User Manual

11
Chapt
er 4: Realistic Expectations
(or, Mic Mod EFX Meets the Space-Time Continuum)
Although Mic Mod EFX seems in many ways to be almost magic, it is, in fact, simply
very clever science. And as such, it remains subject to those pesky laws of physics.
To get the maximum satisfaction out of Mic Mod EFX, it is important to have realistic
expectations of exactly what it can and can’t do. (Most of what it can’t do relates to the physical
impossibility of recovering information that wasn’t in the original signal to begin with.) Here are the
main issues to be aware of:
Choice of Input Microphone
Luckily for all of us, the general quality of
“affordable” microphones has reached a
remarkably high level. Consequently, if you
stick with well-known manufacturers, most any
reasonable quality mic will provide sufficient
performance to allow Mic Mod EFX to do its
magic. (OK, we said it wasn’t magic, but we’re
speaking metaphorically here.)
On the other hand, you can’t expect to go into
a large (but unnamed) mass merchandiser of
low-cost electronics gear and pick up a $19.95
mic and expect Mic Mod EFX to make it sound
like a U87. If a source mic has massive roll-off
in a particular frequency range, there is no
way Mic Mod EFX can produce the signal that
would have been captured had the source mic
had better response.
Microphone Variations
While there are obviously major differences
between various models of microphones,
there are also often more subtle differences
between different samples of the same model
of microphone. Whether due to manufacturing
variances, age, or condition, there is no
guarantee that the mic we modeled will be
identical to your source mic or to a specific
mic you want to model. In the case of some
well-known classics, we have even provided
multiple models of the same (but sonically
differing) mic from different sources.
Microphone Technique
In getting the best possible recorded sound,
mic technique and placement are at least as
important as mic choice (if not more so). A
good engineer can record a great track with an
SM57 while a poor one can make a U47 sound
like doo doo. If your audio is not well-recorded
in the first place, Mic Mod EFX can to do very
little to improve it. If you start with a poorly
recorded track, all Mic Mod EFX will do is make
it sound like a track that was poorly recorded
with a great mic.
Excessive Frequency Boost
Although Mic Mod EFX’s processing does
not itself add noise to your signal, any noise
in your original audio or noise added by
intervening processes (e.g., A/D conversion,
pre-Mic Mod EFX dynamics processing, etc.)
will be accentuated by any large amount of
frequency boost. This should only be a problem
when your source mic has a substantial bass
or treble roll-off and the modeled mic has a
corresponding boost or, more likely, when your
audio was recorded with a low-cut filter on
the source mic and you do not use a low-cut
on the modeled mic. In both of these cases,
the models will apply substantial gain to the
affected frequency ranges, raising the level of
added noise along with the desired signal. If
the resulting noise level is unacceptable, you
should choose a different combination of mics
and/or turn on the modeled mic’s low-cut filter.