Studio Projects C1 Condenser Microphone Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsThis was the first mic I ever bought on the recommendation of magazine reviews alone. I had read several reviews which compared this mic favorably to a Neumann U87 (which costs about 10 times as much as this mic). Having about 22 years of recording experience under my belt, I was highly skeptical, to say the least. In any case, I was intrigued and had to find out for myself. I purchased one on line from East Coast Music Mall for $217 (shipping included), and figured that, at worst, I could always return it. I can tell you right now, that AINT gonna happen!! In fact, I'm saving to buy a few more!!
This is a PHENOMENAL microphone. I have recorded on just about every microphone there is, but, of course, can't afford to own many of my favorites (vintage U67, Telefunken 251, etc.). While I wont go so far as to say this is my favorite mic ever, I will say that I would honestly rather have this mic than 90% of anything else I've ever tried!! I would literally have paid $1000 for this mic, had I known what it sounded like to begin with (or actually believed the reviews I was reading).
The mic comes in a travel case, with a nice clip-type shock mount included. It's aesthetically very impressive, with it's Brauner-type appearance(looks alot like the VM-1). It appears to be very well built and sturdy.
As far as the sound, I tried it on everything I had at my disposal (male/female vocals, acoustic guitars, overhead for drums, cello, electric guitar cabinet, percussion) and I can't say there is one of these applications for which it wouldn't be my first choice (I have a fairly large collection of mics at my disposal). The easiest way to describe this mic is "very, very clean." You will find that absolutely NO EQ is necesssary when you record vocals on one of these and put them into the mix. They stand perfectly on their own. The mic adds an "airy" quality to vocals that is very pleasing (actually, I like this mic MUCH better than a U87 for vocals!). Acoustic guitar is extremely present and detailed. EVERYTHING sounds good on this mic.
My only complaint is that the flight case is somewhat flimsy, but unless you are careless and set your Leslie cabinets on top of it, you shouldn't have any problems. Frankly, given the way this mic sounds and for what I paid for it, they could have sent it in a paper bag and I would have been perfectly happy to go out and buy my own case.
As I said above, the thing seems pretty sturdy, but of course I wouldn't recommend hammering nails with it.
This is the best mic I have ever used for under $1000, and ranks in my top 5-10 favorite mics of all time. Of course, mic selection is a very subjective thing, so you should take my advice, and anyone else's, with a grain or two of salt. I will tell you though, that I would be surprised if you were even slightly disappointed with this truly world class microphone. BUY ONE.
C Schubert rated this unit
on
2002-06-27.
