Did You GUESS Right? The BIG Reveal!

[@Producelikeapro]

Did you guess which mic was which? Earlier this week Matt Weiss flew to Miami to shoot out an original 251 and some clones, he left us all to guess which was which!

[@soundman1402]

I definitely called the Sphere! It sounds nothing like a 251.

[@Producelikeapro]

@@soundman1402 it might be that it sounds like the one that was modelled! A huge thing I've noticed with all vintage mics is their inconsistency from one to another. WE lined up 6 U47's and they couldn;t have sounded more different to each other, even with the same tube/valve and similar years

[@soundman1402]

@@Producelikeapro possibly. But when I heard it in the shootout, I immediately thought, "this one's solid state." It had a much more modern sound than the rest of this group, with brighter top end and a bit of a mid scoop. In other shootouts of 251s vs modeling mics, I was able to pick out the modelers consistently (the Sphere and the Slate mic). One of the hallmarks of a 251, to me, is its impeccable clarity and smooth top end. The modelers sounded overly bright and a little harsh to me.

[@ramonfelizjr]

I have 2 rights the # 3 Bock and the Sphere Mic #5 . And I knew because you can make the Sohere sound like the Bock 251 using the mod in combination of 2 mics .

[@NoeAnton]

You know Warm Audio is doing something right when someone as amazing and talented as Matt Weiss confuses their mic with a Vintage Telefunken. Great video!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvellous! Thanks for sharing!

[@chrisdover8507]

I believe it’s more to do with the order in which he listened and preconceived notions. But that said, the Warm is no slouch here

[@NoeAnton]

@@chrisdover8507 order? why the order?

[@Fl4ppers]

The quality control isnt there. He might get a good one, others might get a bad one. There are videos of studio engineers trouncing this mic all over YT.

[@ononearts]

@@Fl4ppersInteresting. I did a search and couldn’t find even ONE review trashing the WA 251. Do you have one of these mics? Please post links to sources instead of trying to qualify your opinion, however you came to it, by saying others unknown agree with you, or you with them, if you have no direct experience with it yourself.

[@simonquigley9054]

I recently won a WA-251 off ebay, I always heard mixed reviews about them. Very pleased it got a fair crack. What a great mic review!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@kevinastokley1]

I have one and it's incredible for the price.

[@drewstephenson]

My favourite aspect of this video is just how much Matt is digging the performances. :¬)

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha yes! Indeed

[@Mister_Jahn]

I liked 1 the best, excellent. 4 was similar on the high end but more brittle. All are excellent tools.

[@FransJCMartins]

I had: Mic comp Mic 1 - EVO Mic 2 - Els M 251 Mic 3 - Bock 251 Mic 4 - WA 251 All correct! Messed up on the mysterious 5th one…

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvellous! Thanks for sharing!

[@polymerizedrecords]

My guesses were: 1: Bock 2: ELAM 3: Circle Audio 4: Wa 251 Had the Bock and the Circle switched. Knew Circle would be a killer for the price, but kudos to Bock for his take on the 251, as that was by far my favorite. Really captured the 251 character while smoothing some of the harshness. The Warm was a given and the one I was sure about.

[@compucorder64]

Similar guesses, and read to mine, except had the ELAM and Circle switched. Agree the Warm was more sure was the least expensive, least impressive. And the Bock stood out as the best to me.

[@polymerizedrecords]

@@compucorder64 now we just gotta find 6k to get an UA Bock 😂 The Circle Audio Evo felt very impressive for under 2k tho!

[@aaronanderson9141]

Nice comparison, thanks! I’d also love to see these compared with the new ADK Z2 mics that Bock collaborated on. They have a 251 model that I’d love to hear. Their other Z series mics are amazing!

[@pdmcrew80]

I was wrong, but i´m happy i was wrong because those who sounded better to me, i thought were the most expensive, it was the opposite. Love it.

[@yurikalashnikov2460]

I have a sphere and I was considering getting a dedicated 251 because I love that model on the sphere for my voice so this was perfect. Thanks very much for such an interesting and well done video.

[@CreativeMindsAudio]

Amazing! I love that the sphere is in there, i am very interested in that mic. It’s called the DLX now though.

[@elimilliman8722]

Great video. I was honestly going to sell my Wa-251 as it was not being used. This video reminded me of what a great mic it is on the right source. Going to have to play with it some more.

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvelous! Thanks ever so much for sharing

[@jergervasi3331]

Same here! It's the real reason I watched these videos. I have two and I am looking for places to use them more often.

[@mayzter8765]

And I have the sphere mic and this comparison makes me happy:)

[@danmenes3143]

I didn't guess, as I didn't have any experience with any of these mics, my personal collection being limited to an SM-58 and a pair of Oktavas. But I did have a definite favorite. I was really hoping it would be something I could reasonably afford, but no, I liked #2, the vintage Telefunken 251.

[@calvinyeh3004]

1A 3B! Guess right on the Elam but the rest. Really informative video, thank you PLAP team!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@SeemoreDunkan]

I'm glad I got the vintage mic correct.. Never head of the Circle Evo so I'm not mad I got that and the WA251 confused. Also patting myself on the back for getting the Bock and Sphere correct :) Please do more of these videos!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Absolutely!

[@stevem-h3562]

Im glad 4 was the WA, that was the one I preferred all the way through. The mystery one was interesting though. Others did say it might have been a Slate, so for it to be a UA, kinda figures.

[@ashgraysun]

Nice got 1 and 4 right and switched 2 and 3 around. I think 3 was my favorite on most of the sources. Might have to snag on of those bock audio ua mics!

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvellous! Thanks for sharing!

[@tshrdrums]

Damn! I was way off… more like this please… I enjoyed this…

[@Producelikeapro]

You weren't alone! Interesting results when we only use our ears not our eyes!

[@rocktonmusikschule]

I use the WA 251 all the time. Its a fantastic mic!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for sharing

[@DogsAndDogsAndDogs]

I didn’t comment on the original, I’m just here to say good job on this.

[@Producelikeapro]

You're very welcome! Thanks ever so much!

[@lilwombat]

ok i got the ones i guessed which were the Vintage Telefunken and the uad software emulation. i dont seem to like any warm audio stuff ive heard. circle would for sure get my pick.

[@The-Skyking]

I thought the WA was the first one. I was wrong with that. Thought the surprise mic was a emulator mic but wasn't sure which one. I thought maybe Slate Digital. I knew which one the Telefunken 251 was. A lot people heard that one. The Bock I chose correctly but had the Evo and WA swapped. The Bock is really nice. If I couldn't have a ELAM 251, I'd get that Bock out of this group.

[@mathenoo]

I really liked 2 and 4 on drums, thankfully one of them costs less than 1k

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes! That’s a blessing

[@CamiloVelandia]

Damn! I guessed Bock and Circle (which I own) correctly, but I confused the Telefunken for the warm 😳.

[@thesongwritersjourney]

I had guessed the Telefunken was #2, so got that right...I think. Overall, I liked the Bock and #4 the most - I was surprised the WA was #4. Great showcase, thanks for doing this.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for sharing! I really appreciate it

[@jergervasi3331]

Like vintage Neve modules, vintage mic's often vary more between individual units than they are different from well-done clones sometimes. Aging, wear and tear, varying levels (and expertise) in maintenance and repairs along the way... Your particular ELAM sounds VERY dark to me, for example. Don't know if another would.

[@louderthangod]

Far too often all I learn from blind shootouts is that my ears have expensive tastes 😢

[@ononearts]

Ditto!

[@roberthunt1540]

First of all . . . what happened to your shirt??. Thanks for doing this shootout.

[@compucorder64]

Aw, that's a shame, I guessed the one I liked least was the cheapest, Warm Audio, and it was. Was wrong in my guesses of all the others, and turns out the UA Bock was my favourite. Too bad, at that price of 6k, unobtanium to me, and probably the difference in price wouldn't be justifiable for me now. And I don't think the quite bright Circle Audio Evo did it for me. Actually makes the Warm Audio seem a good bargain. I didn't really like the Sphere, and I don't think it sounded like the other 251s, sounded more like a differerent mic entirely.

[@WhaleBluePRS]

You know we live in amazing times when an $850.00 mic can hold it's own in a $1900.00, $6k and a vintage $35k mic comparison.

[@ramonfelizjr]

I have a question regarding the Sphere ,let’s say I want to process those vocals using hardware , there is a way to come out of pro tools or any DAW on mono out , to pass that to a Compressor ? It records in stereo mono . Can anyone helps me here ? Thx

[@ramonfelizjr]

Let’s say recording a full album using the sphere L22 and using plugins and hardware compressor ? How you can handle the stereo recording to convert both channels sides into a mono and send that mono out to LA2A vintage o reissue ? To capture that back into pro tools ? I will like to see the process. Can someone ask UAD for that .

[@jonathanbarrios6405]

Can't believe 4 was WA. I, might, be a believer now :(

[@gabrielr4329]

Thanks for not waiting a week for reveal

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha indeed! That was just a typo in the video! Haha

[@WeissAdvice]

No prob!

[@Deriolama]

what microphone is used to monitor the singer... I mean which mic is heard by the singer?

[@JamesClark1991]

I stand by my original guess 😌.

[@ktreier]

I guessed the UA Sphere as the mystery microphone, but what this video tells you is the Warm Audio mics for a fraction of the price do great job. I love my WA-44 and 87R2. But I also love my Lauten LA-320 Tube Condenser. All mics under $1,000. At approx 6:00 is an attempt for this “expert” to explain why he got so many guesses wrong and to justify why he still needs that genuine 251. In the original video where he described the sound as burgundy was the point at which I tuned out and realized this guy was a bit too pretentious for me.

[@2grandbaby854]

Wow I can’t believe it. I guessed the Warm as #4 correctly because of it’s cheaper sounding “scratchy” hi end that I’ve heard before and I picked #2 as my favorite which is the Telefunken. Trust your ears fellas. Don’t let anyone tell you that a higher quality more expensive mic is a scam or “snake oil”. This blind test is proof.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for sharing! I'm compiling a list of everyone's choices! FYI most people thought the Warm was number 1!

[@mayzter8765]

I'm an expert hahaha..got 2,3, and 5 correct:)

[@Producelikeapro]

Congratulations!

[@mayzter8765]

Where can we download the stems? thx

[@splashesin8]

Guessed consistently what I liked. 😊

[@Producelikeapro]

Excellent!

[@splashesin8]

😊

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@thirdfloordigital]

Sorry I could not get past that shirt he was wearing!!!