NGD/NMD/Listening Party

[Melodeath]

Ok, it may not be the actual day of, but it's New Guitar Week and New Mic Week for me, so I thought I'd post a couple pics and some clips.

I just bought my first steel string acoustic guitar. (Actually, this is the first GUITAR I've bought in almost a decade). I've been playing an old, cheap nylon string for years, and it was time to get something nicer. The new guitar is a Martin DRS2. The back and sides are all solid wood (sapele - very similar to mahogany), and the top is solid spruce. The DRS2 is made in Mexico, but it was nicer than the USA Martin (a D-1GT) I played in the sub-$1k range, plus it had built-in electronics. The DRS2 just had more clarity, without sacrificing body/low-end. The D-1GT was awesome at first, but then I realized chords were borderline muddy. All the Martins I played had way more low-end and richness than any other guitar I tried at the store, and I like deep tones, so the choice was fairly obvious. Some other guitars had a more "woody" sound, which would be cool for some things, but possibly less versatile IMO. I wanted to compare directly to some Seagull SWS guitars, but the store only had S6 and Entourage models.

I also just got a Royer R-121. I own a Manley Reference Cardioid as well, so I thought I'd do a comparison of the mics, all while testing out the new mic, and posting some clips of the new geetar

Here are some pics. I placed 2 homemade sound absorption panels behind the mics to get rid of some of the room sound (the Royer is bi-directional and I'm just in a bedroom). I got the mics as close as possible. I put the mics about 2.5 feet away from the guitar, pointing at the 12th fret of the guitar. I found this gave me the most balanced sound. Any closer, or pointing at the soundhole just got too bassy while adding some annoyingness in the pick attack. I used the rear side of the R-121 because it offers increased brightness compared to the front.

Excuse the hilariously messy room.

And here are some clips. Sloppy playing but just some random simple riffs of mine. The differences between the mics are so obvious that there's no need to even make it blind, but I've labelled the clips A, B, C, and D anyway because it's more fun that way. This whole thing was just for fun/testing anyway. I haven't even changed strings yet on the guitar, but I'm pretty sure it has Medium (13 gauge) Martins on it. Absolutely no processing besides FreeG for volume and FG-X for volume. Recording chain is Mogami mic cables into Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 (Liquid Pres but set to FLAT).

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1579861/Acoustic Riff 1 - Mic A.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1579861/Acoustic Riff 1 - Mic B.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1579861/Acoustic Riff 2 - Mic C.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1579861/Acoustic Riff 2 - Mic D.mp3

Let me know what you think. Enjoy

 

[JeffTD]

I prefer A and C out of the clips, but I'm hearing a lot of room sound - how close were you sitting relative to the mics?

 

[ArthurD]

A is the winner here;

 

[Melodeath]

I prefer A and C out of the clips, but I'm hearing a lot of room sound - how close were you sitting relative to the mics?

Hey Jeff. I was about 2.5 feet away. Anything closer than 2 feet made things get a little boomy

 

[Clark Kent]

To me A sounds like a cheaper mic and C and D sound better. The sound of an acoustic will be affected by so many things like room, position of guitar, position of mic, picking style etc. but I find that the thing you want out of a mic is to get a smooth balanced dynamic tone almost like it's going a smooth compressor. To me the A and B felt a bit all over the place and C and D smooth so I'd choose one of those.

Then again we're talking about acoustic guitar so it could just be that I like the playing better on C and D. Less out of tune maybe?

 

[Melodeath]

Just to be clear, A and B are one set of two mics on the same performance, and C and D are another set of the same mics on a different performance. The order of the mics may or may not have changed. This means the Manley is either A or B, and the Manley is also either C or D.

Of course you don't have to guess which is which mic. I'm also curious what you all think of the guitar in general.

 

[Clark Kent]

In that case I'd say that the mic on C is better for acoustic guitar.

 

[Melodeath]

Sorry I never posted the results. The brighter mic is the Manley, as one would expect compared to a ribbon.

This means:
A and D are the Royer
B and C are the Manley

 

[ArthurD]

Did you use the front or the back of Royer on "A"?
A sounds the best here.

 

[Melodeath]

I used the rear of the Royer in both tests.