Gear Lust #1

We will be posting a number of fabulous things here at the blog, but one of the main dealio's will be Gear Lust. This will be a series of either reviews, or musings upon new gear streaming out the pro audio pipeline (and some older that are worth remembering).

So, For the first post I should start out with the new Neve Genesys console/DAW controller right?



Naaaah.

Here I will be focusing mostly on tools that will allow better results for project and at home studio's. After all, few can afford the $50k for that lovely console.....

Now, completely up front here... I LOVE MIC'S. It doesn't matter if you are a singer songwriter, a voice over guy, or an old radio pro looking to do your prod at home buck naked with your bear foot slippers on. You are going to need a quality way to get your voice/guitar/violin/kazoo on the recording.

In recent years there have been a FLOOD of cheap mics coming over from China, most have ranged anywhere from servicable to absolutely atrocious, others amazing for their price. Among the latter, are the "C" line from Studio Projects. Street prices range from $239 for the C1 all the way up to $670 for the LSD2 (a stereo configured mic which is basically 2 of the C1's big brother "C3" mics stacked on top of one another). For some of you that may sound a little rich, but trust me, they are worth EVERY PENNY, and so are you. ;)

Today we're going to focus on the C1. So, what do you get for $239?? take a look...



As you can see, it is a traditional design that you might find in some of the uber-kraut mics that one might come across in a million dollar studio. The resemblance is FAR more than skin deep.

I have used this mic day in and day out for a bit over a year and I have to say, I have not found a single person that doesn't sound fantastic through it. It is a bit of an "all in one" at a DAMNED cheap price. It has a wide open airy feel to it that usually costs about 4 times the price. The high pass filter is fabulous if you are recording someone who carries their testes in a wheel barrow, and the pad is remarkable.

This mic is great for vocals, string instruments, and voice over work.

One small caveat - since it is a condenser,and is so incredibly open., it will pick up....EVERYTHING . This is slightly compensated for by the pad. but,unless you have a fan-less computer rig and a hermetically sealed quiet room....you are going to want to create a ghetto vocal booth (instructions coming in a later post).

Definitely worth the scratch, whether you want to add to a growing mic cabinet, or you need that 1 fantastic mic for your home studio.

4 3/4 stars out of 5


------fatman.