Test with Grace 101

[ChrisMezzolesta]

Hi all, I received Brad V's (former and trusty) Grace 101 today, and did a test recording first with the M-Audio Solo direct, then thru the Grace (and the Solo's balanced in to the PC), talking on the AT4040. Turns out there is plenty of gain, I am running the input gain on the Solo at only about "930pm" , after tuning the Grace to the specs in the manual. Granted I am listening on phones and not decent monitors, but am curious as to how it's coming across. I will be getting a new mic here soon, so that will obviously change things up, but am looking to constantly improve the chain.

That said, I just bought yet another 286a, should I just rack em up for my music production, or eBay one of em? Spose I could send one to my son, he's doing some tracking projects at home...

Let me know what you think and if there's anything I need to do...many thanks!!!


C

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

To my ears once you switched to the Grace it was a bit brighter and clearer. I personally like the way it sounds. I am glad you posted this because I have considered a Grace myself. I also use an AT4040 so that really answered some questions for me too. I have read such mixed reviews on the Grace. It seems people either love it or hate it. Ipersonally think you made a step in the right direction.

[Campbell]

Chris:

Both samples sound very good. Nice low end, clean highs. The Grace is just slightly smoother to my ears.
I think most equipment upgrades are always in small increments.
The -48 noise floor is pretty high. It sounds like low end rumble. You may want to engage the HPF.

Seems like a good purchase.

[lanceblair]

Sorry Chris, but your test has a flaw. I could tell off the bat that the M-Audio sample was much quieter as in you didn't apply as much gain as on the Grace or you weren't in the same position with the mic. Also, as you recorded the Grace second, your voice is more warmed up and confident.

Attached is a more fair comparison set to the same volumes. Now listen to it - keep in mind that these are mp3s of the mp3s re-edited, so the characteristics are squashed a bit.

Also Attached is the same clip processed (-50db gate, Multiband compressor, Limiting in Cubase SE3) with music at the tail of each read.

[Paul Plack]

You shouldn't need much gain using an AT4040, but the preamp should be much quieter than the mic's own self noise. If it's only -48, get a better mic stand!

[ChrisMezzolesta]

OK then, here is the Neumann TLM-103 thru the Grace 101 - am now considering a better mic stand as you said Paul - Any suggestions?

Lance, do you think I'll need to continue applying "post" to this signal as you did to my other sample, or does it have enough cojones? Still sounds straight to me (which is good as a baseline)

Thanks again for listening...

[lanceblair]

Enjoy the 103, it's much less sibilant than the 4040 (which is why I made the switch from 4040 to 103...also, the 4040 is a mouth noise magnet). You sound good. The noise floor seems lower too...hmm.

As for the processing I did, I didn't do that to try and make you sound better. I was trying to make a point about the similarites in the sound of the M-Audio and the Grace when cranked through processing, because I thought they already sounded similar. Is the Grace still going into the mic pres of the M-Audio?

The mic change has made a much bigger difference than the preamp change.

Paul, I'd like to hear your advice about mic stands as I'm looking to upgrade that.

[Mike Sommer]

Between the two pres - not a huge difference.

The change is with the mic. The 103 made a big difference and fits your voice rather well.

As for mic stands I always have a few around, mostly booms. The booms are nice because I can get the mic right were I need it.

I like the Atlas SB11WE boom stand - not cheap by any means- but when you got a $1500 mic on e stand I don't want it falling over.
The Atlas MS25 is nice too and you can get a boom for it also.

[Paul Plack]

I can't recommend one brand of floor stand over another, but the principle is to get as much rigid mass at the base as possible, to lower the resonant frequency of the support, then put the base on something compliant to isolate it from the floor, and make sure any mounting or clamping hardware is good quality and tight.

The Atlas stands, including the ones like Mike's and even the older ones with round, cast bases, are pretty good, especially if you have a friend at a carpet store who will save you a couple of those edge-bound sample rectangles to put between the base and hard tile or wood floors.

I prefer the desktop pedestal-mounted booms to floor stands, but the pedestal has to be mounted to something massive to be really quiet. Running long pedestal mounting bolts through both the tabletop and a few thicknesses of 3/4" particle board as a stiffener helps a bunch. If you can get the resonant frequency low enough that any residdual noise is below the knee of your high-pass filter, it's as good as gone.

I have some of those cheapo "On Stage" brand floor stands available in five-packs for under $100 from BSW. They have the tripod base, and they're pretty bad. The boom clamps rattle audibly unless secured with rubber bands, the threaded fittings are on plugs that get loose and turn freely in the ends of the tubes, and they pick up vibration from my computer through the floor like a shotglass on a cheap motel wall. (Or, so I'm told.) It's especially noticeable with the AT2020, which has no shock mount. The RE20 doesn't care, especially in its shock mount.

I made some floor stands once by mounting water pipe flanges on round, concrete walkway stones from Home Depot. I put a couple layers of foam carpet pad between the bottom of the concrete and the carpeted floor. They were massive and heavy, and weren't very practical, but they sure were quiet!

[Campbell]

Chris - love the new mic/pre combo. The 103 is a good match for you.

Now, you'll never have to mess with your equipment again (yeah, right)!

Bill
ASAP Audio