Mic-Comparison: Biggest Mic Shootout in Front of MESA Bass Cab

Due to covid-19, I celebrated christmas in the studio this year.
Put all mics in front of my Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 2x12 bassguitar cab and fed it with a reamped signal - original played by LEON DOMBROWSKI.
Find equipment that had been used for reamping/recording in this video below.
All mic signals levelled to the same reading with a 1k sine wave. So with the digital controlled pre's of the audiointerface, you can get an idea of the sensitivity of the mics.
I tried to place them all on axis of the top-right speaker. Not always the best position for all of the mics, but this makes them comparable, which this video is about ;)
Timestamps:
0:26 Clean DI Signal
0:42 Darkglass Microtubes 500 DI-Out
0:57 Behringer Ultra-G DI-Box
1:11 Electro Voice RE320 (Flat)
1:27 Electro Voice RE320 (Kick)
1:41 Electro Voice RE20
1:56 Shure SM7B (Flat)
2:11 Shure SM7B (Boost)
2:25 Shure SM58S
2:40 Shure SM57
2:55 DAP PL-07
3:10 The T.Bone MB75
3:25 Shure Beta 57
3:49 Sennheiser MD421-2 (old beige version)
3:55 Sennheiser MD421-II/U
4:09 Sennheiser e906 (Flat)
4:24 Sennheiser e906 (Boost)
4:38 Sennheiser e906 (Cut)
4:53 Sennheiser MD441 (Flat)
5:08 Sennheiser MD21
5:23 Audix i5
5:37 Audix D2
5:52 Audix D4
6:07 Audio Technica Pro 25AX
6:22 Audio Technica ATM25
6:37 AKG D112 MK II
6:51 Shure Beta 52
7:06 DAP PL-02
7:21 Audix D6
7:36 Superlux E205
7:51 The T.Bone SC400
8:05 Audio Technica AE3000
8:20 Sennheiser MK4
8:35 Neumann Gefell CMV563 with M7S Capsule
8:50 AKG C414-XLS (Cardioid)
9:04 AKG C414-XLS (Figure 8)
9:19 AKG C414-XLS (Omni)
9:34 Neumann TLM67 (Cardioid)
9:49 Peluso P12 (Cardioid)
10:03 Neumann KM184
10:18 Oktava MK012 (Cardioid)
10:33 Oktava MK012 (Hypercardioid)
10:49 Oktava MK012 (Omni)
11:02 Behringer ECM8000
11:17 Sonarworks XREF 20
11:32 Isemcon EMX-7150
11:46 Beyerdynamic M160
12:00 The T.Bone RB500
12:16 The T.Bone RB500 (Mod)
Intro/Outro music by my dear friends from VEIN:
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RME Fireface UFX+ with ARC
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AVID Pro Tools
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Palmer Daccapo Reamping Box
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Darkglass Bass Heads
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Mesa Bass Cabs
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Electro Voice RE20 and RE320
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Shure SM7b, SM57, SM58S, Beta 57, Beta 52
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Sennheiser MD421, MD441, MD21, e906, MK4
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Audix D2, D4, D6, i5 as a drum-mic set
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Beyerdynamic M160
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AKG C414 XLS, D112 MKII
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the t.bone MB 75, SC 400, RB 500
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Audio Technica AE 3000, Pro 25 AX, ATM 25
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Peluso P12
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Neumann KM184, TLM67
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Oktava MK012
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Behringer ECM8000
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Sonarworks XREF 20
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iSEMcon EMX-7150
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Superlux E205
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Neumann-Gefell CMV563 with M7S capsule (mine is not an reissue ;-))
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Behringer GI100 ULTRA-G DI Box
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DAP PL 02 and PL 07 are not available anymore
Leon recorded his Fender Precision 5-string bass straight into a Focusrite Scarlett interface
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Michael Simon of Rocket Science Audio Group - Live & Studio Soundengineer
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/ michaelsimon2405
Thanks for watching!

[@wladdaimpala88]

Those Fig-8 patterns are outrageous on the proximity effect.

[@oskarwroniewicz]

I hate AKG D112 on kick drum but apparently it sounds wonderful on bass cab. I'm surprised with the Audix i5 too. Thank you so much for this video, it's invaluable

[@user-jn7ud7cu5w]

I REALLY liked that AKG D112 and Audix D2. The MD421II did awesome too!

[@yvesfellay4343]

Great vidéo !!! We can buy all cabs and all mics we want, but unfortunatly we cannot buy a good bassist everywhere ! F...cking great play !

[@okaight7248]

Amazing video! Super underrated for how many mics you used.

[@preciseaudioblog]

What a great video

[@yettielusive3370]

Great video I like this sure SM 7B in flat mode, it as a good amount of juice and it doesn’t have some choked or hyped sound like some of the others

[@BlommaBaumbart]

This video is a great gift, thank you.

[@S.K.166]

Best Shootout Thanks Heaps!

[@colinfrank9026]

First time in my entire life, I heard the exact same Bass loop for almost 15 minutes and wasn't bothered... Maybe this is a gateway to techno? I hope not, but man, great content👍 I really liked the audix d2 and d4 on my headphones

[@ProductPhotographyTheRocks]

Bass Thud: 1:24 Electro Voice RE320 (Flat) 1:38 Electro Voice RE320 (Kick) 1:53 Electro Voice RE20 2:08 Shure SM7B (Flat) 2:23 Shure SM7B (Boost) 2:38 Shure SM58S 2:52 Shure SM57 3:07 DAP PL-07 3:37 Shure Beta 57 3:51 Sennheiser MD421-2 (old beige version) 4:06 Sennheiser MD421-II/U 4:21 Sennheiser e906 (Flat) 4:36 Sennheiser e906 (Boost) 4:51 Sennheiser e906 (Cut) 5:05 Sennheiser MD441 (Flat) 5:20 Sennheiser MD21 5:35 Audix i5 5:49 Audix D2 6:04 Audix D4 6:19 Audio Technica Pro 25AX 6:34 Audio Technica ATM25 6:49 AKG D112 MK II 7:03 Shure Beta 52 7:18 DAP PL-02 7:33 Audix D6 7:48 Superlux E205 8:02 The T.Bone SC400 8:17 Audio Technica AE3000 8:32 Sennheiser MK4 8:47 Neumann Gefell CMV563 M7S 9:01 AKG C414-XLS (Cardioid) 9:16 AKG C414-XLS (Figure 8) 9:31 AKG C414-XLS (Omni) 9:46 Neumann TLM67 (Cardioid) 10:01 Peluso P12 (Cardioid) 10:15 Neumann KM184 10:30 Oktava MK012 (Cardioid) 10:45 Oktava MK012 (Hypercardioid) 11:00 Oktava MK012 (Omni) 11:14 Behringer ECM8000 11:29 Sonarworks XREF 20 11:44 Isemcon EMX-7150 11:59 Beyerdynamic M160 Top 3 for my uses: Reference 2:23 Shure SM7B (Boost) 1:38 Electro Voice RE320 (Kick) 4:06 Sennheiser MD421-II/U 5:49 Audix D2 Full Reference 2:11 Shure SM7B (Boost) 1:27 Electro Voice RE320 (Kick) 3:54 Sennheiser MD421-II/U 5:37 Audix D2

[@JM.COSMIC]

Most of the timesamps are wrong

[@personalfreedom2700]

@@JM.COSMIC the timestamps all work perfectly for me

[@Jennienfash]

10:49 Oktava MK012 in omni sounds like the di out of a sansamp with the presence knob on 1:27 Electro Voice RE320 sounds like a sansamp going through a cab sim 6:37 Akg D112 mk2 smoothes out the harshness in the high end and sounds like the bass tone of Alice In Chains "Would" 3:55 Sennheiser MD421 black mic sounds like your run of the mill active DI Box sound

[@MrTjandra]

Hell freakin yes sir! Thank you so much!

[@ayeapprove]

Toller Vergleich, Respekt für den Aufwand!

[@cweednz]

The MD21 had the best low-mid bite. I really don’t get the appeal of the Audix mics. I use an RE320 in my live gig residency and it held up well in this test.

[@gwoodtones]

Real interesting video! Helped me to decide to buy the audix i5, superlux e 205 and the t bone sc400. The shure sm 57 (which turns out OK in this test) I already had. The sure beta 52 I already have but I Don't like it so much for bass... hé does the job for the kick drum that's for sure! The shure beta 57 doesn't turn out so well in this test though I used it before on some bass combination where it came with the best result then. And the senheiser e 906 which I also have also turns out very well in this test on flat position. Thank you for this nice shootout. This was very helpful to me!

[@stiffrichard2816]

I can't tell much from this. A lot of these mics don't hold the low fundamental very well. All I know is when micing a ten inch bass speaker, you need a mic with a nice dip around 500k, and for any bass cabs, a nice bump around 4k always helps. Close micing makes a lot of thick mud. On a 15" your better off with a large diaphragm condenser a few inches away or you'll drive yourself nuts trying to find the sweet spot.

[@Jennienfash]

Also with this being distorted bass there isnt one mic that can capture both the massive low end and the highend hormonic detail of the distortion at the same time, most of these mics do either one or the other. In this case i would double mic. I would use the 1:27 Electro Voice RE320 in kick mode to capture the low end, this is what a miced up bass cab should sound like. Then I would use the 10:49 Oktava MK012 in omni to capture the highend detail. With this mic being a condenser its much better suited to capture the harmonic highend detail of the distortion. I would then find a blend of the 2 mics and if i needed more low end i would then use the di track and process for sub low end in the DAW.

[@ulrichbergmann1347]

Schönes Video. Auf Jeden interessant. Klasse Mikrofonsammlung. Man muß ja Auswahl haben. ;) Ich steh ja Mittlerweile voll auf den Bändchensound. Hab das Justin RM-100 (bzw. zwei davon ^^), ist auch ein Nady wie wie dein T.Bone RM 500.

[@rocketscienceaudiogroup]

Danke für deinen Kommentar :-) Ja, Bändchen sind super - man muss nur beim closemicing den nahbesprechungseffekt im Auge behalten, wie man am Video sieht/hört :-)

[@One979]

Audio Technica Pro25ax, AKG 414xls, Beyerdynamic m60

[@groovaholic80222]

I bought a Pro25AX based on this review - it was less than $100 new

[@mmagoon67]

My Top 3: But where is the Sennheiser e902 and e602? Electro Voice RE320 (Kick) - Warm, clear sound that doesn't bring out picking; Consistent punch Audix D4 Shure Beta 52

[@simonepallotti1590]

Sm7 with boost, black md421, T-Bone mb75, sm58 for Motown stuff

[@simonepallotti1590]

Peluso Is mouth watering

[@Jennienfash]

For playing live, with distortion, I would go with the MD421, the AKG D112 or even the Audix i5 and I would blend that with a clean di.

[@simonepallotti1590]

Ecm8000 Is a big Surprise

[@philmartin7474]

Wow excellent shootout👍

[@frozenfrogz]

Erster!1elf!! Vielen Dank für die Mühe. :)

[@LeonOnBass]

nice :-)

[@zackstewart4109]

It's too bad you seem to have gotten a guitar player instead of a bass player.

[@josku5]

Yeah I don’t get why so many of these mic reviews use distorted picked bass when all we want it clean juicy low end

[@ileutur6863]

I'm sorry you're unable to enjoy a good bass tone

[@orlikjungen1]

the sound is too dirty to hear the difference