So I bought the elam251 clone. Used it with a female singer. She liked it. I liked it. As I at a couple of pattern-steps towards omni from cardiod, her chest opened up, and all this huskyness came out and it was beautiful.
Then I tried it with drums in another session. toms were good, brass was silky - pretty. The fig 8 pattern sounded yuk because snare was peaky not meaty. Cardiod was ok to good but snare sounded boxy. In all patters the kick had no low end at all. it was just not there. all 160 hz - yet this did not show on the response curve.
So, I'm confused. Frankly, it sounded like s**t on the low end, and like heavan on the high-end . Typical?
Also, VERY CLEARLY, it needs to warm up for 1/2 hour. I thought this would be a subtile difference like the difference but it was quite dramatic. Do I have a normal Peluso? Feedback?
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warm up length Are you suggesting that the difference between t
warm up length
Are you suggesting that the difference between two hours and 1/2 hour might cause a steep rolloff at 160, or something like that?
or, it is possible that a 1000 dollar imitation of a 10,000 dollar mic might have a few issues? I not sure. There were elements that were indeed heavanly with female vocals, but I was frankly shocked at the lack of low end, especially considering there was a lot of infrasonic room stuff I could see/hear when I was testing it.
More on the Peluso Between more warm up time and double checkin
More on the Peluso
Between more warm up time and double checking on some different monitors, I'm now satisfyed that the low end of the e251 is right and good. Thanks Nathan.
Clive, I have a KEL HM1 and was impressed by it. Its quiet. Its is quite dark however. Great on guitar amps. Mine has a +2db notch from 500 to 800 hz, more or less, and a v shaped -4db dip centering on 5k, with a q of about 1k. That's exactly the eq I put on a lot of electric guitars - it acccentuates the growl, and gets rid of a lot of fizz. The worst thing about it is that the off axis sounds badly colored, and the rejection is not really up to professional standards for a cardiod mic - not in the same league as my earthworks cardioids for examle. So: Good for close micing a loud source. I might even consider it for live work given that it only costs 100 bucks.
Because its a tube mic, you should always power it up at least 3
Because its a tube mic, you should always power it up at least 30 minutes before using it. After 30 minutes, it should be "warmed up" enough for the sound to be consistent.
As for the low end problem, that is probably unrelated to the "warm-up" procedure, unless you only experienced those problems right after powering up the mic. Having never used a Peluso, I can't comment on their sound. However, I have used an actual 251 many times, and I've never heard one that didn't have a full sounding bottom end.
Try using a few different placements of the mic related to the sound source, to see if the low end responds any better or worse.
Your best bet would be to go back to wherever you bought it and hear a few different mics of the model you're buying, and pick the one you like best. That may involve a road trip, but if you're about to invest around $1000 in the part of the recording chain that affects your sound the most, its worth it.
I find that with my humble collection of valve mics, I can hear
I find that with my humble collection of valve mics, I can hear improvements after three hours. It's not a really obvious difference after the first hour or so, but I find that for some reason I just prefer the tracks recorded after the mic has been on for a really long time. Things get a little more coherent without losing their 'attitude'.
Congrats on the Peluso by the way.
John Stafford
I warm up all tube gear a minimum of 2 hours before any session.
I warm up all tube gear a minimum of 2 hours before any session.