by JackofallTrades » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:05 pm
I have done some testing between the 2 preamps on Drums (overheads), Acoustic Guitar, and Electric guitar. Here is what I found.
Overheads: The J99 gives a fatter sound on the toms and more sparkle on the cymbals. Great for everything. (This is my choice for overheads) The C84 works great for miking the snare side of the snare drum. My plan is to use A12s on both sides of the snare, and C84's on the room mics.
Acoustic Guitar: About the same result as for the overheads, fattens the sound up. The C84 works pretty well too, but I really prefer the J99 for this, it just sounds fuller and more life-like. The C84 can sound dull.
Electric guitar: For close-miking the J99 sounds great. Fat and real sounding. The C84 sounds a little dull. I have used the C84 on a room mic and I couldn't believe how great it sounded (heavy rock sound). It sounded like a really well-recorded close mic!
My rule of thumb at the moment is not to use the C84 on anything that will be a focal point in the mix, because it has almost no personality (what's put in is what's put out, only louder). It works great on ambience mics though. Of course if you need something to be recorded without any color, the C84 is the way to go.