Microphone Shootout, come on in....

[Mr. Brokenamp]

Ok so where is on-axis? I am only a pineapple you know

 

[JeffTD]

On-axis is straight at the middle of that "sphere" thing - the dustcap.


The convexed and ribbed part of the speaker is the cone. The center is the dustcap.

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

It's cool to be able to really hear how each mic effects the sound. There wasn't a clear winner for me, but the beta57 sounded the worst.

 

[skuller]

of the three sample sets for each mic, i liked the following:

sm57 on axis
beta57 dust cap edge
senn421 on axis, but i didnt really like any of these 3
audixi5 on axis, but i really like the dust cap edge, too.

 

[nwright]

Just to be clear on definitions, on axis only means that the mic is not angled, rather it's perpendicular to the sound source- of which would be the flat "face" of the speaker (not the angle of the cone). It could still be edge of dustcap, edge of cone, center of dustcap, etc. For these clips, I'm assuming it's edge of dustcap on axis or center of dustcap on axis, not simply "edge of dustcap" or "on axis" as both clips are on axis. I only say this because in my experience I think clearly defining what each one means is pretty important, as small changes in angle and position can yield large sonic results.

 

[deathtotaliban]

I would mix the i5 on axis with the 421 on edge of dustcap.

 

[Mr. Brokenamp]

I agree 200%
I just tried my SM57 on axis at the dust cap and at the edge and while the edge sounded only ok the straight on sound like awful. All I had on it was a high pass starting at 50HZ. Any ideas for angling the mic and distance?

 

[JBroll]

I put mine on the edge, right against the grill. I took the transformer out of mine, which makes it sound much better to my ears (closer to the 'room sound' - less hi-fi than an i5, more thick than the usual 57) and I've just gotten used to reaching over, moving it a few millimeters towards or away from the cone, and checking the sound again until I've found the right spot.

Jeff