Speaker & Microphone Shootout

  • Thread starter Thread starter panos1984
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panos1984

panos1984

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Hi!

We've tested several speakers in a Bogner 112 cab to pair with the fantastic Smallbox 50.
Also, we tested 10 guitar microphones with a Friedman 212 cab loaded with a Celestion G12H-75 (and a Cream).

The recordings were really interesting so I decided to make these videos presenting the differences between the speakers and the microphones.

Which speakers do you like best and which microphone is your favourite in this set up?





Speakers:

Celestion Blue
Celestion Cream
Celestion G12M Greenback
Celestion G12M-65 Creamback
Celestion G12H-75 Creamback
Celestion Vintage 30
Elecro-Voice EVM12L Classic

Gear used:

Amp: Friedman Smallbox 50W
Cab: Bogner 112CP (closed back)
Guitar: Fender Strat w/ Rocketfire pickups
Microphone: Shure SM57 (on axis, edge of cap)
Looper: Strymon Timeline



Microphones:

Shure SM57
Sennheiser e906
BeyerDynamic M201TG
Sennheiser MD421-U4
Heil Sound PR20
Heil Sound PR30B
Shure SM7B
BeyerDynamic M160
Royer Labs R121
Tul Microphones G12

Gear used:

Guitar: Fender Strat w/ Rocketfire pickups (bridge)
Amp: Friedman Smallbox 50W (overdrive channel)
Cabinet: Friedman 212 (closed back)
Speaker: Celestion G12H-75 Creamback
Mic preamp: RME FF800
Looper: Strymon Timeline
 
Very very cool. Thanks for sharing this!

For overdriven tone, I liked the Blue, the Greenback, and the V30. All for different reasons.

The EV sounded the best clean, to my ears. Also liked the Blue. I was surprised the V30 sounded to comparable to the Greenback and the Creambacks.

Sennheiser and PR20 had very raunchy sounds. I liked em. Did not like the M160. SM57 and Royer seemed the most balanced.

Great videos. :rock:
 
This is the BEST speaker comparison I've ever seen. Awesome job. Please please please do more like this if you ever get your hands on additional speakers or maybe try a high-gain version with these same speakers?

In the mix, they are all actually very similar. I need to listen on better speakers. But really, in the context of the musical styles and tones in the demo, I could make any of those speakers work just fine. And you could probably make any of them sound like any of the others just by twisting a treble/presence/mid control on the amp a little. The differences in the mix are subtle. In isolation, it's easier to hear the differences.

I consistently preferred the 65 Creamback and 75 Creamback

The microphone comparison was way more drastic. Made a much bigger difference than the speakers did.

Again, thank you for this. Really well done.
 
Cool vids, I liked the blue and v30 myself. And the E906 mic sounded pretty good to me.
 
Thanks guys!

Two of my favourite speakers were the G12H-75 and the V30. Alnicos sound good too but I prefer them in non-Marshall style amps.
I'm sure that EVM-12L would sound much better with a different mic placement, but we had to keep this aspect of the setup consistent.

Regarding the mics, my favorites were the SM7B, SM57, e906 & R-121.
With different placement and a bit of EQ I'm sure I could have great results with any of the mics in the shootout.
 
Blue, Greenback, then 30. The creambacks seem a bit muffled.

The mic comparison was awesome. I still have a soft spot for the Beyer but the price I just cannot justify. The one that surprised me most was the Heil PR20! Really nice tone on that one. Standard 57 and sm7b were great, 906 sounded good, nice and even. 421 was awesome too. 121 is nice but not as good as the others to my ear. Makes me want to pick up a 421 or PR20... the PR20 is the better deal $ wise for sure though.
 
Great job on these shootouts! I usually drift towards the EVs and V30s, but out of all the samples, I think the EV sounded less full. It would be great for cleans, but for breakup, the creambacks sounded a little fuller (if not more muffled), while the Blue and V30 sounded a little more in your face.
 
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