This past weekend I met up with Josh Mallit to do a microphone and preamp shootout that turned out to be a lot of fun. Josh is the head mix/recording engineer at Capricorn Studios in Downtown San Diego, California, and he recently picked up a new Cascade VIN-JET ribbon mic. This of course prompted some detailed comparison testing. Our hypothesis was that the Ribbon was going to sound really good, so read on for the results. These were our contenders: Microphones : 1) Shure SM57 Beta (Dynamic) 2) AKG c414c (w/C12 Capsule) (Condenser) 3) Cascade VIN-JET (Ribbon) Mic Preamps : A) Neve 33145 x2 (stripped out of an old console and formed into a rackmount unit - cool, I know.) B) Vintech Model 473 C) Chandler Limited Germanium For all recordings, I played a Charvel Desolation guitar (six-string, active pickups) through a Boss DD-7 Delay pedal into a 1965 Fender Vibrolux on the bright input with minimal reverb and fairly flat EQ....
Recording, Mixing, Mastering, Pro Audio Gear, and Discovering New Music.