ProAudio Review - September 2008 - (Page 34)

STUDIO | REVIEW mic. That said, I appreciated the way that the CS5 seemed to be faithful to the source. The included filters were also handy for getting a little bit more vibe from the microphone. According to the microphone’s designer the 15k low pass filter position is the optimal setting for use on vocal source. I did find that enabling this setting did warm things up ever so slightly. I ended up leaving the microphone in this position for the rest of the vocal session. The included windscreen pushed the microphone into being a little bit on the dark side, so I found the use of an external multilayer windscreen to be a better choice. Still, it’s always nice to have a foam windscreen available for those “special” clients … The proximity effect was not as noticeable as with some microphones I’ve used, which, in most cases, is a plus. I also found that the microphone wasn’t particularly susceptible to p-pops and other nasties. Used as an ambient room microphone, the CS5 captured the timbre and the transient attack of a Rainsong acoustic guitar in a pleasingly realistic way, especially for finger-style playing. There was a nice sense of “air” present in the output of the CS5; it seemed to make the guitar breathe within the recording. With the microphone in the same position, a variety of hand percussion instruments (including tambourine, guiro, bar chimes, and cowbell) sounded present and clean, with no obvious smearing of the transients. SUMMARY The Studio Projects CS5 is an interesting microphone. Certainly it’s the perfect microphone for people that like to tweak settings. Its multipattern versatility and clever shock mount make it a natural for M/S setups. With more settings than any microphone that I’ve used (in recent memory at least), and a street price of $499 (!), the CS5 represents good value in the (more crowded than ever) marketplace. Richard Alan Salz is owner of Vermont Audio Labs. STUDIO PROJECTS Continued From Page 32 I also got a great “trash” drum track by setting the filters to their most extreme positions, which basically just leaves you with midrange. A ton of compression later, and I had a keeper track. Would it have been easier to use the Shure CB radio microphone I normally use to get a track like this? Sure, but it is cool that the CS5 can also play dirty. A 1980 Les Paul played through a SonicCord Toad amplifier sounded really nice after I engaged the the high-pass filter (at the 300Hz setting) to clean up the sometimes overblown bottom end of that particular guitar and amp combination, (with the Toad’s 15-inch vintage Sunn speaker). The CS5 seemed to have no problems with level even with the amp really cranked up, and the level pad disengaged. Since the CS5 is flatter than many common mid-level vocal microphones, there wasn’t the hyped response that users may have come to expect with a modern vocal Hear what the world is talking about. “ Violet Design has a winner on its hands.” Randy Poole, ProSound News Amethyst the “5 Stars out of 5!” Mike Lawson, Apple Pro Audio Globe the “ Wow.” Dana Gumbiner, TapeOp Magazine violetusa.com 34 | ProAudio Review | September 2008 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.violetusa.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

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ProAudio Review - September 2008 Contents Publisher’s Page: It's A Hard Drive World Broadcast News and New Products Lawo mc256 Digital Production Console Studio News and New Products Earthworks PM40 Piano Mic System Onkyo Professional PR-SC885 HDMI 1.3a Surround Sound Processor Developments and Trends: Instrument Microphones Benchmark Media DAC1 Pre Focal Twin6 Be Studio Reference Monitors Cascade FAT HEAD II Blumlein Package Studio Projects CS5 Microphone M-Audio Pulsar II Small-Diaphragm Condenser Live News and New Products JBL MRX512M Live Monitor QSC: Behind The Scenes Contracting News and New Products Primacoustic Broadway Professional Acoustic Solutions Buyer's Guide: Contracting Amplifiers/Mixers Buyer's Guide: Contracting Speakers Single Slice: pc muñoz "Chatter & Buzz"

ProAudio Review - September 2008

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