----------------------------------- D. M. Gremlin Wed Oct 15, 2003 4:23 am MXL 603S vs Neumann KM84 on an acoustic guitar ----------------------------------- Here we go. I didn't do these tests, so I don't have any photos. These were done at Marshall Electronics. The two mics in question are the [url=http://www.dm-gremlin.com/sales/product_info.php?cPath=22_49&products_id=250]MXL 603S and the [url=http://www.dm-gremlin.com/sales/product_info.php?cPath=22_49&products_id=483] Neumann KM-84. (Yes, I know the link for the KM-84 goes to the 'KM-184' but the 184 is considered to be the successor to the KM-84) I've encoded them at 192kbps .mp3 format. The original .wav files are a little over 4 megabytes each, and if there is enough interest I'll post those as well for you with high speed connections to download. [url=www.dm-gremlin.com/music/tests/1-603S.mp3]MXL 603S --- [url=www.dm-gremlin.com/music/tests/2-KM84.mp3]Neumann KM84 I'm going to have to listen to this a few more times. On my first listen through, my instincts were 'Hmm, I think the Neumann sounds better' but after a few more listen throughs I'm not so sure. They're obviously different mics. There's a certain brightness about the 603S that the KM84 doesn't have, but the bass frequencies of the KM84 to my ears seem a little better controlled and less boomy. In my personal experience as an engineer, it seems that it is easier to boost the high frequencies than it is to tame boomy bass frequencies, especially when it comes to acoustic guitars, though either can be done. This one is actually kind of a tough call. Now that I've listened to the clips a couple dozen more times, it seems that the guiitar melody stands out better with the 603S than with the KM84 though as far as overall warmth goes I'd have to give the advantage to the KM84. In conclusion, I can't really say which one is 'better' than the other. It seems the two mics look similar and are of similar size but are quite different from one another. One obvious difference is price - the Neumann costs about $600 more than the 603S. Feel free to post your opinions, I'd love to hear them.