Disclaimer!
Here are some clips that compare the HM-2d and HM-1 to several respected mics that many people have had some experience with. All of them are industry standards to some extent. Remember that these are recordings of one particular unit of each mic on one particular narrator in one particular studio. Your mileage may vary, as they say.
The purpose of this demonstration is not to suggest one mic is "better" than another or that any of them even sound "good". We are firmly in the "recording as art" camp and truly believe that literally any microphone can be used to make creative interesting music. You should arguably have ALL of the mics featured in these clips.
Please listen to the clips with the above philosophy in mind. Listen to the similarities and differences between them and think of ways you could use any and all of the mics in your recordings.
Male Narration
Recording Notes: All clips were recorded at 44.1 kHz and 16 bits through an Amek 9098 into the converters on a Focusrite ISA428. There is no EQ or compression on these clips. The distance from each capsule was approximately 4 inches, on axis. A typical nylon hoop-type popper stopper was used to minimize plosives.
These files are WAVs and you may wish to download them into your DAW and listen in a good monitoring environment, or use quality headphones.
Narration Series Clip
Shure SM57 Clip (Industry standard mid diaphragm dynamic mic)
Shure SM7B Clip (Industry standard large diaphragm dynamic mic)
KEL HM-2d Clip (Unusual new large diaphragm condenser mic)
Neumann U87ai (Industry standard large diaphragm condenser mic)
KEL HM-1 (One of our favourites. Cult following on drum overheads and guitar amps)
Audio Technica AT4033CL (Respected professional condenser mic.)
Generic Offshore Ribbon Mic (Ummm ... not sure)
Guitar Amplifier Clips
These are clips of a Fender "Fat Strat" through a Peavey Classic 30 tube amp. The part is very simple in order to avoid distraction. You may hate or love the basic tone. It's not too hard, not too soft. It is just one particular tone dialed in on one particular day. Listen to the differences between the mics. All mics were placed approximately 3 inches from the grill cloth and aimed half way between the center and edge of the speaker. There is bus compression on the overall mix to give a bit more of a finished sound. No reverb or EQ was applied to any of the guitar tracks. Clips are provided solo'd and in the context of a mix. You might want to download the solo'd clips to your DAW and play around with overlaying and blending them, as is common in the studio. See what kind of new tones you can come up with!
SM57 (The industry standard)
In Mix, Solo'd
SM7B (Smooth and punchy)
In Mix, Solo'd
HM-2d (Smooth and punchy)
In Mix, Solo'd
U87ai (Classy)
In Mix, Solo'd
HM-1 (Daddy's little fatty)
In Mix, Solo'd
Here are some clips that compare the HM-2d and HM-1 to several respected mics that many people have had some experience with. All of them are industry standards to some extent. Remember that these are recordings of one particular unit of each mic on one particular narrator in one particular studio. Your mileage may vary, as they say.
The purpose of this demonstration is not to suggest one mic is "better" than another or that any of them even sound "good". We are firmly in the "recording as art" camp and truly believe that literally any microphone can be used to make creative interesting music. You should arguably have ALL of the mics featured in these clips.
Please listen to the clips with the above philosophy in mind. Listen to the similarities and differences between them and think of ways you could use any and all of the mics in your recordings.
Male Narration
Recording Notes: All clips were recorded at 44.1 kHz and 16 bits through an Amek 9098 into the converters on a Focusrite ISA428. There is no EQ or compression on these clips. The distance from each capsule was approximately 4 inches, on axis. A typical nylon hoop-type popper stopper was used to minimize plosives.
These files are WAVs and you may wish to download them into your DAW and listen in a good monitoring environment, or use quality headphones.
Narration Series Clip
Shure SM57 Clip (Industry standard mid diaphragm dynamic mic)
Shure SM7B Clip (Industry standard large diaphragm dynamic mic)
KEL HM-2d Clip (Unusual new large diaphragm condenser mic)
Neumann U87ai (Industry standard large diaphragm condenser mic)
KEL HM-1 (One of our favourites. Cult following on drum overheads and guitar amps)
Audio Technica AT4033CL (Respected professional condenser mic.)
Generic Offshore Ribbon Mic (Ummm ... not sure)
Guitar Amplifier Clips
These are clips of a Fender "Fat Strat" through a Peavey Classic 30 tube amp. The part is very simple in order to avoid distraction. You may hate or love the basic tone. It's not too hard, not too soft. It is just one particular tone dialed in on one particular day. Listen to the differences between the mics. All mics were placed approximately 3 inches from the grill cloth and aimed half way between the center and edge of the speaker. There is bus compression on the overall mix to give a bit more of a finished sound. No reverb or EQ was applied to any of the guitar tracks. Clips are provided solo'd and in the context of a mix. You might want to download the solo'd clips to your DAW and play around with overlaying and blending them, as is common in the studio. See what kind of new tones you can come up with!
SM57 (The industry standard)
In Mix, Solo'd
SM7B (Smooth and punchy)
In Mix, Solo'd
HM-2d (Smooth and punchy)
In Mix, Solo'd
U87ai (Classy)
In Mix, Solo'd
HM-1 (Daddy's little fatty)
In Mix, Solo'd