The microphone preamp experiment
4 October 2018
Audient brought a range of their products to the studio for a controlled comparison of their console microphone preamp, a design that has appeared across their range for more than twenty years.
The recordings were engineered by Rob Plummer, with the indie folk artist Zach Johnson performing. Three microphones were used on each source at once: an AKG C414 XLS in cardioid, a Sennheiser MKH40, and a Shure SM57. The 414 because it is a common choice for both voice and guitar, the SM57 because most people have used one and it makes a familiar reference point, and the MKH40 for its flat response, which in theory lets the character of the preamp through with least colouration of its own.
The three were lined up as closely as their diaphragms allowed, aimed between the twelfth and fourteenth frets at roughly eight inches for guitar, and six inches from the singer with a pop shield in between for vocals. The chain began with the ASP8024 Heritage Edition, converted through the studio Apogee Symphony I/O MkII, then worked up through the Audient range from the iD4 interface to the eight channel preamps.
