EQ Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 54)

Hard Lines STUDIO PROJECTS CS5 Tell Me You’ll Always Be True by Jeff Anderson Call me crazy, but I describe my mics in an anthropomorphic fashion. When asked how a mic sounds, I’ll say that my AKG C 12 is warm and sexy, exaggerated and incredibly outgoing, whereas my Neumann U89 is a bit more reserved and conservative. I think you know what I’m talking about; in fact, I bet you tell your bandmates something similar when they ask you why you are putting that particular mic on their instrument. When I was sent Studio Projects’ new CS5, I was eager to get to know her, to find out if she had a unique personality. Would she be sultry like a C 12, prissy like a U89, or kind of haggard and raspysounding, like the older gal a few barstools over? Time to find out. OVERVIEW Sporting serious curves (such as a 27mm wide capsule), the Studio Projects CS5 is at home at just about any party (she switches between five polar patterns: cardioid, wide cardioid, hypercardioid, omni, and figure 8, and has rolloff pads that can attenuate the signal by –5, –10, –15, or –20dB, allowing the mic to handle up to 156dB SPL). In her time, she’s heard it all (her frequency response is between 20Hz and 20kHz), and she can cut through the BS with a lowpass filter that can be engaged at 3, 5, 7, or 15kHz and a high pass filter that can be applied at 50, 75, and 300Hz—both at 6dB/octave. And while she has a bit of baggage—a pretty sturdy flight case and a shock mount—it’s the good type. Want to learn more? Check out her personal ad at www.studio projects.com. IN USE On our first date, I thought that the CS5 would hit it off well with a singer I was scheduled to track—a female contemporary artist seeking a pure, clean sound. She has a natural warmth to her voice and wasn’t looking for any additional coloration, so I set her up with the CS5, in cardioid pattern, with no filters or pads engaged. The vocalist wanted to track with the Just to see how worldly she was, I invited a guitarist over who plays this terrible guitar that I swear was purchased out of a Sears catalog. I consider this guitar the instrumental equivalent to the drunken, obnoxious friend that your wife can’t stand, but since you’ve known him since high school you still invite him over for the Super Bowl. Expecting disaster, I placed the CS5 about 2" off of the sound hole, using the wide cardioid pattern, and brought a Shure SM81 along (set up over the bridge), because that’s the only mic that’s ever liked this guitar. I used a No Toasters Nice Pair preamp to power the CS5, and sent the signal straight to Pro Tools. With the first strum, it became obvious that the CS5 was not going to get along with the source, despite our best efforts. Lesson learned: What goes in comes out . . . including with the CS5. CONCLUSIONS While the CS5, due to her range of features, is very versatile and can hold her own on nearly every session, she’s also brutally honest. I appreciate that quality in a mic. As long as you have a good source, you’ll get a good sound with the CS5, which is preferable to spending tons of time trying to “alter” a track so that it sounds like the player intended it to sound. In short, she gives what she gets; so if you or your instrument suck, you’re probably not going to get along with the CS5. But if you have a good sound, you might just find her to be the perfect date. Studio Projects CS5. rest of her band, so I put her and the CS5 in the live room, surrounded by gobos, and sent the signal into a Focusrite VoiceMaster Pro, patched into a Teletronix LA2 (set to –2dB), recording into Pro Tools. In this rather straightforward application, the CS5 imparted a pretty honest sound, though the high end did seem a tad boosted. However, in this instance, this was a good thing as we didn’t have to EQ the track at all when mixing. Before I commit to a relationship with a mic, it’s important that it gets along with my close friends, so I invited a male vocalist over that I had worked with for years. He can be tough on mics, as his voice is really boomy and a little shrill in the high end. It was clear that the CS5 was going to have to make the first move if the session was going to work, so I engaged the low and high pass filters at 300Hz and 7kHz respectively—bingo. PRODUCT TYPE: Multi-pattern condenser mic. TARGET MARKET: Project recording studios looking for a single condenser that works well in multiple applications. STRENGTHS: Exceptionally versatile due to tons of options. Accurate sound. Inviting price point. Good accessorizing. LIMITATIONS: Nothing significant. LIST PRICE: $1,149.99 CONTACT: www.studioprojects.com 54 EQ MAY 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.studioprojects.com http://www.studioprojects.com http://www.studioprojects.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - May 2008

EQ Magazine - May 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Jamie Lidell, What the New Model of Record Deal Means to You, Part II, Andrew W.K. Tool Box Aerosmith Fast Tracks Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet DigiDesign Pro Tools LE 7.4 Cakewalk Sonar 7 Line 6 UX8 Studio Projects CS5 Art Tubefire 8 Jazzmutant Dexter MCDSP Emerald Pack Overloud Breverb KRK Exposé E8B Mackie MR5 Blue Sky Exo Monitor System Big Fish Audio Around the World in 80 Raves East West Fab Four Virtual Instrument Sony Matt Fink- Starvu Session Keys Room With A VU

EQ Magazine - May 2008

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