MIC presets P041 to P050 on the BR1600. What are they all about?

[Super 8]

You know, those ones starting with: Preset P041 '57 to 58'. I've never really understood what they're about and have never found a use for them. Any BR1600 users care to share their experiences in this bracket? Anything I'm missing by not using them? 

[AndyR]

Off the top of my head - I'm nowhere near the machine or manual at the moment - I seem to recall there are some presets designed to make input from one mic sound like another? "57 to 58" kind of suggests it could be one of them?

If it is, then the idea seemed to be "if you have an SM57, but want to sound like you were using a SM58, but you don't actually have one..." - I kinda couldn't see a use for it myself, and I also had no way of verifying how accurate this modelling or whatever might be.

[64Guitars]

I don't have a BR-1600 but a quick look at the manual shows that these patches all use the MIC MODELING algorithm which includes the following four effects:



So these patches are meant for microphone simulation.

The key is the Mic Converter effect which "can convert the characteristics of an inexpensive general-purpose microphone into those of an expensive studio microphone (i.e., Microphone Conversion). Furthermore, when used with a part that has already been recorded, it can reproduce the same tonal changes as would occur if the microphone type or distance had been changed. In doing so, it adds the sense of an acoustic space to an instrumental that was recorded by direct line input, making it seem as if it had been recorded with a microphone (i.e., Line → Microphone Conversion)."  (See page 100 of the BR-1600 manual).

I suspect that the numbers in the patch names are meant to be the mic model that is simulated and the mic model used as input. For example, if you record with a Shure SM57 using patch P041 ("57 to 58"), it will sound like it was recorded with a Shure SM58. Likewise, a track recorded with an SM57 through P042 ("57 to 421") will sound like it was recorded with a Sennheiser MD 421 microphone. And P043 ("57 to 451") probably simulates an AKG C 451 small diaphragm comdenser microphone.

Patches P044 through P050 provide similar mic simulations using either a Roland DR-20 dynamic mic or an AKG C3000B large-diaphragm condenser microphone for the input. The "87" in patch P046 ("DR20 to 87") is probably a Neumann U87 large-diaphragm condenser microphone.

[AndyR]

Aha! 64 to the rescue

Yep, that's what I remembered reading years ago - I still don't feel overly inspired to investigate it!! (I did give it a go but didn't notice any differences that I liked)

If you DO check it out, and discover that there really is some sort of cheap "fairy dust" trick in there that really makes it sound like we have expensive vintage mics... then do share!

[Super 8]

Cool! That makes sense. Shame I don't have ANY of the mics mentioned. Hang on, tell I lie! I do have a dusty SM57 somewhere though why I'd want to simulate an SM58 from it I don't know. Isn't it 'a fact' that the SM57 & SM58 are one and the same (the only difference being that the '58 has a built-in mesh head pop filter)?

[64Guitars]

Cool! That makes sense. Shame I don't have ANY of the mics mentioned.

I think the specific mic models are just a guide. They might be what the modelling is based on but you can probably use any similar sort of mic. If you look at the Mic Converter effect on page 100, it shows the following inputs:

DR-20	Roland DR-20
Sml.Dy	Small dynamic microphone
Hed.Dy	Head-worn dynamic microphone
Min.Cn	Miniature condenser microphone
Flat	Line input
AKGC3K	AKG C3000B

As you can see, it's not very specific. No mention of a "57" at all. So I think you can probably use any old dynamic mic with the "Sml.Dy" setting. Likewise, most condenser mics will probably work reasonably well with the "Min.Cn" setting. Use the "Flat" setting if you're recording your acoustic guitar directly from its built-in pickup but you want to make it sound like it was recorded with a microphone instead.

I do have a dusty SM57 somewhere though why I'd want to simulate an SM58 from it I don't know. Isn't it 'a fact' that the SM57 & SM58 are one and the same (the only difference being that the '58 has a built-in mesh head pop filter)?

They have the same cartridge inside but the different grill designs affect the frequency response and proximity effect, giving the mics a slightly different sound.

Here's the official word from Shure:

http://shure.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1118/~/sm57-vs-sm58


This video should help:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYpONrVN5EA


And you'll find lots more about how these two mics compare from this Google search:

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=comparison+of+shure+sm57+and+sm58

[Super 8]

Genius! Thanks so much 64. Man, do you know your sonic onions!