I spent a good part of the afternoon today trying to find some honest reviews on a particular mic I was thinking of buying. This is always an extremely frustrating process for me, and I will tell you why. Simply put, there is just too much money to be made in writing positive reviews of products. Now, I have little, or no evidence of anything I am about to say, it's purely speculation. But that's what blogs are for, correct?
I always try to do some pretty intense research before buying any piece of gear that I'm going to be using daily in my studio. I don't have money to throw around to experiment with different microphones or preamps to see which one I like, so I rely on the words of "professionals". So I will start my research by google searching a specific mic, and start going through the list of all of the big name magazines, reading their reviews. The funny thing is, they will all say the same thing about every single piece of gear that comes across their desk. I can save everyone the trouble of having to do any research themselves and tell you right now what the mic you are looking for sounds like:
A Neumann TLM 103?- The perfect mic for any studio situation! Warm bottom end, but not muddy, nice smooth top end to catch all of the nuances of any vocal! Nice crisp attack on guitar amps; bass amps needed no EQing!
A Shure SM57?- An all around solid mic for any studio situation! Warm bottom end, but not muddy, nice smooth top end to catch all of the nuances of any vocal! Nice crisp attack on guitar amps; bass amps needed no EQing!
Fence Post with a Megaphone?- The last mic you'll ever need! (see above descriptions for details)
and so on...
It's almost as if these magazines are acting more like QVC hosts than actual experts. Seriously though, this is no exaggeration. I started google searching things like "_______ , biggest waste of money" , just to see if any of these magazines ever found a product they didn't love. You won't find anything. You won't even find so much as a dirty look at a product, much less an honest review. Ok, why does this even matter? It matters because it is so much bigger than this.
I used to be a huge fan of a certain music magazine (I won't say which one, because although I can't stand them, I still have a strange desire to be accepted by them at the same time...). They, like many other "independent" music magazines give away a CD with a lot of their issues. You, as the reader are led to believe that this is what they are listening to. This is the music you are supposed to believe is up and coming; a preview of greatness coming from the people who know best.
Several years ago, I was meeting with a publisher in New York. It was my first meeting with a publisher, and I was going through my list of stupid amateur questions. One of them was, "So... how in the world do I get into {that magazine} ? Do you think they would be into my music?" He kind of laughed at me. I could see the pity in his eyes for what he saw as some ignorant midwest kid. He replied, "Ummm... well... anyone who wants to shell out the two grand can get in there. We can probably have it arranged." Yes, ignorant indeed. It feels like elementary school kickball. You are seeing everyone around you being picked first, then you realized that they had all slipped a couple of bucks to the team captain to make the cut.
Do you see the pattern? I'm seeing it more and more in this industry. Have you ever wondered how big name bands pick the openers for their tours? In MANY cases, it's because the little guy is paying the big guy to be there. And you thought it was because of some kind of mutual love and respect they had for each other...
I really didn't intend for this post to go this long. I probably could have made my point in a paragraph, but this will help me get to sleep now. By the way, if you wanna know what I think the best mic for under $1,000 is, I'd say the AKG 414. If you don't believe me, just read up on some reviews. You'll find that it's the perfect mic for every studio situation. Seriously though, it's a really great mic.
I'm going to get rested up now. I have the honor of playing at Elsie's mother's big art show tomorrow. It's going to be lovely. She is an AMAZING artist. If you are in town, it's at the Hawthorn Gallery downtown.
Goodnight.