My microphone collection has been pretty anemic for years now. With the additions of a nice drum kit and an amazing guitar amp in the last year, the holes in my mic locker have become even more painfully obvious. So, I have recently been in the market for an inexpensive dynamic microphone, suitable for guitar amps, snare drums, and general purpose use as a start to slowly rebuild my collection.
For recreating classic sounds, the Shure SM57 is the accepted standard, and has been for many years. I've used it many times, and respect its sound, versatility, and heritage. But, I also wanted something more...perhaps something that sounds like it came from the same family, but with a sonic fingerprint all it's own.
Skipping over much of the story, I'll get to the meat of it. The Audix i5 is a legend in it's on right, a modern take on the 57, and available usually for a little under $100. The Audio- Technica ATM650 is a less recognized mic, but I've found that AT microphones have consistently proven to offer high quality, reliability, excellent sound, and exceptional value. This microphone is priced essentially identical to the Audix i5. So, with 2 mics and a few hours to kill, the comparison begins....
On Paper: Both mics have a familiar frequency response curve, rolled off high end with a presence peak. The i5 offers extended range on the low end, which might give it a bit more versatility overall. However, that light low end of the ATM650 actually can be very desirable when tracking many instruments, to help keep the low end from filling up with useless junk. All in all, on paper, the i5 might appear to have a slight edge.
Look and Feel: Both mics feel solid and well built. The i5 is slightly more compact, but the ATM650 just has a little extra cosmetic appeal in my opinion. Its a toss up, but I like the ATM650's look and feel.
In use: Both mics were ran through identical signal path, same brand and length of cable, through a Vintech 273 preamp with no EQ, set to 300ohm impedance, with the bulk of the gain on the output section of the preamp. This then running into an Empirical Labs Fatso Jr, with very light compression - set just enough to reach 3db of gain reduction on the peaks, running into an Apogee Rosetta A/D converter, and then into Pro Tools at 24bit, 44.1khz.
Guitar Amp: The amp of choice for this test was a Sampson-Era Matchless Chieftain 2x12 combo amp. The mic was placed 1" off the grillcloth, about 1/3 of the way between the center and the edge of the speaker. Both mics were placed on the same speaker, in identical placements on opposite sides of the speaker. The spots were checked with a single mic first, and it was confirmed that there was no discernible difference between the two placements, it was essentially as if I had 2 mics placed in the same identical spot, recording at the same time. Running through a variety of sounds and styles, i simultaneously recorded both mics. I went from super clean, to low gain distortion, to gritty blues, to heavy metal. On all styles I did both lead and rhythm parts in order to get a variety of sounds. Then...evaluation time. On the super clean rhythm sounds, I felt that the Audix i5 just had a tiny bit better overall sound - very full sounding, crisp, and clean. It edged out the ATM650 which just seemed to lack a bit of the fullness and sparkle in comparison. In every sample, the two retained slightly different character, and I liked both in each case. In about 1/2 of the remaining samples, the ATM650 seemed to edge out the i5, simply offering sound that was not necessarily better, but different in a pleasing way. On the other 1/2 of the samples, they continued to have slightly different sonic signatures but without a clear winner. Frankly, the real magic came when i played both samples at the same time with them panned hard left and right. Wow - some really great sounds by doing that! While the i5 consistently sounded good, the Audio Technica ATM650 came out on top overall.
Snare Drum: In a fashion similar to the last example, I carefully focused both mics on the same spot on a Yamaha birch snare drum, about 1.5" off the top of the head, at a slight angle. I then played a variety of hits - rim shots, flams, rolls, and clean hits, with a good variety of dynamics. Unlike the guitar amp comparison, where many of the recordings sounded fairly close, the snare drum sounded wildly different with the 2 mics. The i5 captured an enormous amount of "ring", and had a nice snap to it. The body of the snare seemed a little weak. The ATM650 by comparison captured minimal ringing. The snap was not as clear and crisp, but still very usable without touching the EQ controls. The body sound of the snare was full and meaty sounding. Overall, the winner on the snare drum was the ATM650 without any question or hesitation. The amount of ringing picked up by the i5 was excessive, and while it had a nice snap to it, the snare simply didn't have as much body and meat to it. The AMT650 sounded fantastic overall - a little ringing, a respectable snap, and great body sound.
In Closing: I felt that both mics did a good job overall, offered a lot of bang for the buck, and were a nice variation on the traditional SM57 sound. As a guitar amp mic, it would probably come down to personal taste and preference as to which one you liked better, and when used together to mic a single amp the combination is magic. On snare drum, the difference was dramatic, and while personal taste still comes into play, I have to believe that in a blind test, an overwhelming majority of people would likely prefer the ATM650 over the i5. I now own the ATM650 and I'm very pleased with it, but the i5 might still have a home in my locker some day as well.
0 comments:
Post a Comment