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Author Topic: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera  (Read 7460 times)

yuppie

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new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« on: April 21, 2007, 03:05:04 PM »

I've read about this new mic; price is pretty affordable (about
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Klaus Heyne

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2007, 07:39:45 PM »

...Mr. Yuppie,
How about a timely real name ID? No Name, no game (please see ground rules!)

As to your idea that
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com

yuppie

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2007, 08:45:57 AM »

yes, dollar/euro exchange is not very U.S. friendly nowdays,
anyway all the people living in europe can get the mic for
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Mike Jasper

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2007, 10:13:42 AM »

Good topic, Matteo. I'm interested too, although I agree with Klaus that the American price is a bit steep compared to the AE.
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SD mic shootout from Tape Op now online
http://www.proaudiobay.com/shootouts.html

"Where are the repair people in this country? Where have they gone? Currently, the state of microphone service availability in the US is an unmitigated disaster, especially in light of the fact that there has never been a boom in the history of recording mics like this."

-- Klaus Heyne

borism

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2007, 06:03:29 PM »

hi.
this is my first post here, love this forum BTW.
I'm also interested in this new mic, has anyone heard it and maybe give some coments, maybe Mr Heyne himself?
thank you
Best regards
Boris Milan

Dave Blair

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2007, 09:39:15 PM »

I just picked up the Phanthera.  Street price in US is about $2,000.  At AES the Brauner guys described their mics in 2 categories.  The very detailed and more modern sounding mics Including PhantomC, AI, V, and VM1.  And warmer more vintage VMX, and Phanthera.  Which is pretty accurate.  They all sound like Brauners but there is definitely a different character to the "warmer" ones.  

To stick to the topic, I'd describe Phantom C,AI, V as very detailed and especially detailed and in your face and open on top.  If a voice has lots of nice colored upper harmonics in its overtone you can hear these pop out nicely.  On a screamy or nasal or very bright soprano voice I think this would not be so flattering.  
Probably also great for very clear spoken word stuff.  

On the other hand the Phanthera is less open on top, as they describe it as more "vintage" - a little more of its own character but not overly colored or hyped tone like cheaper mics do.  It is still very clear and detailed but the upper overtones at 8k and up for example are not as open, detailed or crisp on top.  So it might serve to warm up a higher brighter vocal part without muddying it up.  It's not dark, just not as open on the very top compared to the Phantoms, which are very detailed on top.  

I wish they had a mic that you could switch between the 2 sounds because both have their applications.  (Actually that's what the VMA is but they have no affordable solid state model that bridges the Phantom/Phanthera gap.)  The Phanton V is basically a Phantom AI with variable polar patters and -10db pad.

Also positioning with both of these seems to make a difference.  Noticable proximity effect compared to my Blue Mouse which you can get 1/2 inch from the diaphragm and sing full out, the Phanthera seems to work better 6-10 inches away.  

To describe the warmth a little better: it seems like all the notes sung have a nice fullness, maybe around 250 Hz, that gives each note, even higher notes, a pillow of bottom that grounds it without sounding like you boosted the bottom so it does not sound too fat or muddy, still clear, and still has some subtle mids that peek through the mix.  Definitly a usable, even, sound that should mix well with little EQ.  I still wish it had some of the Phantom's open detailed top but it's different, not neccessarily better or worse.  I think because of the warmth Phanthera might be applicable to a wider range of voices.
 
As far as the Vovox cable goes:  I did a vocal with my Mogami, then with the Vovox.  The Vovox was brighter, clearer, and more in your face, but I'm not sure I liked it.  Seemed like it made some of the upper mids a little harsh at the same time, loosing some of the warmth and smoothness.  

Now take all of these descriptions with a grain of salt because I've only had the mic for a day and will have to put it through its paces over the next few weeks.  But definitly seems like a mic one should look at for a relatively inexpensive pro- sounding mic.  

All the other mics I really liked were 4k+.  For example Manley Gold, Soundelux 251, Brauner VMX (similar to Phanthera but the tubes make it smoother), U47, etc. And I was kind of annoyed that BLUE did not have listening stations for any of their mics at AES or maybe I would have considered their Cactus or Kiwi.

Side note: we tried the Brauner KHE in some shootoffs in a studio a while back and it sounded awsome.  For $9-10k it better!  Up against a U47 I liked the KHE because it was really open and detailed but still smooth.  But again that detail is not flattering on a mediocre singer that is overly bright, nasal, etc.  I'll post more once I have used the mic more.
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Glenn Bucci

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2007, 11:01:35 PM »

I was at the AES show myself, and A/B'd the Panthera with the Phantom.

Yes it is not a very good place to test mics. However I agree that the Panthera had less top end, which I found to be a good thing. I find the Phantom to be a little more on the sibilant side which could be a challenge on more vocals than you would want it to be.

Though the Phanthera does not have this issue, the 'larger than life' character of this mic is a little less than the other Brauner mics. I could not tell it well in my surroundings at the AES but it seems that the bottom end also had a little less weight- more like a middle of the road mic, like a AKG 414 or Blue Blueberry mic.

It seems to be a good sounding mic, but not what I would be looking for...at least right now.
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Dave Blair

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Re: new brauner solid state mic: Phanthera
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2007, 12:04:04 PM »

I got to work with the Phanthera some more yesterday and learned some new things that go against some of my initial assumptions.

I spent a few hours trying to see if i could get the best vocal sound using the Vovox cable (supplied with the Brauner mic) and no or very light EQ.  
Some interesing results but I wound up getting some great sounds.  

First I tried the vocal at about 10".  As previously mentioned, Vovox cable was more open on top but a little harsh around 3-5k or so, especially if I went up to a bigger mid range vocal part.  So I figurd maybe if I get closer the proximity effect will even this out.  I was right.  I then tried about 4" and it sounded fuller with the harshness gone.  Then 1" - practically kissing the windscreen.  A little more proximity effect fuller on bottom and even singing full out in big mid range parts the mic handled it smoothly.  Around 4" it was crisper and if you want to get a little fuller sound each inch in will give you more fullness and a little less crispness.  

But even at 1" it never had an overbearing proximity effect, just a matter of taste, vocal part, and what you want to get from the track.  But you can basically EQ the full/crisp balance by adjusting between 1-4".  

Once I dialed this in, for what I wanted about 2" was full but still crisp. I then added just a little 5k and 10k on the Daking EQ.  Set Distressor for 10:1 ratio in British mode but only triggering on the loudest peaks.  The guy at Brauner mentioned that with an LA2A his friend was able to get this to sound very close to the VMX, so I'll try this with an LA-2A setting on the Distressor next.  The result was a really sweet vocal track.  Had fullness with some mids peeking through and air on top, no harshness.  

Better and more "pro" sounding than I ever got with the Blue mouse.   I was pleasantly surprised because until then I was questioning if I should have gone the way of Blue Kiwi, or u87, etc.  But I think I'm getting to know how to work this mic and think we will be able to do some good things together.  

Maybe not as "larger than life" as the top of the line Brauners but at 3-4x the price I hope they are better mics.  I would assume the $5k tube mics would be fuller and smooter.  I would not expect it to sound as good as the $9k KHE.  I wish.  But it has the potential to get real pro sounding tracks.

But like most boutique gear it's not a Swiss Army Mic like a U87 that you can just throw up if front of anything.  You have to work it a little.

I still haven't been using my Mogami mic cable which I think is warmer but less crisp but just like with the Vovox I don't know that for sure until I play with positioning.  

I'll be tracking female vocals and some guitar over the next couple of weeks so by then I think I'll have a good idea of what this mic is capable of and how to get what I need out of it.
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