Review of M-audio Solaris Mic!

[Marianop]

I’ve had the M-audio Solaris for quite a while now. However, I did not want to review it until the “I have a new Mic” syndrome had left me. Before I review the microphone, I want to state that I am a noobe, and that I have never recorded with any type of high end equipment. Nevertheless, I am an audiophile that can distinguish what sounds good and what sounds not so good. Moreover, the microphone is being amped by a low end pre amp (MDP3). My mixer is from Behringer, and my sound card is the m-audio mobile pre.

So here is the review:

Cost: $250 (New)
Look: This baby is beautiful! It feels like a high end microphone. The case it self is beautiful! This mic never fails to impress those who see it. However, the down side is that you have to get a pretty good mic stand because the microphone is quite heavy.

The sound: At first, I though the microphone was nothing special. However, after reading Tweak’s guide on recording vocals. I kicked up the level on my DMP3 preamp to about the 2 a clock (clockwise) position. I set my compressor’s thresh hold to -10db (RNC). Oh man, after doing the previous, this baby started to shine. I heard nothing but clearness. This microphone has a full tone, and it is amazingly clear. However, I don’t like the fact that I have to record about over one foot away from the mic because of the sensitivity to plosives. In addition, my recordings with this mic are a bit on the bassy side. Nevertheless, this might be nothing more than my limited recording skills, or my low budget equipment.
I have compared the MXL v69 microphone with the m-audio Solaris and I have to say that the M-audio completely excels when it comes to my voice. I just sold the mxl v69 so I cannot do an A/B test. However, I will do some recordings with 3 mics (shure sm86, Solaris, and Sennheiser e835) so that you can get a feel of how the m-audio solaris makes things sound.

Over all, I have to say that this microphone is great, and that it fulfills the need of a home studio.

I have some questions about my recordings with this microphone though. Once I articulate them, I hope that you guys can lend me a hand to achieve better results. Oh, and please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have about the Solaris!

[TimOBrien]

I've been using one to record tenor sax with great results.

Recently I've been experimenting with Mid/Side recording, using the Solaris in figure-8 mode for the side lobes and it's REALLY sounding nice.

Very happy with mine.

[jar4ever]

Sounds like a good mic. You said you had some problems with plosives and bassiness. Do you have a pop filter? If not, that's your problem. All condesners should be used with pop filters on vocals. Is the bassiness only a problem when singing really close to the mic? If so, that's just natural proximity effect, which every directional mic has. Vocals mics are almost always going to be rolled off in the low end when the singer is close to the mic. Hope that helps.

[Marianop]

For those of you that have the Solaris microphone. Is it possible to make this mic sound as good as the song in this link: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... C763DD221F

Keep in mind that my other equipment is prety low end:

RNC (compressor)
DMP3 (preamp)
Behringer (mixer)
Mobile Pre (sound card)

[Lake Side Souljah]

i think you'll need a better preamp to get that kind of quality. But im sure you can still make a decent quality out of those mic. Its the Mic and Preamp combination thats important

[jar4ever]

And good A/D conversion as well. Your input chain is mic, pre, A/D. If any link in the chain is weak the strength of the whole chain suffers.

[Marianop]

So, to get that type of quality i'm going to have to buy a new preamp and a new sound card, correct? Can I keep my behringer mixer without affecting the sound?

[MASSIVE Mastering]

Most (all?) Behringer preamps aren't exactly "good sounding" units...

Really, really cheap and decent - M-Audio's DMP3 and Rane's MS1b.

Quite good and a bargain for the sound - FMR's RMP and Grace Design's 101.

[Marianop]

well, I have a dmp3 preamp, RNC compressor, and an m-audio mobile pre sound card. I am going to learn more about the whole recording process before I upgrade. I must be able to get a better sound with these products. I think I have to improve on my recording skills. Once I feel that these products are the factor holding me back from getting the sound that I want, I will upgrade to something like the RNP, motu card, and I will keep my RNC! Hey massive, I know that you have top of the line equipment. Do you have any songs that you have recorded with the solaris going through this top notch equipment? If so, can I hear some?

[MASSIVE Mastering]

I have a test file somewhere...

Actually there's a thread... Just a pair of Solaris mics through a terrible preamp going through 1994 Sony crap conversion...

Lemme see...

Here's the quote from an old thread:

No kidding - One of the coolest mics out there. I don't think I've dragged out the 414's since I had a pair of those things.

Long story - Here's a sample file...

http://www.massivemastering.com/audiosa ... s_Test.mp3

It's a rehearsal (so please, no comments on the performance - this was minutes after they got the music).

Keep in mind what was stacked against this recording -

* The mics were grid mounted, around 16 feet high, 8 feet apart, tilted in towards the condutor's position (very unnatural stereo image). Right over the string section.

* The kit was around 25-30 feet LOS away from the mics

* The horns and precussion around 50 feet

* Behringer Ultra-Mic 2200 preamp (sorry, that's what was there)

* Somewhere between 2 & 300 feet of mic cable (per channel) to the preamp in the control booth at the upper rear or house

* Sony gen-1 MD recorder from around 1994

In other words, if they sound that good with all that stacked against them, you should hear them with a decent chain...

No EQ, no rolloff (the mic's built-in is fantastic, BTW) no post-processing (except for some bad editing to remove conductor commentary and shorten the file down to almost nothing).

That recording doesn't exactly "smoke" - But it should suck. The mics were very forgiving, especially with the trap kit 30 feet away.

Nothing else really "handy" at this point... But they've surprised me every time I've used them. More than a few people have offered to buy them from me on the spot during live tracking... Running them through *nice* preamps add a whole different dimension of quality to them. This preamp (Berry 2200) is a POS for the most part.