Audio Technica Digital reference mics...

[Monkeyfist]

I bought three of these with monster cables for like 80$ but I was just wondering if there was a general concensus on they're use and quality.

[thunderboy]

Well, it sounds like you got some Monster cables with some cheap mics thrown in.
GC sells "Digital Reference" foam earplugs - the term is a meaningless marketing tool.
How do they sound to you?

jt

[ToddP]

FWIW-- "Digital Reference" is the Guitar Center private label brand built by Audio Technica. They are not different than the "Pro Series" by AT that everyone else sells. I am sure lots of people can comment on those!

[Monkeyfist]

They sound alright, a little difficult to at thickness to them though. That may just be me though. I do dig the monster cables. I am using one of them to mic my snare/hi-hats now, since I blew the diaphram on my 57. It's a quick fix for a short time.

[djslayerissick]

you blew a 57??!?!? how??! i hoping it was some kind of attempt to record an atomic explosion of some sort or experimental military sound bullet technology.

... or maybe it just got poked by something through the grill.

[Monkeyfist]

I had it set in between my snare and Hats, I started playing last week and I got no signal, it had been there for a long time and I never had any problems with it. Then Tuesday before last I got nothing but high squeaks and weird pops. I opened up the mic and I am not entirely sure what I was looking at. But it had a pretty good run through it. I don't know what caused it, but it might have been poked through the grill somehow, but I can't think of anything that would have gotten through.

[Slider]

that's weird...usually you can hammer nails with a 57 then put it on a guitar cab.

[Monkeyfist]

Ist it possible that it may have suffered from a power surge? We do leave a good portion of our equiptment on, but 0 volume. I don't know what it was that happened but I would like to prevent it in the future if I can.

[Professor]

Send the microphone back to Shure and ask them to replace it - they just might do it, especially if you mention that you purchased AT mics to 'get you through the down time'. As for the Digital Reference series, that is a private label of a couple of different AT models, primarily the 'Midnight Blue' series and a few Pro Series models (the wireless models). Some audio companies will create special 'private label products' for stores that are willing to buy entire production runs of the products, and the stores benefit by having a product that is "exclusive" and cannot be shopped around for lower prices. I used to sell a fair amount of Midnight Blue mics when I sold Pro Audio, and we sent the mics out as part of our rental fleet all the time. They didn't seem to bad in feel & build quality and the sound on most of the models was usable though nothing spectacular. I'd feel comfortable using most of them for live sound, and wouldn't overlook them for recording, though I wouldn't seek them out specifically unless I wanted AT build quality at the ridiculously low prices those run. Let's face it, you bought three microphones for under $100 and they are all brand new. Move them around a bit until you find the instrument that they really flatter and now you have three very useful mics for under $100. Let us know what models you bought and where they sound good.

-Jeremy

[Monkeyfist]

I'll mail in the dead mic to Shure. Is there anything I should specifically tell them, or should I just give them the short and sweet? I bought 4 of them new and I've only had them for about a year and a half. So it should have lasted a lot longer than it had. As for the AT's I have, they aren't to bad for ambients, they pic up my snare and hats alright. I haven't really tried them on much else. I am happy that I got em', plus the cables. If I get more out of them I'll definitely let you all know. I'll get the model and stuff too. Thanks for the help.