that records classical music would likely LOATHE most of the amps I rely on the same way that I find little use for the type of amplifiers most people would want to use on a classical session. Perspective is EVERYTHING when it comes to quantative discussions.
To the guy that has never heard a "good" condenser, a chinese condenser mic probably sounds totally amazing if all he's used is a sm57. Same guy has gotta think those of us with amazing mics are out of our minds for saying those mics are shit. The next step is the guy who has some decent mics, but doesnt have any good pre's to really hear what the mics are actually capable of. Id rather have cheap mics and expensive pre's than expensive mics and cheap pres. Until you get to the point where you have a %100 awesome signal path there isnt much point in regarding the opinions of people that do because frankly its not relevant to your situation, but unfortunately this perspective is hard to see even if you regularly see posts from someone and have half an idea on someone's background.
You've got dudes on that thread comparing a transformerless 147 to a mic with a transformer in it... I heard pearlman mics years ago when dave was starting out with them and they arent bad, they are probably worth the money if you are actually gonna use the thing but they wont do what some "better" mics will do. You've got a guy saying its better but not so many dollars better, does he have the signal chain that provides for even hearing that $800 better in the first place? If you cant measure it on your system, of course there is no difference. So now you've got folks saying the mics are the same and someone with a "better" studio does the same comparison and hears a huge difference, so whats the deal? Is there a minor difference or an $800 difference. For the guy with shitty monitoring, its a real minor diffference. For the guy with million dollar monitoring its a real $800 difference. How can you then judge what is then pertinent to your situation just by reading a post?
Short answer, I dont think you can.
If you've never even heard a real neve, does it matter if it sounds like neve or not, or does it matter if it just sounds good?
I think so much of the mic guru-ism falls into this kind of arrogance where some "expert" has handled the best shit on earth and is gonna piss down his arrogance on people to whom it will neever ever ever be relevant. If you are never gonna be able to use a $12k microphone, it doesnt matter much what one sounds like or why your cheap mic isnt as good as one. Chances are if you can only afford to purchase a $300 mic in the first place, if you borrowed a twelve thousand dollar mic to use on your system you arent gonna get 12 grand performance out of it the way the guy with all the best shit will because your mackie console or whatever is gonna be the lowest common denomonator.
Im kinda rambling on, but some of those other forums really get under my skin. I really think so much of what people stress about is really only relevant when you plug in the rest of the equation and it just doesnt happen to the degree that it should. Ive also never met anyone in my personal life who was a REAL guru who was nothing but generous sharing knowledge. I could post stories here about some respected personalities online that people would plain and simple not believe. Not believe as in read my tale and then think Im making it up to be vindictive because its so absolutely absurd.
So gus, I think the value of a plug in kit should be gauged based on the market you are dealing with. I've heard crazy things you've done with garbage capsules but I dont see the world where a recording engineer with a budget for a "real" mic is going to buy a $200 mic and then spend $1000 on a plug in kit for it even though I think you have it in you to offer such a thing that would be worth spending that kind of money on. Most people that have these mics have them not because they are cool but because thats what they can afford and thats what made the most sense on their system. Offering a $300 kit for a $300 mic would be smart thinking. Come up with somethign for a TLM103 and I think you could expect more money from it simply because you'll be dealing with an entirely different section of engineers who own those. The other thing to consider with a 103 kit is that most people are not going to rip apart their neumann to put a cheap $100 kit in there if they dont know you or how good your circuits sound. Is the economics of this completely fucked? Sure is, but I think it may be close to the reality that the market will currently bear. Im sure there's lotsa room for debate here, but thats my first reaction to it.
also gus, why would you contribute to klaus's forum, he obviously knows everything, he doesnt need your help. Also, you arent german, what the fuck could you possibly know about mics in the first place?
heh.
dave
