May 27th, 2016
First of all, most people would wonder why I should comment extensively on a microphone valued at under $200, but I would clearly explain that many $500 - $1000 mics are in fact various versions of inexpensive and similar microphones to a B2 Pro. The word is out. The recent wave of decent quality large and small plate condenser mics which proliferate the market now, are indeed Chinese, Japanese made microphones in whole or in some part. I personally will not knowingly misrepresent the facts or deceive my customers and friends into buying expensive name mics dressed up with fancy marketing. However in this business one can name “names” of good things only if you say nice things. I will comment about the real bargains which exist, and possibly alienate those people who are prejudiced towards fancy, expensive name equipment. Years from now the truth will become more obvious about the amazing quality of some “cheaper” brands. Certainly if one keeps an open mind you might find it embarrassing that a $1000 mic exists also as a $300 mic from another fairer priced “manufacturer”. Don’t feel too bad. It is persuasive marketing that sways your decision. We all strive to get the best for our money spent, but capitalism in America, as it is now, has another agenda – How to convince people to pay 3 times the price because of some marketing constructed propaganda and international creation of overpriced brands. To be fair I do see superior quality control and occasionally better circuitry designs in some expensive stuff, but often at extraordinary costs. The problem for us consumers is how to identify which one is which.
The Behringer B2 Pro is significantly better and different than a B1 or even an older B2 (non pro designation). It has a Behringer custom made dual diaphragm capsule which meets a specification truly honest to the manuals spec. A Behringer product engineer personally confirmed this. Indeed this mic has the smoothest omni pattern with no “holes” in the pick up response no matter how the mic is positioned. It is also one of the widest bandwidth elements I’ve seen yet. The ability for it to hear the lowest notes on a grand piano or cello as well as the clarity on a twelve string guitar is remarkable and confirmed with test measurements 30Hz to 20Khz response.
We own 3 Nicholai 444 FFT which can help to QC and confirm performance characteristics. Out of the box the B2 pro is an exemplary performer, super clean, high clarity mic which unfortunately for many audiophile engineers who prefer older vintage warmth will make them believe the mic is too bright, edgy, strident, or worse that it has a metallic sound. In a way I agree because the mic is picking up all harmonics from a real instrument!!! Lets face facts, if you stuck your ear 6 inches away from a Martin guitar, or a Steinway piano you would think the instrument was too bright as well. Either move the mic further away and “hear” more of the complete instrument, or use some careful compression and/or equalization. But to obtain clarity at the mic source to start is typically a good thing. My reservation about using very expensive vintage mics is due to aged diaphragms that too often have become dull and lost frequency, dynamics, and sensitivity. To pay huge money for what often is a way off spec mic seems a little unrealistic. Don’t get me wrong many older famous mics are fantastic, but I see too many defective older mics which people argue in favor of. It’s Perplexing. What are they hearing, the famous name, or the price? I’ve seen ELAM 251 with torn capsules, or Neuman KM84 with excessively aged low output capsules, and sound engineers extolling their virtues. At this point I feel I’m in the wrong business.
So let’s take a look at some upgrades to the B2 Pro (for that matter many of these upgrades can apply to similar other similar mics). The most common problem which exists for these newer mics, not specific to the B2 Pro, is susceptibility to RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). Here indeed adding RFI suppression capacitors into power supply circuits, improved grounds and additional special copper foil shielding to the front end to “sink” or shunt out high bandwidth RF noise (especially cell phone harmonics) are worthwhile endeavors. Adding high speed, low ESR capacitors over existing capacitors also helps to shunt RF from the circuitry.
We also install ferrite boards on the output leads to reduce RFI invading the mic from the cable. Virtually no manufacturer does this simple and inexpensive trick. Another baffling engineering oversight. Again, the lack of such circuit parts is common to most of these mics including vintage microphones. Many older microphones rely upon an excess amount of output capacitance loading of the balance line. Although this does lessen RFI, it also reduces the high frequency content to an audible effect. Often this overuse of cheap RFI suppression capacitors can create the “warmer” sound character from vintage mics. But now in today’s circuit it is better to use high Q capacitors of critical value to reduce RFI but not affect the audio. In some situations I have made 2 or 3 stage capacitors, to ferrite choke to capacitor etc. to dramatically reduce hiss which is often not from the mic circuit, but noise ingress from local RF.
The B2 Pro uses near optimal RF shunt capacitors of highest quality on the XLR signal output, but we add another RF shunt between it and board ground to chassis ground to further tune out RFI.
Also, we check the front end FET for noise spec. The capsules meg ohm loading resistors are positioned more precisely to minimize parasitic noise (one part “talking to another” due to proximity). Sometimes the noise floor in the mic is actually this RF noise pick up, parasitic phenomenon causing a slight “whispery” hiss kind of noise.
We do test run and spec on all unit fidelity. Without a doubt this is one excellent wide bandwidth capsule. So finally, to get the best out of this mic, we change out the output coupling capacitor in the servo balanced line circuit to a 2x original value, higher quality capacitor. This modification provides an obvious increase in bass detail and fullness when the mic is plugged into an honest low impedance preamp. It should be noted at this point that many supposed audiophile preamps are not true low impedance, especially in the compact mixer brands. But the truth is it’s the mics output impedance and ability to drive balanced line correctly which determines fidelity. The irony is super wide bandwidth mics with impressive sensitivity for capturing low level signals often confuse the old school thinking of wanting a “warm” mic with less detail (for instance in close micing applications where finger noise or mechanical noise emanating from the instrument is not wanted). It’s understandable to need a warm mic with less sensitivity, but there are certainly viable options to many of the expensive classics. These characteristics can often be found in modern $100-$200 microphones. Lots to choose from.
In the final analysis, it’s still all about what sounds good to the ear. The B2 Pro represents a startling realistic fidelity, but it will not necessarily be to everyone’s taste. It’s a mic for someone who wants to hear it all. It can make an excellent drum overhead, room mic, surrealistically razor sharp guitar mic, or is ideal whenever clarity is the paramount concern. I use one on my concert grand Kawai. Acoustic guitars sound exceptionally realistic.
Our modification to the B2 Pro costs $120 including all parts and return shipping.
There are some requests to mod this that don't make practical sense. See here.
In another review I will comment about a mic which goes the other way, warm, dry , very vintage… The Marshall V67.