AT U857QI
Hi,
I just bought an Audio-Technica AT U857QI. It's very dark
to the point that I wonder if something is wrong with it.
What's a fair test to evaluate the mic?
do you have any other mic that you could connect
in place of the U857 in order to check whether
anything is wrong with the preamp or whatever
device the mic is connected to?
Actually, I have an Audio-Technica AT873R here.
That's a handheld mic, but it uses a UE-capsule
as a transducer element like the U857Q.
I would not consider the AT U873R to sound surprisingly
unexpected in any way. As opposed to the U857Q, the U873R
uses a hypercardioid capsule, but according to the specs
the on-axis frequency response of the UE-H capsule should
not drastically differ from that of a UE-C (as built into
the AT U857).
Did you buy the AT U857Q new from a dealer? If so, you
could tell him about your concerns and let him check the mic.
If not and you really want to use the mic, there would be
the (final) option to buy a UE-C capsule and replace the
one of the mic you already have. I see that UE-capsules
can be bought off EBay for relatively manageable money,
e.g. article number 333095212263:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Audio-Technica-UE-C-Cardioid-Mic-Element-for-U851-U853-U857-U873R-U891-Black-/333095212263
It sounds great there. Are they EQ'ing the hell out of it?
I don't think so. These (relatively) small-capsule
condenser mics may have their tonal drawbacks, but
I would not expect them to sound in a considerably
surprising or unexpected way without EQ, especially
not in such a way that one would suspect a malfunction.
Of course, your impression may be different depending
on what you consider as dull or dark.
All the best,
Dieter
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