whitfm said:
I've had the opportunity over the last couple of days to listen to about a dozen different recordings with the RE320, along with A/B comparisons of it against an RE20, RE27 and a Shure SM7B. I gotta tell ya, you might just be on to something with this RE320 suggestion.
It looks like you are doing a great job of working your way through this "decision tree". When you pointed out that you are an apartment dweller, it reminded me of years gone by when people were so generous with their advice on how I should live my life and build my career, but they didn't seem to comprehend the circumstances I had to work with.
I listen to the sound of radio today, sometimes with puzzlement. Why? Who comes up with these bright ideas? Then reality drips on my head like the gutter at my front door that I need to get up there and repair. Radio stations are often "living in rented space" that limits their ability to renovate the space. Just like many of the young talents that provide the voice sounds of the industry, operating budgets limit the scope of programming and the scope of their facility. Maybe all of this is well and appropriate. Radio is driven to reach and market to a youthful audience and the listeners face some of these same limitations in their own lives, so the sound of radio of today is created by people and facilities who identify with the listeners who tend to deal with some of these same limitations on space and personal development. Maybe the sound of radio indeed speaks to it's audience in subliminal ways!
The RE-320 may be the right hardware for what you are doing.
On the other hand, I possess a very small and modest piece of property. I can put nail-holes in the wall if I want to. And I possess a small and modest assortment of woodworking tools, and have a space where they can sleep. I aspire to narrate audio books and I am having to try and wrap my brain around the circumstances and mental processes of people who are listeners to audio books rather than the radio. I suspect it is fair to say they are seeking a few minutes with a sound that is quite different than what they will hear in the morning when they turn on their radio.
So my equation is circular. The mic has to fit my voice. I shall bend and shape the room and "put make-up on the pig" so that the room supports the voice and the mic. And when I "slide down into the cockpit" in this space, my voice needs to return the favors and see what it can do to meet the mic half-way, and meet the room half-way. And at the end of the day, it becomes a space where Barney Fife meets Shelby Foote!
I shudder to think what it would have done to my bank account if I had hired a contractor and gone with him to Guitar Center or somewhere they sell those factory made acoustic panels and turned him loose. But I can also tell you that Southern Living is probably not going to send a photographer out to capture what I have done.
I have two more small panels to complete and then maybe I can send you a picture or two of something you might be able to plagiarize for use in an apartment setting.
Whatever mic you select, I join in with others who wait to read your final decision, and maybe you can post an A/B recording demonstration.
