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A new toy


Lars68

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I have been extremely impressed with the sound quality our forum friend Buc gets with his Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina mic. So when I recently found its sister mic, called Myrtle, used and at a very good price from England (favorable exchange rate to Sweden, and no customs fees - at least until Brexit is finalized), I jumped on it.

 

I had read up on the Edwina mic after hearing its very natural tone in several of Buc's great songs. The Myrtle is a very close relative to Buc's Edwina mic, and according to Ear Trumpet Labs, the two mics are virtually identical, although the Myrtle is supposedly a little better suited for somewhat longer distances.

 

I got the mic a couple of weeks ago and between work, family and other responsibilities, I have only found time to use it on two test recordings.

Here is the first recording, a cover of a song by The Smiths. Its a one track recording of guitar and vocals at the same time with the mic placed about three feet out, at about chest height, halfway between top of guitar and mouth. The guitar is played with bare fingers, no pick. The little clicking sound is from one of my slightly messed up finger nails [biggrin]

 

The second track is a work in progress song of my own, which I also posted in another thread a couple of days ago. It's a two track recording, vocals on one track and guitar on the other. Mic is closer on this one, perhaps two feet out for both guitar and voice.

https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/to-sunlit-skies-1

 

Guitar on both tracks is a Martin D-28 (sorry ’bout that) with nickel strings. I have added a touch of reverb, and slight bass roll-off, nothing else. It's recorded on my iPad into the Garageband app, with an Apogee One soundcard.

 

As is the norm for me, my performances leave a lot to be desired in both cases, but I think the sound quality is superb for simple home recordings. The real advantage for me, apart from sound, is the forgiving nature of this mic. I just put it up in front of me and sing and play. It sound good with minimum effort. With my previous mic I had to fiddle around with placement, moving the mic all over the place, until I found something I was happy with. Not with this mic, it sound great right away. That's a big deal for me when time is of the essence. So if you are like me and would like a hassle free, good sounding mic, an Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina/Myrtle is worth a listen. Here is my mic:

http://www.eartrumpetlabs.com/products/microphones/myrtle

 

By the way, its so cool looking I asked my wife if I could put it up in the living room. Let's just say we're not quite there yet... [confused]

 

Lars

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To my "Not-Highly Tuned" ears that sounded sweet, I think you found a winner Lars

 

Yes, I think so too. The ess-sounds could be ever so slightly less pronounced perhaps, but they are much, much less annoying now, compared to my old mic where I used a pop-screen in front and had to sing slithly off-center to minimize them.

 

Lars

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Sweet! My band uses an ETL Josephine. I love it for the simplicity of the one mic approach and the great sound. I usually have the board (QSC Touchmix) and mic set up at home. When I have the house to myself for a while I pull out a speaker (RCF HD 32-A) and do some recording & playback. Had this set up last weekend, and I was giddy at the quality of the sound - not my playing or singing, just the audio quality - particularly for the money spent. Enjoy!

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Sweet! My band uses an ETL Josephine. I love it for the simplicity of the one mic approach and the great sound. I usually have the board (QSC Touchmix) and mic set up at home. When I have the house to myself for a while I pull out a speaker (RCF HD 32-A) and do some recording & playback. Had this set up last weekend, and I was giddy at the quality of the sound - not my playing or singing, just the audio quality - particularly for the money spent. Enjoy!

 

I agree, the quality of sound when using it as a single mic is terrific. Unfortunately, I never manage to pull a song off from start to finish. The audio quality of this thing far surpasses my abilities, but it's better to have a crappy performance saved for posterity in hi-fidelity [biggrin]

 

Lars

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Anyone who's fighting brittle tones in that high-mid range should look at the "View Product Info with Polar Pattern & frequency plot" link for the pee-dee-eff file and scroll down to see the frequency range. There are sizable dips centered at 3.2kHz and 6.3kHz (approx). The over all rise that the two dips come out of right there would be huge for me. The first one, especially.

 

The other thing of interest is the amount of control one can have over the low frequency shelf just by moving from 20-inches away to 6-inches away. That difference is enough to help the overall tone go from being muddy to bright as well as going the other way to go from piecing sharp to lush and rich. It does not take much down there to make a big difference. It's rare to see what might be a proximity effect represented in a frequency chart, if that is indeed what is being represented.

 

In the end, after listening to Lars' recordings done with this mic, I am seriously considering one.

 

Lars, I hope you post one done from a Gibson soom. [biggrin]

 

And nice score, btw.

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Like the sound of these a lot

And the looks. , very cool

 

But they’re a thousand quid !!!

 

Maybe one day

 

Why so expensive at your end? Exchange rates, custom fees?

I found mine used from a U.K. online shop at about $600 with shipping and all fees included, which is somewhat reasonable at least.

 

It was the look in combination with the mellow sound that got me interested in these mics. Now that I've used it a bit, I find it extremely suitable for what I try to do, which is acoustic stuff with perhaps one or two additional instruments. Bass is easy to control just by moving the mic a little further out, and piercing treble is not an issue. It's extremely forgiving.

 

For me, lacking much of the natural musical talent that is so obvious around this forum, gear in various shapes and forms have always been a very big part of the hobby for me. So a mic as unique as this one will be a center piece from now on in my little music room. It's a very useful tool, but also a little piece of art, which I'm sure is excatly what the company behind it aims for. I wish more manufacturers would have that approach.

 

Lars

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Like the sound of these a lot

And the looks. , very cool

 

But they’re a thousand quid !!!

 

Maybe one day

 

What's a quid ?

 

Hey, I think I have some Peso's I could sell you.....

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Hey, Lars. I sincerely like the sound of that. Couldn't get the 2nd link to play, but the problem might be on my end. But, that first song was really good. You are truly using your voice more and more. You're stretching your range, paying attention to your breathing. I admire your dedication. [thumbup] [thumbup]

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Hey, Lars. I sincerely like the sound of that. Couldn't get the 2nd link to play, but the problem might be on my end. But, that first song was really good. You are truly using your voice more and more. You're stretching your range, paying attention to your breathing. I admire your dedication. [thumbup] [thumbup]

 

I appreciare the feedback, Larry. I'm learning...although very slowly...

 

I cleaned up my Soundcloud page and forgot that the second song above was linked here. I wasn't happy with the singing, and had replaced it with a better one. The new one is now here:

 

https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/to-sunlit-skies-1

 

It is recorded the same way as the original attempt. Two seperate tracks, one guitar, one voice. Both on the Myrtle mic, with minimal processing.

 

Lars

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"Edwina" will be here in a couple of days. Similar. Not as nice looking, but has a reduced bottom-end increase closer up and a little bit less of a 3.2kHz dip. Still more high-mid range reduction than anyone else I know of in that price range. It should be a good fit for my small "Home-Project Studio" room. Thanks for turning me on to them, Lars. [thumbup]

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"Edwina" will be here in a couple of days. Similar. Not as nice looking, but has a reduced bottom-end increase closer up and a little bit less of a 3.2kHz dip. Still more high-mid range reduction than anyone else I know of in that price range. It should be a good fit for my small "Home-Project Studio" room. Thanks for turning me on to them, Lars. [thumbup]

 

Sweet! Yes, the Edwina was my first choice too, but when I found the Myrtle used, the price was in its favor. Gives us some tests and opinions on the new mic when you have it.

 

Lars

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Sweet! Yes, the Edwina was my first choice too, but when I found the Myrtle used, the price was in its favor. Gives us some tests and opinions on the new mic when you have it.

 

Lars

I don't know if it's simply a case of getting a good quality mic or if it's THIS mic, but I'm thrilled with it. I've been hunting this acoustic tone since I started doing the home recording thing.

 

The other impressive thing is the room noise handling once I start playing. Really impressive, actually.

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I don't know if it's simply a case of getting a good quality mic or if it's THIS mic, but I'm thrilled with it. I've been hunting this acoustic tone since I started doing the home recording thing.

 

The other impressive thing is the room noise handling once I start playing. Really impressive, actually.

 

Glad I could help spend your money! [biggrin]

 

Yes these mics are really good for home recordings. I can now record with the kids playing in the house, and the laundry machine going in the background.

 

Lars

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Glad I could help spend your money! [biggrin]

 

Yes these mics are really good for home recordings. I can now record with the kids playing in the house, and the laundry machine going in the background.

 

Lars

I've got the angle and distance down. I re-tested my best older mice (Rodes NT1) with the same set-up. It reminded me of that Edwina does lack Low-end. Not much of a big deal for most dense studio stuff,

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Glad I could help spend your money! [biggrin]

 

Yes these mics are really good for home recordings. I can now record with the kids playing in the house, and the laundry machine going in the background.

 

Lars

 

Do you mean your ETL doesn't pick up those sounds? I find that mine picks up everything! I can easily hear, for example, the clothes dryer running in the other end of the house. Doesn't matter because my recording is for practice purposes, but I am curious.

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Do you mean your ETL doesn't pick up those sounds? I find that mine picks up everything! I can easily hear, for example, the clothes dryer running in the other end of the house. Doesn't matter because my recording is for practice purposes, but I am curious.

 

The mic is not nearly as sensitive as the condensor I used before. With the other mic everything around me had to be dead quiet. Now there can be some noice going on in other parts of the house, but my voice + guitar will cover them up much better. I don't know how or what that translates to in terms of technical specifications, but it is very apparent to me when using the mic. The Myrtle is designed mainly to be used as a single stage live mic for small acoustic groups so it makes sense that it is not so sensitive, in order to avoid feedback on stage. All of this is of course in comparison to my previous mic, an Aston Origin condensor.

 

Lars

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The mic is not nearly as sensitive as the condensor I used before. With the other mic everything around me had to be dead quiet. Now there can be some noice going on in other parts of the house, but my voice + guitar will cover them up much better. I don't know how or what that translates to in terms of technical specifications, but it is very apparent to me when using the mic. The Myrtle is designed mainly to be used as a single stage live mic for small acoustic groups so it makes sense that it is not so sensitive, in order to avoid feedback on stage. All of this is of course in comparison to my previous mic, an Aston Origin condensor.

 

Lars

 

Gotcha, thanks for responding.

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Do you mean your ETL doesn't pick up those sounds? I find that mine picks up everything! I can easily hear, for example, the clothes dryer running in the other end of the house. Doesn't matter because my recording is for practice purposes, but I am curious.

gfa, which ETL do you have?

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Sweet! My band uses an ETL Josephine. I love it for the simplicity of the one mic approach and the great sound. I usually have the board (QSC Touchmix) and mic set up at home. When I have the house to myself for a while I pull out a speaker (RCF HD 32-A) and do some recording & playback. Had this set up last weekend, and I was giddy at the quality of the sound - not my playing or singing, just the audio quality - particularly for the money spent. Enjoy!

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