Studio Projects C4 Condenser Microphone User Reviews at zZounds

"Transparent, dynamic, neutral sound." submitted January 28, 2006

By a customer from localnet.com

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Musical Background: Active acoustic musician for 30 years. Project studio.

Music Style: new acoustic, bluegrass, jazz

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Sound: Superb. I've recorded the following instruments with the listed gear: Huss & Dalton DM guitar, Huss & Dalton DS Rosewood guitar, Custom Weber Yellowstone mandolin (cedar top, X-braced), Trinity College octave mandolin, Fluger Hollowneck resophonic guitar, handmade violin, into: Yamaha AW4416 DAW, played back thru KRK V6 monitors. EQ flat for recording and playback. Amazing detail and sparkle with no harshness, extremely dynamic. Nice to hear the sparkle without needing to add it. Feature: The included shock mounts hold the mics securely, and those nice people at Studio Projects included a T-bar and 2 extra sets of bands for the mounts. 2 omni capsules are included, but I haven't tried them yet. Carrying case, foam windscreens too. Quality: Everything looks fine to me. The shock mounts are plastic, but they have a very secure feel to them. Value: I haven't auditioned the other well-known, affordable small diaphragm condensers. After using the C4's, I don't feel the need to. Manufacturer Support: No need as of yet.

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"I never write reviews but uh------" submitted November 6, 2009

By a customer from verizon.net

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Musical Background: professional classical pianist/teacher.recordist

Music Style: classical

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Sound: Best mic I've used for recording acoustic grand piano (classical). It captures the sound of my Steinway B perfectly. I tried Rode NT1A's which are fantastic mics but not for my particular application. I also tried a pair of Pulsar 11's which did a great job. But the C4's in omni, blew eveything away. The mics capture all the shimmer of the piano sound without the harshness. The tone is full bodied and sounds more like a medium or large diaphram with the detail of a small doaphram. I don't think you could find a better mic for classical (or Jazz) piano. not for three times the price. I'm elated I've found them. My search is over. Feature: three interchangable capsules. The mic clips, stereo bar, wind shields, are adequate. Ease of Use: Fine. Quality: They feel sturdy. Value: couldn't do any better--they are worth a lot more as far as performance goes Manufacturer Support: Got someone on the phone right away. Had some Technical questions. The manual that came with the mic listed the noise spec as 18db. I was concerned that I had recieved a pair that was made from before 2006. SP redesigned these mics in 2006 and lowered the noise to 16db among other things. However I established that my mics are the newer ones. I didn't really think ZZounds would or need to send 3 year old microphones, but you know mistakes happen who knows. Anyway the newer ones are dark grey, not silver. The Tech guy said that SP is not always great at putting the right information with the right equipment. The Wow Factor: I like the size. They are small and sit well on lighter weight boom stands and have that cool little logo that looks like it belongs on designer jeans. Like the dark grey-blue color. Overall: serach is over for my particular application.

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Studio Projects C4 Mic Customer Review submitted March 9, 2005

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Musical Background: Engineer, Producer

Music Style: Rock, Electronic, Jazz

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Sound: The best pair of mics you can buy for stereo. The omni setting provides a full and ambient room sound for drums and if you're room isn't so great sounding, the cardoid pattern nicely puts you right next to the drums, making it seem like your head is between the snare drum and floor tom. I really like how you can hear all the nuances of the sound in these. You can hear the way the stick rubs the drum head, the air around it - these are just great. The price doesn't mean anything either - it outcompetes any of my neumanns for the drums, despite those being a lot more expensive. I wish these were available when I was building the studio, because I could have used the money to buy a lot of other things. Feature: There's a rolloff pad and switchable cardoid and omni patterns (for directional or nondirectional micing). Not much, but a good mic doesn't require much. There is no tube, but for this type of thing, you're better off without one. "Features" isn't really an important category to choose mics on. Quality: I just can't believe it, but these are well made. I keep thinking I'll find the catch, but this thing sounds good and it's made well. No shortcuts that I can detect. This is great news for small studio owners and bands. For the first time, they'll have the chance to record with optimum mics and be able to compete with large studios once they get a handle on mic placement and such. Value: You can't beat this. Manufacturer Support: I really trust this thing, but haven't had it for long enough to know how it fares over years. It's not really the kind of thing you'd take out of the studio, so I don't think there will be problems with it breaking. I've heard good things about the support from those who were delivered faulty mics. The Wow Factor: Equipment I use: Protools HD, 4 Focusrite Red Pre's, 1176 Compressor, 4 Aphex 204's, Behringer Eurodesk, 3 Studio Projects C1's, 2 pairs of C4's, Neumann U87, 2 M150's, stereo pair of TLM103, 4 KMR82I's, Rode NT4, 2 Shure KSM27's and a 44 and a bunch of 58's, Fender Twin Reverb and the solid state red knob one, Sherman Filterbank, Moogerfooger Low pass filter, Frostwave Blue Ringer, Resonator, Sonic Decimator, Effector13 Loop Matrix T4, Korg KP2, Vintage Rat, Big Muff and Double Muff, Holy Grail Reverb, Marshall Shredmaster, Schecter Guitar, Rickenbacker 325, Gibson LP, Roland KC-500, Minimoog Voyager, Korg MS20 and MS2000, Access Virus B and C, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer Epiano, Emu Vintage module and Virtuoso2000, Fender Jazz Bass, Slingerland Studio King Drum Set, Conn 6m Alto, Yamaha SuperAction-80 Tenor, Numark CDX, Technics Turntables with Kaoss Mixer, Akai MPC2000, and some standard plugins like Waves, Antares Autotune, etc. Overall: For drums, I suggest you buy these for the overheads, use a C1 for the snare drum, and find a good bass drum mic elsewhere. That's all you need for a professional sound. These mics do well for other applications as well, from what I hear, but I've yet to try that, except for the C1 on vocals, which sounded incredible.

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Studio Projects C4 Mic Customer Review submitted July 5, 2006

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Sound: these are great for overheads i didnt even have to mic the toms. very versatile sound you can use it for guitar too and from what i hear piano as well Feature: comes with the omni capsules or whatever they are and some mounts. the mounts work pretty well but you have to have a microphone stand with the skinnier attachment which i unfortunately dont Quality: i am worried the threads are going to strip somewhere down the line Value: i did a lot of research before i bought these i dont regret it. i havent used a lot of other mics but these record the best overheads ive recorded and from what people say these are supposed to be better for that and piano or even an ambience mic than any other mic at this price. i agree The Wow Factor: these things are bad ass. they are shiny silver and come in a case that looks like it has a bomb inside it and the sound clean crisp and clear Overall: i expect to use these for at least 2 years but most likely even more

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Studio Projects C4 Mic Customer Review submitted December 31, 2005

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Feature: odd with one switch for pad and eq, but i don't use them - i leave that to downstream gear. Quality: don't be fooled by the price. they have a good "feel" to them. Value: most excellent bang for the buck Manufacturer Support: i haven't needed it, but from what i hear and read they're pretty good Overall: i use them for concert recording, typically card's setup in NOS. they rock! shockmounts, t-bar, and case ain't much to brag about but well worth the price for a decent pair of card's & omni's. they fit nicely in AKG H100 mounts.

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Studio Projects C4 Mic Customer Review submitted March 4, 2009

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Overall: I've owned a supposed "matched pair" for a couple years. I don't think both mics have worked properly concurrently during the entire time I've owned them. The first 2 times I sent them back for repair, one of them sounded like a thunderstorm through my headphones. After the 2nd repair, one of them had so little gain that a Presonus MP20 preamp couldn't raise the gain to a usable level. Studio Projects customer support has been absolutely inept. Spend a little more and purchase a product from a real company. A Studio Projects engineer contacted me by phone last week and told me I'd receive shipping info. I've received nothing so far, and my 1st email regarding the 3rd problem was sent 10 days ago. Studio Projects responded only after I threatened to ignite the bad mic on Youtube. To be fair, I like the mic that works. Unfortunately, I paid for 2.

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"Not compatible with Zoom H-4" submitted September 27, 2007

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Sound: The sound captured by these microphones is quite good. BUT: This microphone system is NOT compatible with the Zoom H-4. When the microphone's are plugged in and powered up they begin to heterodyne--that is, they generate a cycling high pitched whistle--much like what you hear if you are trying to tune-in a distant A.M. station on the radio. I have tried two sets of these mic's with my H-4 with the same result. Subsequent to discovering the problem with the C-4's, I did test the H-4 with other mic's (also condenser) and did not have a problem. Feature: Features of the mics are really good for this price range. Quality: I suspect that these mic's are good mics--they seem to be well built. They just do not work with my recording device. Manufacturer Support: These microphones are currently returned to the manufacturer who claims they will be tested and then modified to work with the Zoom. This seems like a lot of hassle. The only positive is that at least they seem to be willing to try to make the product functional for me.

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