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iBeam Takes on Neumanns in Nashville
Phil Keaggy checks out the iBeam
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NASHVILLE, TN - Recently a number of acoustic guitar pickup
manufacturers have claimed that their pickup is just as good
as a microphone. We ourselves have made claims that our new iBeam
pickup has microphone-like fidelity and is a viable alternative
as a recording tool.
On July 17, 2002, at state-of-the-art Dark Horse Recording in
Nashville we took the unprecedented step of assembling a group
of industry professionals and members of the guitar and audio
press to witness us put our reputation on the line to prove
our claims.
Engineer Ed Simonton at the controls
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In full view of our guests, Phil
Keaggy (an Audix endorser) and Robin Crow did live recordings
on a Martin and a Lowden guitar pitting our iBeam Active/Para
D.I. combo against Neumann KM 84 microphones with API Mic Preamps.
(Hear
an audio sample)
Recording engineer Ed Simonton conducted
the session and did the setup for the mics. EQ for the mics
was applied prior to recording with a Sontec Parametric EQ and
our Para DI did the EQ honors for the iBeam. Both iBeam and
the microphone pair were simultaneously recorded onto an Otari
Radar Hard Disk Recorder to insure a pristine recording and
eliminate any nuance of performance.
Robin and Nancy Crow
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The iBeam is a mono device, so a pseudo stereo was created by panning a slightly
delayed signal hard right and the original left. A small amount of compression
from an AMEK 9098 and reverb via a Lexicon PCM 90 was added
to both signals in the stereo buss post-recording. An AB playback
of the two sources was immediately presented to our guests.
CDs of the session were then burned and given to our guests
so they could study the results at home.
With this test, we subjected the iBeam to incredible scrutiny. Is it a preposterous
notion that a $400.00 guitar pickup/preamp should keep company
with a multi-thousand dollar mic, mic pre and EQ setup? We don't
think so, and we've stepped up to the plate to prove it. We
now challenge our competitors to prove their claims.
Listen
to an audio sample of the session
Visit
the Dark Horse Recording website
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Download MP3 Recordings of the Session:
These files were ripped from a master disc of the session using MP3 technology.
We have included 320kb rips of Keaggy's cut; this is the highest quality
possible using MP3 compression and is as close to CD quality as to make
any differences between the two negligible.
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