Heil PR-40

frugalpole · Post by **frugalpole** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:27 pm

bump.

has anyone been able to comp 2 of the same models? any info on the consistency of the mics?

rockstudio · Post by **rockstudio** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:40 am

Ok, I finallu uploaded my comparison recordings. These were done using all three PR series mics and an SM 57. download these links and check them back to back, starting with the PR40, then PR 30... and so on. the mics were all placed very close together in a normal fashion.

let the games begin....

http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/misirlou-PR40.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/misirlou-PR30.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/misirlou-PR20.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/misirlou-SM57.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/jam-PR40.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/jam-PR30.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/jam-PR20.mp3
http://www.rockstudio.com/heiltest/jam-SM57.mp3

I have a new recording of a complete song using all heil mics, and for comparison the whole song recorded simultaneously using standard mics. I will try to get that up tomorrow.
Enjoy!

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:46 am

i really liked the pr30 on the acoustic stuff (but barely more than the 40), and the pr40 for the electric. wasn't too fond of the 20 on either. i thought the 57 beat it. what was the rest of the signal chain?

thanks for posting the clips. i'd love to hear the 30 and 40 on bass cab/kick drum duties.

-ryan

rockstudio · Post by **rockstudio** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:36 am

The mics were recorded straight through to the hard disk, then mixed straight to stereo. The only effects were on the 2 mixes, they all had a little light mastering effects, all exactly the same settings, exactly the same everything.

I can throw together a few more samples for you to check out, but I am in sessions all day. Maybe later tonight.

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:34 am

I'm gonna go with the PR-40 being my fav on Acoustic and electric. The PR-30 was not that much different but maybe a touch less sparkle and possibly a volume difference..or is it that this mic sounds smaller than the Pr-40.

wasn't too fond of the 20 on either. i thought the 57 beat it.

I agree with the above as well, but the 57 didn't win by much. I liked what the 57 did to the high end on acoustic better than the PR 20, but the PR 20 makes the low end less crappy.

frugalpole · Post by **frugalpole** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:49 pm

cool. thanks for that. i've got a 40 coming next week. couldn't pass by w/ the price.

markmeat · Post by **markmeat** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:56 pm

Just got a PR-40 today from eBay... brand new in sealed box ran me $274 shipped... I've got a friend coming later to do acoustic stuff so I tried it out on my two "acoustic" guitars ("acoustic" because these barely register as "guitars" in the first place)... I have a Fender Telecoustic electric/acoustic that I use on my own stuff and it always sounds like it looks... thin and plasticy (new word?)... the PR-40 makes it sound like an actual cheap acoustic guitar (by no means a $2000+ Martin or anything), but it does add some lows (or rather accentuate) that my other mics miss on this thing... I also have a cheap (like $60) Encore acoustic... it's also transformed it into a very usable guitar... sounds like tits on my voice, too... can't wait to try this out on my buddy later...

MEAT

syrupcore · Post by **syrupcore** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:53 pm

thanks for posting these rock studio.

I'm a little confused about what I'm listening to. Was all that stuff being played at once (claps and two guitars....) or were they separately tracked?

Can you tell us a little more about the position of the mics on the acoustic guitar? I'm not trying to be doofy (or greedy with your time) but 5 inches can make a big difference on the way an acoustic recording sounds. If you had them all close to each other but one was close to the sound hole and the other was 6 inches further down....

I kinda dug the sound of the 30 for the most part.

rockstudio · Post by **rockstudio** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:54 pm

I'm a little confused about what I'm listening to. Was all that stuff being played at once (claps and two guitars....) or were they separately tracked?

Yes, Everything was overdubbed using all four mics at the same time. I recorded the guitar, Lead guitar, Stereo handclaps, and a live percussion section. I believe I used all of my 24 tracks.

Can you tell us a little more about the position of the mics on the acoustic guitar? I'm not trying to be doofy (or greedy with your time) but 5 inches can make a big difference on the way an acoustic recording sounds. If you had them all close to each other but one was close to the sound hole and the other was 6 inches further down....

The mics were as close together as possible (probably around a 3" square). In relation to the instrument, I brought the mic array a little further away than normal- to minimize tonal differences between mic positions.

I will post the other test mp3s for you guys in the next day or two. I am really doing alot of work in my studio this month. Peace out,
Anthony

rockstudio · Post by **rockstudio** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:19 am

Here is the second Heil PR series test. You can download this whole folder at once with all of the mp3s inside.

Scenario: I recorded a buddy of mine playing a little song starting with drums, then guitar and bass. Throughout the test I used two mics on each source, one standard mic and one Heil PR series in its recommended application. The mics were as close together as possible.

Kick drum- Heil PR40 & Beta 52.
Snare- PR20 & SM57.
Overhead- PR30 & SE 1.
Hi Hat (overdub)- PR20 & SM57
Bass Cabinet- PR40 & Beta 52.
Guitar Cabinet- PR30 & SM57.

The signal paths were identical, same console pre-amps with no EQ. I put a little light mastering effects on the 2 mix.

Here goes Heil test 2

Kick drum notes: the kick drum that I was using had a fairly small hole, so i placed both mics on the outer rim of the resonant head towards the bottom on the floor tom side. There is a huge difference in rejection between the 52 and PR40, and the entire Heil mic version of the song suffers because of the amount of bleed into the kick mic. Had the mic been placed inside the drum, the results would have been better. However, for real-world applications, this was a good test to run for practical knowledge of the PR40 (& beta 52). For this reason I included a track called "Drum jam" that features the PR20 on snare and PR40 inside the kick drum.

Cheers.

frugalpole · Post by **frugalpole** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:15 pm

rockstudio wrote:I am really doing alot of work in my studio this month. Peace out,
Anthony

anthony, thanks. glad you're busy!

syrupcore · Post by **syrupcore** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:26 pm

frugalpole wrote:
rockstudio wrote:I am really doing alot of work in my studio this month. Peace out,
Anthony
anthony, thanks. glad you're busy!

word. thanks a lot for taking the time!

rockstudio · Post by **rockstudio** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:22 am

no problem. I hope the tests come in handy. I can't really decide if I like them or not. I think I do, but on non conventional applications.

Message Board

Heil PR-40

bump

Who is online