Kel Audio -- Reviews

"I just bought 2 HM-1 mics from you guys ... put them up as my drum room mics ... and we're all very pleased. Nice work!"

Greg Wells
Producer, Songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist
Rufus Wainright, Pink, Hillary Duff, Michelle Branch, Lindsay Lohan, The Deftones, Many more ...

"Hi Kelly

My name is Rob Heaney, I'm Engineer/Producer on the Cirque du Soleil CD's. I just wanted to tell you I love those mics.

It's exactly what I was looking for. I have tons of bright mics, but not a lot with that meat in the lower mids. So far I've tried them on vox and OH for drums. It makes the toms sound huge in the OH, like my ribbon mics do and they're not stupidly bright on the cymbals. I'm interested to see what it sounds like on the floor tom. Great work, solid craftsmanship and nice mic clip.

I'm recommending these lil puppys to everyone. I'm definitely going to scoop a bunch more. To create a "Flock O Kel's."

They sound like a more vibey KM56 Neumann. And you can quote me on that. ... [and] they're the "Bomb" on orchestral brass.

Thanx again, take care.

Ciao, Rob"

Hi Kelly!

I just had to chime in with my opinion on your mics.

I purchased a pair of HM1's in the fall 2004, when they'd just hit the market.

They most definately do what they're supposed to and much much more. They are IMHO a new swiss army knife mic that can do a heck of a lot of different things, and not only does it do it "as well as a classic german mic costing xx times more" - there are several things they do better than ANY other mic I know of (which is quite a few).

My favourite is overheads. At this application I know of no other mic that comes even close. Not only do the cymbals sound smooth and delicious - the drums (esp. the snare) sound absolutely incredible too. I brought one with me on a gig I was doing for another sound company, and the owner immediately ordered 4 of them

The HM-4 I obviously haven't had as much time to play with yet, but on male speech and singing it sounds NICE! It's definately my first choice now for vocal applications, closely followed by HM-1. I also have a dream of trying it on trombone - I have a feeling it'll kill! :o)

I've tried the HM-1 with great success on: overheads, guitar amp, drum ambience, vocals, trumpet, trombone, flute, violin, english horn, acoustic guitar, percussion (esp. tambourine - fantastic!), congas, blues harp and probably more things that escape me at present.

The list of things on which it didn't work well: n/a
I just had to tell you :o) Keep up the good work!

Best Regards,
Frederik Rosenkjær
BlackBurst Audioengineering
Copenhagen, Denmark

Kelly,

Got my mics last week and had a couple of comments to share...
First, I like the packaging. Plain box with a B&W sticker. This tells me immediately that the money is INSIDE the box! That's a good thing to me.

I got to use the mics for live drum kit overhead and for electric guitar. I liked what the mic did for both instruments. The pickup pattern was wide enough for the drum kit, yet not too wide for the guitar. There wasn't as much sizzle for cymbals as I am used to with the mic I normally use, but this was easy to make up with EQ. One of the other soundguys there was really impressed with the mic and when I told him the price, he said, "Gottta have a pair!!"

Everyone is impressed with the way the mic LOOKS! Anyway, I hope all of this is helpful and I am looking forward to trying out the mics for the application for which I actually purchased them...recording piano.

Peace! Charlie Fox, Sons of Thunder, Stillwater, OK

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for the update. USPS just delivered the mikes and my initial reaction to them is very good. I like the small design and the construction is definitely a notch up from the rest of my collection. the clip is easy to use too. I did a quick comparison with an Oktava MK-012, MK-319 and a Rode NT-1 recording my National Steel through a PC with a Delta soundcard via a Mackie mixer. I'm thrilled with the sound from the HM-1. It's warm and articulate, just what I was hoping for. Definitely the most natural sounding of the bunch.

Good luck, you have a great product!

Thanks, Larry Plitt

Hi Kelly,

What a great little mic. Fit and finish are excellent and its characteristics are exactly as you describe them. It would be a keeper for its cuteness factor alone.

Yvan Huneault, Montreal, Broadcaster http://www.yhsite.com

WOW, quick response. This mic brings our grand piano to LIFE. Two will be placed in piano, one for percussion and one for flute.

Chalan Thibodeaux, Technical Director
East Bayou Baptist Church
Lafayette, LA

I have just received The HM-1 mic that I ordered about a week ago, and I must say the first impressions are very very good!

One of the most demanding instruments that I record regularly is a set of small pipes (the forerunner of today's Northumbrian smallpipes). These pipes often sound very sharp and edgy when recorded close to the microphone, but with the HM 1 they sound beautiful !

Best regards
Carsten Rosenlund
Rosenlund Studio, Denmark

Kelly!!!!!!

I received my microphones today. We tested them in our studio on acoustic guitar & voice. THEY SOUND GREAT (especially for the price!) My boss is in his room e-mailing a request for 2 now. (These 2 were for me personally) Great mic-great price.

Also, please send me an order form - I want to order 2 more.

One very happy customer,

Tim Hern
WestEnd Recording, Tampa

Hello:

I thought I'd drop you a quick note to say that the mics got here a while back and I have just gotten around to using them. I just wanted to say that I like them a lot and will probably be using the HM-1 over most of my others. I'm a home studio guy on a limited budget and so have the common low budget condenser (Apex) and always thought something was not right. The sibilance on voice and buzz on sax were things I didn't think were right, but I figured it was me and my limited equipment or EQ requirements, etc. Anyway I just used the HM-1 on a spoken word thing and it is great. Very clear and no distracting sibilance sound.

Garry Wasyliw, Regina

Hi Kelly,

I just received my mic yesterday. It is beautiful. Perfect, because my cash flow is very limited. My only regret was not buying two at the introductory price.

Thanks for the chance on owning a really nice piece of equipment. It is my first real mic purchase. Your company has been a pleasure to deal with. Good luck with everything.

Michael Sylvester

Kelly,

I just wanted to let you know that my HM-1's arrived last week. I was immediately impressed with the quality feel and the accessories.

I have not tried them in a recording environment yet, but I used them to mic guitar and blues harp on a Fat Tuesday gig. I'm here to tell you that these are the best mics I've ever used for this purpose. The players were floored with their PA sound.

Usually I spend a lot of time tweaking to try to get a decent facsimile of the tone these guys get from their amps happening in the PA system. With the HM-1 all I had to do was set the EQ flat and dial in the gain. The sound coming out of the PA was the same sound that the respective amps produced. I was able to get more guitar & harp in the mix without the harshness & without overtaking the vocals.

Since I play upright bass, sing and run sound all at the same time, I really appreciate anything that makes my job (jobs!!) easier.

Thank you for a superior product at a more than reasonable price. I only wish I had more of them. I also hope to try your new mic soon.

One happy customer,
Bill Morlan, St. Louis