Thanks for the feedback! I looked at the tracks from your ntg2_test and akg_test files and it looks, as you would expect from what is primarily an instrument mike, the AKG has a more responsive diaphragm, which would probably make it brighter than the Rode, and thus the Rode a happier fit with a male voice, just subjectively.

I attach a sample from the very first part of the clips....you can see what I'm talking about, I think, although I'm not sure how the normalization may have affected the results...

btw, the diaphragm on instrument mikes is usually right up front, if you use it as a vocal mike be sure to use a windscreen to keep breath moisture out of it, condenser mikes hate that....best wishes / Battle Vaughan

Hey Battle,

Actually, I found the Rode to be brighter. Or at least to reproduce my voice better. But I'm far from being a good audio guy, so I'm not the most accurate listener.

Am I looking at the amplitude of the response in your graph? That is, the small variations in the line? As you say, looks greater in the AKG.

Thanks, I'll remember that. I did notice the AKG being much more senstive to popping in my little test.

Anyway, I sure learned a lot from this experience. Thanks for all your help, and for taking the time to listen, etc.

Cheers!

Yes, regular waveform with amplitude vs. time....this is Audacity, a free audio program for windoze and Mac, which is worth having; I have Soundtrack Pro, Soundforge 9 and Soundbooth and I still use this open-source jobbie all the time...Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

Hope this works out for you, I enjoyed hearing your tracks. Hope you invest in some good earplugs for those loud venues...:) / Battle Vaughan

Tell me about it. I bought a pair of in-ear headphones that reduce by about 30db what comes in your ears, and lets me monitor at the same time. They're a lifesaver.

Vito, you can take it to the next level by wearing noise-cancellation headphones over your in-ears. Don't give them a signal, just let them reduce the ambient sounds even further. Just shop for good cancellation; since you won't feed them a signal, you don't have to worry about sound quality.

Thanks, Jon.

Just for information purposes, I bought a Shure SM57, put a Sennheiser tranmitter on it and stuck it on a mic stand by the DJ speaker and it sounded awesome. It wasn't in my typical loud environment but it was close.