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Neumann U67/U87 valve and FET multi-pattern large diaphragm condenser mics both for electric guitar cabs and on acoustic. On Vocals The microphone itself is very plain and simple, there being no switches for pads or bass cuts. It is an end‑fire mic, and the business end has a collection of narrow milled slots to allow sound to reach the rear of the capsule. The serial number is printed inside the XLR connector at the base of the mic. According to Earthworks, the mic can withstand being dropped onto a hard floor from a height of eight feet without sustaining any damage whatsoever, so it would appear to be pretty tough and rugged.
The technical specifications are good for this kind of mic at this kind of price. The frequency response is given as 40Hz to 20kHz, and the accompanying frequency response chart suggests a gentle roll-off at the bottom, roughly 3dB down at 100Hz and -10dB by 40Hz. It is substantially flat between 100Hz and 4kHz, above which there are a couple of mild 2dB peaks before a smooth high-end roll-off to -3dB at 20kHz. This is an impressively flat and extended response, especially compared with AKG's C1000S (probably the closest comparable mic), or any similarly-priced moving coil (dynamic) microphone. OK, so it won't cut through on stage like a Shure SM58 will (it doesn't have that classic projection) and unless the filter is switched in it can sound rather too full at times, but in the studio that smoothness is a bonus. In fact, the response seems smoother than the Rode NT5 through the presence region, and only slightly less full at the bottom end. With the arrival of Kindle Fire HD, you have a camera and microphone that allow you to make video calls with the built-in Skype app. However, there still isn’t what you’d think of a traditional camera, one that allows you to take still photos or videos, as you can with some other popular tablets.
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The SR71 is everything I remembered the Z30X to be — smooth, detailed, extremely transparent, and completely uncoloured. At least, that is how it sounds alongside other mid‑market, and even a few high‑end, mics. For a cardioid mic it sounds unusually open, and an awful lot like an omnidirectional really — in fact it is quite probably better than some omnidirectional mics I have used in the past! Scrolling: As we covered above, you’ll have to use three fingers to swipe on your display instead of just one. The mic sounds full and smooth when used for close vocals, with a modest airy lift at the high end. To be honest, it sounds considerably more expensive than it actually is — a fairly common theme with Rode mics!
When I first laid hands on the Earthworks mics for the July '98 review I was extremely impressed with the QTC1, which still remains a favourite omnidirectional microphone, and although I felt the Z30X was overpriced at the time (it was subsequently 'repositioned', I'm pleased to say), it also proved itself to be a very capable microphone indeed with a fantastically smooth frequency response both on‑ and off‑axis. Its very broad polar response would not suit every situation, though, and even the 'enhanced cardioid' version (Z30XL) was not quite as precise in its rearward rejection as might have been liked. However, the particular blend of characteristics and compromises made by Earthworks resulted in a very usable and fine‑sounding microphone. This neat little mic is incredibly versatile - and it sounds a lot more expensive than it actually is. Of all the mics of this type, perhaps the most often seen is the venerable Shure SM7B. This mic has a lineage dating from the mid 60’s where its SM5 predecessor had been developed for broadcast use in the US. The later improved version morphed into what is now the modern SM7B. This classic design, along with the Electro-Voice RE20, have inspired a whole raft of similar products who all have their design roots in the US broadcast tradition of end-fire dynamic mics optimised for closely worked voice. Universal Audio SD-1 Standard Dynamic As we mentioned above, this Fire tablet has fairly large bezels. While not as stylish as a bezel-less tablet, you'll have far fewer accidental taps with this display because of the unresponsive buffer. I tried it on a wide variety of sources and found it worked superbly well on all of them, capturing every nuance of the sound with great fidelity. On very close vocals the bass tip‑up gave a slightly warm sound compared to some other small‑capsule mics, but it remained detailed and never showed any hint of harshness or a tendency to sibilance. Moving the mic out to about a foot or so from six and twelve‑string acoustic guitars produced a lovely sound, completely free of boomy resonances but with all the complex harmonic structures perfectly intact. On an upright piano it proved equally competent, and even placing it directly in the firing line of a trumpet did not cause any problems (with the windshield on). Since the mic has been balanced to rely on the proximity effect from close working for a flat frequency response it also proved to be relatively immune to handling noise and stand vibrations.
Some of the mics and techniques used in the film are well known, such as an embryonic version of Glyn Johns’ famous 3 mic set up, and the use of mics wrapped in tights on the roof to stop the wind! If there’s anything we’ve missed let us know in the comments. Despite the expectation that transformers deliver a warmer sound, the TM-280 sounded to me slightly more solid at the lower end of the vocal range while the gentle, airy high end was quite similar to that of the TM-180. Given its affordable nature, this mic produces great results on vocals and acoustic guitars, though, as ever, the caveat applies that the best vocal sound comes from searching out a mic that emphasises what is good about your voice while playing down your less desirable vocal characteristics. Overall And so to the latest addition to the fleet, the SR71, which is marketed as a high‑quality, general‑purpose live sound mic. The good news is that this version has been priced at less than half the cost of Earthworks' other cardioid, the Z30X, which puts it in the same territory as AKG's C1000 and the Rode NT1. Earthworks's literature recommends it for a very wide range of applications, including voices (solo and choirs), guitars, pianos and all other stringed instruments, brass, woodwind (particularly saxophone and flute), percussion, snare drum, bass drum and overheads. There is nothing that makes a noise which this mic isn't ideally suited to, apparently! Mechanics
The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda spoke about the importance of having a device to record your daily thoughts. Otherwise, you could lose so many great ideas! Whether you’re a poet or not, the capability to record audio is something we could all utilize. Activating Screen Reader: You may well be wondering how Voice View could possibly be activated on your device if you never went into the settings menu to activate it. Wonder no longer: VoiceView has a shortcut enabled so that the setting can be toggled on easily without having to enter the settings menu. To activate Screen Reader, press and hold the device’s power button until the power-off message appears on your device. Once your device makes a soft chime, press and hold two fingers down on the display for five seconds. You’ll hear a voice tell you to keep holding your fingers down to activate VoiceView; release your fingers to cancel the mode activation or keep holding your fingers down to finish the process of enabling the tool. This shortcut only works for enabling the setting; you’ll still have to follow the above steps to disable it. Snare - AKG C28 or C60 small diaphragm condenser or D24 cardioid dynamic . The snare mic appears for only a few frames and is hard to make out, but appears to be an end-fire mic of some kind. On the roof, this mic has a spherical grille or windscreen which could be the D24 or C60/W60 combo that will be known to American readers as the Ed Sullivan mic. The reason for this is a combination of both look and suitability of the mic for the job, with each feeding into the other. Certainly there’s no doubt that using an end-fire mic with decent built-in pop protection is less intrusive in use, especially when speaking to camera is involved. This particular form factor often comes in dynamic form as opposed to condenser; this is almost certainly down to convention as much as anything else. The OriginalsOverhead - unidentified end-fire mic used at Shepperton Studio. This mic looks like it could be an AKG C28 in the AKG pivot mount or similar AKG preamp body and capsule combo. On Bass VoiceView is, at its core, will read any selected text on your display. If your tablet is highlighting icons and text with a green box, then reading that information out loud, you may have accidentally activated Screen Reader mode on your device. You can also tell that this mode has been activated on your device when you see a square icon in the top-left corner of your notification panel at the top of the display. If Screen Reader is enabled, you’ll likely find yourself having difficulty navigating around your tablet, specifically if you didn’t mean to turn on Screen Reader and are unable to correctly navigate around the tablet with your taps and swipes. In this mode, your normal swipes and taps don’t activate the traditional features of the device. This is laid out in the tutorial provided for Screen Reader, but if the mode has accidentally been activated by you or another family member, it may seem impossible to properly disable the mode. How to Disable VoiceView As the frequency response curve suggests, the mic does indeed have a slightly airy quality, which helps with vocal projection and it also adds definition to acoustic guitar. The overall impression is of a fairly natural but nicely open sound, and that hard-to-define sense of focus is better than you might expect for such an affordable microphone. There’s certainly not much to dislike at the price. TM-280 On paper the response curve looks quite similar to that of the TM-180, with its 9-10 kHz lift. The capsule is again a dual-diaphragm, 34mm diameter affair utilising a centre-terminated, gold-coated diaphragm, but I can’t tell whether it is the same capsule as used in the TM-180 or not. While the nominal frequency response is again shown as 20Hz to 20kHz, this mic is the quietest of the models we were sent, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 80dB. The sensitivity figure is -36dB ±2dB (0dB=1V/Pa at 1kHz) and the SPL handling 135dB without the pad engaged. Peeking inside reveals two circuit boards populated with good-quality discrete components, but this time around there’s no transformer. Overhead and Floor Tom - Neumann U67/U87 Valve and FET multi-pattern large diaphragm condenser mics. The valve U67 is often mistaken for the ubiquitous solid state U87, the latter being introduced in 1967.
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