Studio Projects C1/C3

[SaneMan]

I'm thinking about buying one of these, primarily for vocals(all sorts, from hip-hop to screaming metal), but also for some random apps. such as mono room mic for drums, acoustic gtr, and whatever else I come across. Unfortunately I've never heard one, so I was wondering if anyone would share their experiences/thoughts about them.

And is it worth it to spend the extra cash on the C3? From what I gather, they're the same mic, with the exception of switchable polar patterns on the C3, which would be nice, but not necessary for vox. If thats the only difference I might just get the C1.

[bobg (homestudioguy)]

is it worth it to spend the extra cash on the C3?

I had a C3, sold it and wish I didnt.
For the extra $70 I think its worth getting the figure 8 and omni

[digitaldrummer]

I've got the C3. the multi-pattern is nice for other stuff--guitars, room mics, etc. I don't have a C1 so cannot directly compare, but I've heard that they do not sound exactly alike. Female vocals on the C3 were incredible (and I even used an old ART DPS pre). Male vocals (only my own so far) are pretty good but still experimenting with pre's. Drum room mic was pretty good too. anyway, I'd go for the C3.


Mike

[PeterAuslan]

I did compare the C1 to a U87 and the 87 was a bit better in that its top end was a smoother but if you can't afford an 87 the C1 can get you some good results.

[Barry Jive]

Hey guys,

I recorded 9/10 songs on my LP using only the C1 and an SM-57, so I have alot of material if you're interested. We used the 57 almost exclusively on snare drums and electric guitars. Here are some examples-

http://www.cataldomusic.com/weddingcake.mp3 -Everything except the drums which were recorded with a 57 on the snare and the C1 2 feet high about 6 feet away.

http://www.cataldomusic.com/lipsanddollars.mp3 -Everything except the electric guitars, which used a 57 on the grill and a C1 10 feet away as a room mic. I think the cello on this, particularly at the end, came out really nice.

http://www.cataldomusic.com/parts.mp3 -Everything except the slide guitar. I include this so you can hear it on tamborine, handclaps, and egg shaker.

http://www.cataldomusic.com/emptybranches.mp3 -Everything except the handclaps (I ripped them out of a bootleg live recording) and organ (synth). You can hear it on a weird source here, a grand piano with the strings muted by hand inside the piano. I remember we tracked with a 57 somewhere near the top strings, but can't remember if it ended up in the mix. It's definitely mostly the C1 though.

I hope you find this helpful. I can provide more links if you're interested,

-Eric

PS: May I add, these were all expertly mixed by our own Larry Crane who was super nice and did a great job for not very much money. Thanks Larry!

[tsw]

Hey guys,

I recorded 9/10 songs on my LP using only the C1 and an SM-57, so I have alot of material if you're interested. We used the 57 almost exclusively on snare drums and electric guitars. Here are some examples-

http://www.cataldomusic.com/weddingcake.mp3 -Everything except the drums which were recorded with a 57 on the snare and the C1 2 feet high about 6 feet away.

http://www.cataldomusic.com/lipsanddollars.mp3 -Everything except the electric guitars, which used a 57 on the grill and a C1 10 feet away as a room mic. I think the cello on this, particularly at the end, came out really nice.

http://www.cataldomusic.com/parts.mp3 -Everything except the slide guitar. I include this so you can hear it on tamborine, handclaps, and egg shaker.

http://www.cataldomusic.com/emptybranches.mp3 -Everything except the handclaps (I ripped them out of a bootleg live recording) and organ (synth). You can hear it on a weird source here, a grand piano with the strings muted by hand inside the piano. I remember we tracked with a 57 somewhere near the top strings, but can't remember if it ended up in the mix. It's definitely mostly the C1 though.

I hope you find this helpful. I can provide more links if you're interested,

-Eric

PS: May I add, these were all expertly mixed by our own Larry Crane who was super nice and did a great job for not very much money. Thanks Larry!

Nice work! These sound great. You used the C1 on all the vocals? What was the pre for vox? Any compression? Was the mixing pretty straightforward?

Also wondering if you used the HP filter on vox.

[Barry Jive]

Thanks! Yup, we used the C1 on all the vocals. The pres were just the mediocre pres that came with the M-Audio Firewire 410 we recorded on. We didn't track with compression and I forget what Larry used at the studio. My rough mixes sounded ok before coming in, and we mixed the whole record in 1.5 days, so it was a very streamlined process. I thought the SP had a low cut? In any case we didn't use it.

Yeah, we used really cheap equipment. It also meant we could focus almost entirely on the music, as there was rarely a question of what mic we were going to use .

[SaneMan]

Thanks a lot for the responses! Extra thanks to Barry for posting some stuff I can listen to. Can't right now since I'm at work, but Im looking forward to hearing this stuff. I'm thinking I'll just go with the C3, I don't have any mics with variable patterns right now, so it'd be fun to have one to experiment with

[SaneMan]

Wow, I finally got to listen to the audio files and I'm sold. I'm definately getting one, now I'm just wondering the sound difference between the C1 & C3. Anyone have any audio of a C3 in action? I really like the idea of the variable patterns, but am now sold on the C1. Also, anyone try one of these on heavier vocals(loud, screaming stuff)?

[Brett Siler]

I recorded a hardcore band and used a Studio Project C1 on the vocals. Give it a listen

http://www.myspace.com/holdyourground