Amp demos recorded with cell phones are worse than useless

TheGreatGreen

TheGreatGreen

Well-known member
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This is a picture of the iPhone 7's mic. Samsung cell phone mics are basically identical. To buy a replacement costs about $0.25. Notice the dimensions. The diaphragm is less than 2 millimeters wide.

When you record a demo of your multi-thousand dollar rig with one of these, with the cell phone mic facing down at the floor like is usually done because as we all know it's more important to record the "star" rocking out during the "amp demo" than it is to actually record the sound of the amp as featured in the proclaimed "amp demo," you're wasting everyone's time. Also, I'm sorry but no, it doesn't "sound like it does in the room and I'm doing you a favor and giving you the real life experience, bruh." It sounds like you're recording an amp with the worst $0.25 radioshack mic imaginable, that is actually pointing away from the amp on top of that. Listening to an amp recorded like this sounds like you're listening to an amp that was recorded in some normal way but is now being played back through a cheap AM radio that has been placed in a tile bathroom, and you're 10 feet outside that bathroom.

Cell phone amp demos are not only useless, they actually detract from how any given setup sounds. They sound absolutely nothing like either what the rig sounds like mic'd, or what it sounds like "in the room." Cell phone mics as they're typically used to record amps (again, filming the "star" while the mic is pointed at the floor) make every amp sound identically like a boomy, woofy, fizzy mess.

If you do this, I'm talking specifically to you. Please stop. You are not only wasting your own time, but everyone else's. The clips you're posting are absolutely useless and sound nothing like the amp in any capacity, in any context. If you have the money to buy a guitar rig worth posting online about, you have the money to buy a used SM57 for like $50-60, which will make all the difference in the world.

Thank you. That is all.
 
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Actually I use mine to tune my amp. It can pick up details raw and unfettered where SM57s will color and mask within the spectrum.

If you need a flat frequency response a phone works great. If you want studio polished recording then an SM57 is great.

I don’t use a phone mic but rather a room condenser mic because the room that I play in has horrible sound treatment and the phone recordings sound distorted. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their place.
 
glpg80 said:
Actually I use mine to tune my amp. It can pick up details raw and unfettered where SM57s will color and mask within the spectrum.

If you need a flat frequency response a phone works great. If you want studio polished recording then an SM57 is great.

I don’t use a phone mic but rather a room condenser mic because the room that I play in has horrible sound treatment and the phone recordings sound distorted. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their place.
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DanTravis62 said:
I obviously prefer close mics for an actual AMP DEMO

But I'm not going through all that effort, of meticulously close micing, for an Instagram post
🤣
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Agreed! I'm not saying there are absolutely no uses for being able to quickly record something in a similar kind of way.

My big issue with making cell phone demos is specifically about when people set out to make "this is what this amp sounds like" videos and crowd all the actual, well-done online demos out with that garbage.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Agreed! I'm not saying there are absolutely no uses for being able to quickly record something in a similar kind of way.

My big issue with making cell phone demos is specifically about when people set out to make "this is what this amp sounds like" videos and crowd all the actual, well-done online demos out with that garbage.
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I can definitely agree with that.

I certainly didn't buy my Larry based on some of those god awful cell phone clips on YouTube.

I assume cell phone mics misrepresent the sound in most cases, but it can be especially misleading with high gain amps - in certain cases wildly misleading.

I've heard phone recordings that make wizards and fryettes sound "compressed," etc. Which is obviously the opposite of what they're really like...both "in the room" and close miced.
 
i bought one of those shure mv88 or whatever condenser mic for my phone and never even tried it, i probably should do that one of these days.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
jGhNXhg.png


This is a picture of the iPhone 7's mic. Samsung cell phone mics are basically identical. To buy a replacement costs about $0.25. Notice the dimensions. The diaphragm is less than 2 millimeters wide.

When you record a demo of your multi-thousand dollar rig with one of these, with the cell phone mic facing down at the floor like is usually done because as we all know it's more important to record the "star" rocking out during the "amp demo" than it is to actually record the sound of the amp as featured in the proclaimed "amp demo," you're wasting everyone's time. Also, I'm sorry but no, it doesn't "sound like it does in the room and I'm doing you a favor and giving you the real life experience, bruh." It sounds like you're recording an amp with the worst $0.25 radioshack mic imaginable, that is actually pointing away from the amp on top of that. Listening to an amp recorded like this sounds like you're listening to an amp that was recorded in some normal way but is now being played back through a cheap AM radio that has been placed in a tile bathroom, and you're 10 feet outside that bathroom.

Cell phone amp demos are not only useless, they actually detract from how any given setup sounds. They sound absolutely nothing like either what the rig sounds like mic'd, or what it sounds like "in the room." Cell phone mics as they're typically used to record amps (again, filming the "star" while the mic is pointed at the floor) make every amp sound identically like a boomy, woofy, fizzy mess.

If you do this, I'm talking specifically to you. Please stop. You are not only wasting your own time, but everyone else's. The clips you're posting are absolutely useless and sound nothing like the amp in any capacity, in any context. If you have the money to buy a guitar rig worth posting online about, you have the money to buy a used SM57 for like $50-60, which will make all the difference in the world.

Thank you. That is all.
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If you want to know how the amp sounds Mic’d with that particular model mic, sure. But not everyone is a professional musician and plays their amp at home. A Mic’d amp doesn’t necessarily reflect how an amp sounds in room either. There are mic models that sound different than a 57 too. I’ve listened to enough iPhone recording of amps to get a better idea of how it will sound in room whereas there’s some people on this forum that can mic a shitty amp and make it sound boutique.
 
Racerxrated said:
This. I've heard youtube demos sound like shit, with a pro mic etc etc. Yet, I've also heard cell clips sound really good and exactly what I've heard of the same amp, in person.
It just varies..of course I imagine you'd have a better chance of a great clip with a mic, interface etc.
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Even with the most expensive mics and gear those recordings can sound awful if not used well. Some iPhone clips can sound very good and similar to in the room, but the issue really is all the lacking detail vs a semi-decent mic. I'm still very new to recording (learning and getting better), but besides an interface and mic, a good preamp in between the mic and interface is also is super important imo to get a great sound and that component seems to often get overlooked

IME so far if you have even a meh mic, preamp and good interface and have at least passable technique with the setting up the mic and whatnot it'll blow away any iPhone recording. The problem is it can be easy to mess up any of those things, while the iPhone is like just plug and play and will never really sound awful, but never great either
 
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braintheory said:
Even with the most expensive mics and gear those recordings can sound awful if not used well. Some iPhone clips can sound very good and similar to in the room, but the issue really is all the lacking detail vs a semi-decent mic. I'm still very new to recording (learning and getting better), but besides an interface and mic, a good preamp in between the mic and interface is also is super important imo to get a great sound and that component seems to often get overlooked
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One day I’ll try to dive in a little deeper..funny thing about the few I’ve recorded; all my amps sound the same on the recordings lol. Probably since I dial them in for my tone. But in the room they are different.
 
Racerxrated said:
One day I’ll try to dive in a little deeper..funny thing about the few I’ve recorded; all my amps sound the same on the recordings lol. Probably since I dial them in for my tone. But in the room they are different.
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It's often like that on an iPhone. It can homogenize things more. Even as a newb still, whenever I record a different amp (keeping all else equal) they sound very different to me (as much or sometimes even more than in person). Recording seems to be a deep and pricy rabbit hole. I guess you can get just a SM57 (not pricy), but then a preamp and interface (those aren't cheap) and also lunchbox for multiple preamps and 500 racks. I guess though there may be more affordable options (not knowledge there) with pre's and interface, but I just got an Apollo x8p heritage and 1073, and 2 Camden pre's
 
I still have 2 57s from my gigging days. My old drummer has a pro tools setup. I’ll ask him if he’s got some gear I can borrow.
 
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