That's good to know and good to hear another positive review of the HM-1, Stickers. Thanks for posting that.

I'm wondering now how the HM-1 compares to the AT2020 since they're both the same price.

You don't have a 2020 also, do you?

Also, are you preamping the HM-1 with your Brick?

I don't own AT 2020s. In fact, i'm sooooo done buying gear. 12k spent. Check out my website for the gear that I have. 14 mics but the cost average is around $152.

But anyways about the brick... on acoustic i use the onyx pre on the mic behind bridge of the guitar. The other mic placed where the neck meets the bridge, I used a little of the brick pre and onyx pre. I find the brick with the gain to high has too much of that tube sound and not enough high-end. So a 50/50 combination of the 2 pres fits just right.

Hey, congratulations. Good to hear your impressions. Are you using them for rock vocals? Rock acoustic guitar? Any chance you can do a little shootout for us?

I'm starting to think I may be just about to turn away from the idea of cheap condensors. I've got the standard SP C1, a few MXL mics, and you know, I may be losing the will to keep trying in this price range. Too many times a vocal has come out too sharp and pointy and scratchy to tame.

Honestly, my SM7b gives me more of my much-longed-for smoothness than any condensor I've ever heard.

Nevertheless these HM-1s have sort of caught my eye as what may be my last little glance toward budget condensors before I head on down that annoyingly expensive road. I like what I've heard said about them. I like the sound clips I've heard, though funnily enough some of them have sounded thinner to me than the C1 (a mic whose sound I can now pick out instantly in shootouts :roll: ), but more balanced overall and without those scratchy highs.

A soul in turmoil! Let's just say I want to believe! :lol:

Any chance we could get a fuller description of your signal chain and particularly some more impressions of the sound of these mics on different sources? And of course, as requested, some clips would be awfully nice...

Thanks and cheers,
Empty Planet

i dont know how i could give better discription of signal chain other than its preamp into the 002 into protools.

I will post samples however, they will only be available for one hour.

I don't have much badnwidth left to waste.

links removed

You can guess which mics where used in the samples. Your choices are C4s or HM-1s. No EQ used or balancing between the two mic locations on the tracks.

I'm guessing sample B is the HM-1.

Captures the harmonics very nicely.

you are wrong.

" The HM-1s sounds so much fuller and true while the C4s seem thin."

Although, I do believe I could get the HM-1s not as bassy if the mics were another inch away from the source.

Hey Stickers,

Very nice of you to post samples. Alas, I was out running and missed them; didn't know you were so short on bandwidth or I wouldn't have suggested it. If I were home (NYC) then I'd offer to host them for you for a bit, but I'm out on vacation (I see you're in MASS -- I'm out at the end of the Cape today. Dialup. Ugh.).

And sorry about the 002, missed that completely, with my usual style. 8)

Glad to hear they're working out for you at any rate. I'm sure I'll be checking them out at some point. Maybe I'll ask you to email me the files when/if you're bandwidth issues give you a breather, and I'm back home.

Best to all.

Empty planet,

If you want samples, email me for them and i will email them to you. If they are important to you then make the effort to get them.

I'm tickled pink with my matched pair, I'd have paid more, so to get them for a 100 bones each is just a bonus. If I can't make things sound good with these, then it's my own damn fault.

Something else that ought to be considered. If there is any kind of issue at all, your contact is Kelly, the man hisself, not some pee-on, and when I had a delivery/shipping issue, that made all the diff in the world. You don't get that from too many in the mic biz, regardless of how much you spend. I get the sense that if anything went wrong even now he'd make it right.

(no I have no affiliation with KEL whatsoever, except that I bought and paid for the right to say what I want about them)

cheers
Keith