The mod has a frequency response that stays consistent throughout the dynamic range. It’s got better quality midrange information and responds to EQ really well. Compared to the stock mic, Shannon’s mod is much smoother with more body and character. The stock CV4 could be a little “bitey” in the 2–3 kHz range, but the mod relieves this. Importantly, the “zing” is gone. Some describe the modded CV4 as “warm, vintage, and creamy.” While this all rings true, I would simply say that vocals I recorded through this mic sound “finished.” While no one will claim that the modded CV4 is a copy of any vintage mic, Shannon’s inspiration for its sound <strong>com</strong>es from Jeffrey Steiger’s (CAPI) beautiful Ela M 251. In my opinion, this mod is worth the price of admission, because it will get you in the same league as the über-expensive vintage mic superstars that few of us will ever be able to afford. Shannon will tell you, that’s been his mission all along. So go out and pick up a new (or used) Miktek CV4 (or actually, any mic), and give MicRehab a buzz. He will chat with you about what you’re after and make sure that you’re happy with what you get. CV4 stock versus mod sound samples can be found on RealGearOnline.<strong>com</strong>, and as other forum members have agreed, the differences are not subtle. If you have questions, Shannon Rhoades is happy to answer your emails. (Modification of customer’s mic $800; www.micrehab.<strong>com</strong>) –Adam Monk Ehrlund Microphones Ehrlund EAP Acoustic Pickup System When I record acoustic guitars, I use a mic. A real one. Mainly mono, but sometimes stereo — especially if it’s a one-voice, one-guitar recording — but definitely a mic; no pickup transducers for me thank you. Why? Because I don’t like the quack attack — the poultry-like sound emissions that emanate from acoustic pickups, especially the under-the-saddle kind. I don’t want that sound on a recording track. For live recordings, sure, it’s convenient, the sound is predictable, and it’s one less thing for the FOH guys to fiddle with, one less live mic on stage. Besides, the acoustic guitar sound is usually buried by every other instrument in the band anyway. If it’s a singersongwriter situation — one vocal and one guitar — I’m still going to use a transducer because the mic sound on acoustic instruments isn’t always practical in the onstage environment. But what if you could get both? What if you could get the pure mic sound along with the freedom and convenience of an acoustic pickup? That’s what Ehrlund Microphones is proposing with its EAP acoustic pickup system. The system includes a triangular shaped transducer that’s placed on the acoustic instrument — guitar, mandolin, standup bass, whatever — using adhesive paste and then connected to the EAP preamp. That preamp feeds from a TRS cable to a PA, acoustic amp, or recording input — and voila. You’ve got the best of both worlds. I gave it a try the other night on a re<strong>com</strong>mendation from a friend. He knows I’m big on recording acoustic singer-songwriters, and I know that almost all of them prefer to play and sing at the same time. Could the Ehrlund be the answer? I set up a test using my Collings C10 and played a finger-picked selection, a strummed piece, and some picked solo notes. I <strong>com</strong>pared that to my L.R. Baggs Element, an amazing pickup that always gets rave reviews when I play live. Here’s what I heard. It was easier for me to get a good sound fast from the Baggs, which is no surprise since I’m familiar with it. But it definitely had the quackiness to the pick attack I like to avoid on recordings. With the Ehrlund pickup, it took me a much longer time to find a good sound. I tried it above the sound hole around the 12th fret and hated what I heard. I tried a few more positions. Some were better, some were worse. But then I put the transducer down around the lower bout, diagonal from the saddle, and got a great sound. A pure sound. A mic’ed sound. No sign of quack, not even when I strummed the guitar or picked it hard. Impressive. And as promised, when I removed the transducer from my Collings, the adhesive paste (think putty) didn’t leave any marks on the guitar. When I first heard about this pickup, I thought it would be great for live performances. It would, but I doubt it’s practical for most people — perhaps a classical guitarist, or a singer-songwriter in a controlled environment. But I think this pickup would work great in a recording environment, especially for singer-songwriters who want to sing and play at the same time. I tried that myself, and while I could barely hear my voice on the guitar track, it was minimal, likely due to the construction of the pickup, which is linear as opposed to omnidirectional. In other words, the part that presses against the guitar picks up sound, but the opposite end does not. It’s pricey and quirky (did I mention the putty?), so it won’t be for everyone, but singer-songwriters and recordists who want to bolster the sound in a low-profile way will like this innovative device. The preamp features 1/4’’ I/O, volume control, and a polarity switch to help eliminate feedback. A high-to-low switch adjusts the input signal, as the low level is re<strong>com</strong>mended for acoustic bass. The preamp is powered by an included 9V battery. ($599 street; www.ehrlund.se) –Mike Jasper EVE AUDIO SC205 2-way monitor TS107 subwoofer As someone who has been using ADAM monitors fairly religiously for the past seven years or so, I became quite interested when I heard that the former CEO of ADAM Audio had started a new speaker <strong>com</strong>pany, called EVE Audio. It turns out that the ADAM and EVE speaker lines have pretty much one thing in <strong>com</strong>mon — pleateddiaphragm tweeters based on Dr. Oskar Heil’s Air Motion Transformer — but the similarities seem to stop there. Roland Stenz, the aforementioned CEO, is apparently on a mission to perfect monitor design. As such, the EVE line is a departure from ADAM, and it’s full of innovations intended to contribute flatter, clearer monitoring to the average engineer’s meter bridge or desktop. The first such innovation worth mentioning is that all control of the speaker’s filtering, equalization, and volume is ac<strong>com</strong>plished via DSP. Yes, that D in there is for Digital, so it means that all the audio <strong>com</strong>ing out of the speakers has gone through an extra A/D stage after leaving your mixing desk or converters. I’m happy to report that I didn’t realize this until I had already been <strong>joaoveludo@gmail</strong>.<strong>com</strong> 66/Tape Op#103/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 68) using the SC205 monitors for a while, so I didn’t approach them with an analog-only bias. This helped
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