Complete throwaway topic, but the TLM103 is definitely harsh sounding.

[Mike Stranks]

Interesting that the Austrian Audio OC18 was mentioned above...

In my YouTube wanderings among my few subscriptions this afternoon I noticed that Podcastage was talking about his gear of the year. This guy reviews many, many mics each year at all price points. His 'mic of the year'? The Austrian Audio OC18...

SoS Review is here: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/austrian-audio-oc818-oc18

So probably worth checking-out...

[CS70]

So, since the subject has been raised, if I was to ask for suggestions for a single LDC to use for a baritone male voice that doesn't have much body (mine) what would you suggest, budget up to, maybe, £1200? I currently have a SE 2200 and a Blue Reactor and dodgy hearing above 10kHz.

Someone said Mojave MA-200 ?

[Arpangel]

I dunno, I can always tell it's a 414 B-ULS. They're kinda metallic. Kinda sibilant on voices. It's subtle but it's there.

That exactly describes how I heard it at the time, but back then my hearing was a lot better than it is now. I’m finding a lot of stuff I didn’t like because of high frequency issues sounds great to me now.

[Random Guitarist]

So, since the subject has been raised, if I was to ask for suggestions for a single LDC to use for a baritone male voice that doesn't have much body (mine) what would you suggest, budget up to, maybe, £1200? I currently have a SE 2200 and a Blue Reactor and dodgy hearing above 10kHz.

Soundelux U195 maybe? I have one from when they were made/sold as Bock. Has a big smooth sound.

[Len]

I have both the TLM 103 and the 414 B-ULS. The 103 is definitely not something I would use on everything. I have a baritone-ish voice and it gives a nice "radio friendly" sound to my singing voice. I pretty much apply no EQ at all other than a roll off at 80hz. But I pretty much never use the 103 on say acoustic guitar, where the 414 is much nicer to my ears.

Here is a recent video of me using the TLM 103 and the 414 B-ULS (the SDC is a Telefunken M-60): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqoTnV9OVIU

Listen to the vocal - hardly any EQ, just light compression. The main guitar sounded great with just the M-60 alone, but unfortunately there was quite a lot of bleed into the TLM103, which affected the sound negatively since it was a very off-axis 103 sound mixed with the M-60.

The second guitar and nylon were both recorded with the 414 B-ULS. Note that the second guitar and the nylon guitars are pretty cheap guitars (compared to the main guitar which is a Larrivee L-09) but the 414 made them sound great!

Anyway, my two pennies worth. Happy Christmas!

[John Willett]

So, since the subject has been raised, if I was to ask for suggestions for a single LDC to use for a baritone male voice that doesn't have much body (mine) what would you suggest, budget up to, maybe, £1200? I currently have a SE 2200 and a Blue Reactor and dodgy hearing above 10kHz.

Answered via PM with some suggestions as I don't want Hugh to get cross with me

[Hugh Robjohns]

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Edge terminated diaphragms are more likely to exhibit these potential issues than centre-terminated ones for obvious reasons.

Interesting! The reasons are not obvious to me though Is it because the centre termination doubles the resonant frequency i.e. the resonance is now the radius, not the diameter?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Yes, and entirely different breakup modes.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

This is the kind of voodoo/ physics that really impresses me. Real mic designers are amazing- the ones that do their own capsules. Years ago when trying the 3D Audio Mic CD, I consistently chose the AT-4033a because it was the only one without that whispery/ shadowy thing.

Listening on the amazing Audiotestkitchen site, all the AT LD condensers lack this quality. The consistency of their "sound family" is impressive too. They just get smoother sounding as the price goes up The AT2020 is regularly favoured for VO by our students, who have a range of Rode LDs, a C414 B XLS and a U87a to chose from!

[Aled Hughes]

This is the kind of voodoo/ physics that really impresses me. Real mic designers are amazing- the ones that do their own capsules. Years ago when trying the 3D Audio Mic CD, I consistently chose the AT-4033a because it was the only one without that whispery/ shadowy thing.

Listening on the amazing Audiotestkitchen site, all the AT LD condensers lack this quality. The consistency of their "sound family" is impressive too. They just get smoother sounding as the price goes up The AT2020 is regularly favoured for VO by our students, who have a range of Rode LDs, a C414 B XLS and a U87a to chose from!

Interesting. I always felt my AT4050 added a sort of subtle high end whisper/resonance/something or other. More so than the U87/Sony C48/AA 818/414 LDCs I usually use. In the end I sold it because of it.

There are AT4033s at the studio but I’ve never used them- I shall have to give them a go.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

That's really interesting. I've never used a 4050. I recall Hugh's review of the AKG 412 being a bit more neutral than the 414? And he's often pointed out that a fixed omni is more neutral than two diaphragms combined.