I don't know if you'll read a comment after 4 months but I hope so! I've followed so much of your advice, including this mic, you've been invaluable and I thank you so much!! Today - I signed my first contract!
i closed my eyes to see if I could tell when you switch them... and I could. Specifically in the high end, the neumann sounds better on the high end. But it was so subtle that comparing them price wise, the stellar is a huge contender to the neumann.
Just bought mine with a scarlet 2i2 2nd gen. First time dealing with an interface and an xlr mic. Blown away, by the quality. My first real mic and I love the quality over something like the blue snowball or yeti
Insanejughead , they could always DBA as: TZ Audio or TZA. I “think” the shorter modern name will help drive addt’l business their way. But either way, I’m buying this mic...just hope they haven’t foregone their by-hand processes. Peace.
i think they should sent them to musicians free not youtubers. i won't buy anything a youtuber recommends that's for shure. Have you purchased a t shirt or hoodie yet from a guy that just talks. must have took him years to learn that.
@@mrblister8359 Yes, I have in Fact ordered more then a dozen tech-related Products recommendet by RU-vidrs (Mics, Amps, Pc parts ...) - find some you can Trust is the harder Part, but there are many. And of course: I buy Tshirts or other Merch to Support them, so they can stay independent. Thats the way it works.
@@Thomas_Speck the only reason they make videos is they earn 12 dollars every 1000 video views. And with that they get discount and even free merchandise. Are you getting anything by buying there products from there links not even discount. I am not against it it's ok to get rich from youtube it's youtube that has killed creativity and music musicians cant make money from youtube and putting your music on youtube for free is plain stupid. Spoken voice actor i laugh why would you need anything more than one cheap mic to do that.
Very harsh indeed but so is the U87. The U87 though has higher resolution and smoother midrange. And no, the difference is not subtle! Stellar doesn’t sound like a Neumann.
@@wentakura How on Earth is the U87 harsh? Look at the graphs on here: recordinghacks.com/microphones/Neumann/U-87-Ai The Cardioid pattern gives only a slight presence boost. The omni pattern is the only one that comes close to being harsh. What isn't a harsh mic by your standards?
@@TheZeroSbr I wonder if its possible to smoothen the Stellar X2 harsness with EQ in post prod. And about the best mic ever, The Neumann TLM49 could be the best voice over mic ever.
@@marcchapleau8343 Could be, but harshness is also a product of the capsule design itself. Frequency response just tells you which frequencies the capsule boosts or attenuates relative to the other frequencies it captures. For example, compare the frequency responses of the CAD E100s and a Neumann TLM 103. Just by looking at the graph, the Neumann should be the harsher mic since it seems to have a larger presence boost. But I've found that the E100s is significantly harsher than the TLM 103, and it's especially noticeable with "s" and "sh" sounds as you'd expect. The E100s' frequency response does peak higher in the highs than the TLM 103, but it doesn't have a shelf-like presence boost like the TLM 103 does, so it only boosts a handful of frequencies like 1dB higher. On paper, that's a very small difference in apparent harshness, so I can't see any other cause that could explain the disparity in harshness aside from the difference in capsule design itself.
Bro, I went to the Techzone website, and read every single review..You wouldn’t believe how many people in their reviews said they bought the mic because of your video... there is even other videos of people on RU-vid, who are reviewing the mic, because of your recommendation. You are popular in the audio community, And you should be, because you make great shit. When you can say something, and make people go out and spend their money, that’s respect.....Thanks to you, I bought one as well....
Yea, it’s Mike’s fault I now have a sound booth set up in the basement. But....I have learned a lot about mics, audio recording, pre-amps and digital recorders and recording. I’ve been a musician for years, and have done live sound for years, but I’ve learned voice over is an entirely different ball game. Thanks and cheers from Akron, Ohio
Like a lot of others, I bought it on Mike's recommendation. The Tech Zone Audio guys were GREAT to deal with. First off, they gave me a $20 discount, just because I asked for it...and secondly my PayPal account offered to credit me another $15 for the purchase. So basically, it comes to my door for $165. Now, I don't have a Neumann to compare it to...but I do use a Studio Projects C1 most of the time. The C1 has often been compared favorably to the U87 and retails for about $249, and has been my man mic for over 10 years now. I A/B'd my C1 and the X2 side by side. Incredible! I now have a new go to mic! The X2 was warmer and projected my voice much better than the C1. Hey, I'll still use the C1, but for the money, the X2 is an outstanding value. I'll eventually add the X2 Vintage to my collection. Its great supporting a small company (but maybe not so small in the future once more voiceover artists learn about their quality) that builds a high quality product at an affordable price....well done Booth Junkie!...well done Tech Zone!
Hi BJ, I think they have assembled the right components and the sound is pleasant, tight, balanced, sweet and with a pinch of pepper in the Mids Frequency ..the doubts I have are how many years it will last...I have a 1983 Neumann U-87, that is used for 37 years and it sounds and works like it's just come out of the box...hmm I think the Stellar will last no more than half a decade and with luck...that's why they justify the $3,000 difference...hopefully I'm wrong. TechZne is a great company, excellent products and the Stellar X3 is coming...with 4db of noise... ;) • THANKS FOR THE REVIEW...A GOOD ONE.
WOW, that Stellar is so smooth. I don't like most mics and am very picky about how they sound in the high end. I almost exclusively demand warmer sounding mics or at least smooth highs if their are mics with a boost in that range...and I want this Stellar X2 BADLY!!!!
TechZone Audio Products but still not shipping outside of the US, or even mentioning it to people who signed up on the wait list, a month ago, from outside of the US. What’s the problem with international sales? Customers are clearly willing to pay for the product and shipping. It surely can’t be that difficult to write an international address on a box and package it securely?
This mic just got better. The new batch coming out in October has new circuitry that lowers the noise floor. Wish I could easily get one but living in New Zealand doesn't make it that easy.
TechZone Audio Products so effectively, the wait list is meaningless for anyone outside of the US, as we’re just not that important. Because putting ourselves on the list, was pointless, as we just become a number for later, rather than securing ourselves a spot within the production queue.
SomeOldTHICCDude it’s literally two dudes making these microphones my guy, not some large company with a bunch of assets at their disposal. It takes time to be able to set up a shop that allows shipping outside of the country. It’s not as easy as you think it is
Thanks! Went to get one and they are sold out, AND, they don't sell them on their website. YOU were very wise to hang onto that one! Nice review of a mic none of us can get :)
Just received my X2 today... price did go up to $199, but if you were on the waiting list it's $169. The new batch has improvements: 7db noise floor improvement. Now less than 13dBA. Plus tighter tolerance capacitors, powered coat paint. Headed to the studio to fire it up!
Okay, you sold me... I have to admit, I felt like waiting for the Vintage version. But I need a better mic now. The sound samples on their site have a lot of “esss”. Yours are surprisingly high too. But I can deal with that. BTW, thank you a million percent for your great Reaper videos. I’m an amateur who got drafted to do some voiceover screencast tutorials for my company. I couldn’t stand to put out something mediocre so I went on a crash course to learn fundamentals and to find good, but not expensive, gear and a DAW that I could actually use. I’m a pretty good photo editor and modestly good video editor, so I know my way around that software pretty good. DAWs are surprisingly hard to learn for me. Reaper was my 4th DAW but I finally “got it” after your coaching (and some other good creators out there.. Another BTW: I used your affiliate link. First time I ever bought that way but I’m happy to support your cause.
He had the original version so you can't really use it as a comparison between the new one. I, alongside with many audio engineers on gearslutz, actually found it to be very smooth with sibilance. We find it better than most of the mics we had.
I've watched this video multiple times over the past several months (not because I'm rewatching, but, I link people to it a lot and I just let it continue to play in the background while I'm talking to whomever. Today I noticed something I never noticed before. Today I am not home. I am using janky little ear buds that you can pick up for maybe a couple dollars. When Booth Junkie put the foam on the mics there was an instant - very noticeable - change in tone. I had to come back to the screen and listen again. Not that they sounded bad, but, if I hadn't known what was going on I would've thought he changed to 2 different mics. For transparency: these ear buds are JVC and they're about $5 on amazon. Am I losing my mind here? Why isn't this apparent in my Sennheiser HD 280 Pros? To be clear, the JVC sound quality in general is just not great at all... but.. should I be adding something like these to my studio set up for when I'm mixing?
LOL THIS TEST IS RIDICULOUS JUST SING OR RECORD SOME INTRUMENTS IN IT AND TREAT THEM AND MIX THEN YOU LL SEE THE DIFFERENCE AND WHY BETTER TO HAVE A U87...VERY DIFFICULT TO JUDGE A MIC DRY WITH SAME PREAMP VIA INTERNET SOUND ANYWAY...
Seems like a cool mic. Seems also like there has been a $60 increase in price which is pretty significant. at $200 does it still stand in the same favor or does it bring in other options? I mean $60 increase on a $140 microphone is pretty significant.
I might be talking out my ass but that frame looks suspiciously like the cheap neewer microphones, maybe what they mean is they by those for the casings and completely redo the internals?
Listening to this video on Shure 1840s and the U87 sounds more balanced, has more warmth but on the flat side. The X2 is harsher on the high end and the low end sounds less smooth. But then again... one is around 180 and the other 3,200 lol. Not bad. Also as another comment mentioned, the U87 is suited for more applications in the studio when you need a more neutral sounding mic.
I am sure it is a great mic, but the differences are quite clear; the U87 is much more "contained," and handles S's, plosives better, while having a pleasant distortion in the upper mids.
The price for the X2 is now $199,-. But what a great great mic..... wow. Could see if you could make a test of the Aurycle A87 USB LDM?? This is half the prize of the Stella. I would love to see that. Thanks. Great show you make.
I just received mine and thank you so much for reviewing this. I love the sound of this even more than my CAD E100s. It matches my voice much better and sounds so much clearer.
Does it really sound better though? I know that at some point it becomes preference, but I don't think that the difference between a E100s and this would be just up to preference. Maybe you got a bad E100s?
not gonna lie, I just got my first pair of monitors so i came to this channel to kinda test their clarity because this channel has the most crisp audio ever.
I modded my NT1 with a K47 capsule I bought on ebay. It sounds great. Here's a link to a video of a guy who does it to his NT1-A. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bzPSv88lH8I.html
Why is yours version with a golden grill? Is it some special edition? What has changed for them over few years? I'm not sure if they are "hand made" now.
The more I learn about mics, the more I see how name brands, no matter how good or popular they are, are clearly not worth the price. Great information, sir. Thank you. :-D
You know what I can't help but be disappointed about is I paid slightly more than this *and* they changed the capsule from gold to black *after* I already paid for it. They sent an email apologizing and I get it but at the same time, now I kind of want to see a shoot out between what they sent me and this neuman....
Having just visited their site - you might suggest they re-do their promo video with a better voice (hint) and a music bed that isn’t overmodulated - just sayin’ - the various sample bits of audio could also stand re-do’s
You cannot compared 3.200 dollars with a 130 - 150 dollar microphone… I think stellar x2 is a winner in this comparison if you really want to compared to this 3.200 dollar microphone. 1st: just only talking the stellar x2 mic sound quality it is almost the same as level as it U87 !!! But prices are huge different!!! You can buy the stellar X2 microphone for a lot cheaper than U87, and stellar x2 is getting almost the same sounds quality as U87 right!!! Anyone can go out there to buy themselves a 3200 dollar microphone but I won’t. Why should I?because i can buy a microphone like stellar x2 for a 100 time cheaper than U87….. and for that 3200 dollars can buy you may be 25 of stellar x2 microphones for that!!! So which one is a winner you tell me if I am wrong!!!
Looks like they take cheap Chinese microphones, strip them of all their components, and install their own circuit boards and capsules. It's not uncommon. Various companies have done this for years. Most eventually reach out to Chinese manufactures to manufacturing their microphones to their specs at the factory and then just do QC testing.
Just got mine delivered. Using a Audiant id14 had a much greater self noise then 13dba. The mic sounds as good or better than a WA48. The wind screen was above average in effectiveness. The case is light duty but is appreciated. If the self noise was lower and a nicer body it could be a $500 mic.
Hi Mike, Thanks for the review. I'm trying to decide between this X2 (with international shipping) vs the Lewitt LCT-440 ($40 lower overall) which can be purchased locally here in Australia.
Hi Mike, I know you do the voice thing and really enjoy your videos. But I record Violin, cello, piano, brass and was considerink buting a pair of AKG 214 mics. How would your wonder Stellar X2 Series Large Capsule Condenser Microphone compare ? Thanx, J
I bought one based on this review. It's a lot noisier than the MKH-416 (I don't have a U87!). Same with the Synco. Both of these mics were sent directly to you by the manufacturer, and I call foul. In the future, I won't be buying any mics you didn't buy and get a random, not one doctored by the manufacturer.
On their Facebook they mention something about unscrewing the base and aligning properly to ground it... something to that effect. This will remedy the noise. Apparently it's something that happens in transit.
I think the Stellar X2 is just a bit more brighter than the Neumann. Which could probably explain why there's a bit of a noise floor on the X2. Not that its a bad thing at all. Its a shame they don't ship to where I am, though. :(
In this comparison, what I was impressed with is that a lot of inexpensive large diaphragm condensers, the top end is hyped too much - this one has a smoother top end which keeps it from feeling "cheap" - that said, in standard use, they seemed to sound rather similar, it was when he got close for the proximity that I noticed the difference the most - the Neumann seemed to remain smoother in its entire response, while the X2 seemed to compress more in the mids or something. Very impressive mic that doesn't suffer from that over hyped sound. Might look to add one to my cabinet.
That does sound pretty good. U87 has a touch more low end and the X2 has a wee bit more presence on the high end. I’d bet upgrading the capacitors would make it even better.
Mike, I'm such a fan of your channel. You inspired the latest upload on my Audio for Content Creators channel. Plugged you and left links. Hope it helps!
I was try to hand made a mic myself, but just not sound as good as i expected. there should be some job like adjusting or something, right? I mean they are genius to make the one close to U87. I should get one.
I neglected to say that, even though I am saving for a Synco D2 personally, this webpage and info is most assuredly saved in my "Microphones" folder in my bookmarks! A VERY solid sounding VO mic!
Thanks for this!! There’s a mic by AKG under $400 called the C214 and it has the exact same capsule/sound as the C414 which is a high end classic at around $1,000 I think. I’ve recorded in stereo with the original and was identical. The reason it’s a lot cheaper is because it doesn’t have the multiple pick up patterns which doesn’t matter if all you’re doing is vocals. There’s not a better condenser mic for vocals under $500. For dynamic mics the best mic under $400 is the SM7B (through a cloudlifter before the preamp because it’s output is very low) This is after working at guitar center for 6 years doing multiple shoot outs and then moving into a large studio with over 130 mics to test out any day.
The c214 was by far one of the worst mics I’ve ever used, that top end is absolutely atrocious and recordings didn’t even sound like me in my opinion there isn’t even a good microphone out there that just works. Not in the $100 price range and not in the $3,000. All still sounds metallic and unnatural to me
The Lewitt LCT440 Pure and 441 Flex are way better than the AKG C214. It's nothing like the classic C414, or even the C414 XLS, which is the flatter of the modern ones. A used AT4050 is probably one of the best mics for under $500. I think the CAD M179 is probably a better buy than the C214 too. You could get a pair for what the C214 would cost as well.
Does Combo XLR in audio interfaces are for symmetric jack connections? And if yes does connect TS(tip-sleeve) jack instead TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) can cause any damage to equipment? Could be any other consequences of such connection, i.e.buzz? Does using TRS ->TRS connections between any other parts is safer in use than TS-TS? Can it cause any unexpected accidents in audio quality? Just in case of an answer "that depends on equipment" iI am talking about typical midrange RU-vidr equipment - lots of cables many cheap small boxes like monitor headphones splitter/amp, preamps, mixers, splitters, two computers, mics, etc. So basically I am asking for any connection. Just to make sure to not burn equipment.
Ok I found the video sweet! Thanks booth junkie!! So I'm getting a Focusrite scarlett solo 3rd gen usb audio interface, amazon xlr male female mic cables, and the stellar x2 large diaphragm cardioid condenser xlr mic...your videos really help now I just have to learn how to use them properly for VO lol
Hi dear friend. This mic is amazing, can you give a link, where buy it...??? Bless you from Chile 🇨🇱 your videos are very interesting for me. See you...!!!
Please do shoot out between TzAudio Vintage vs Stellar X2 vs Rode NT1 and if you have vs M-Audio Nova too. Self noise comparison too. I THINK but not sure i like U47 better then U87 capsule. It's warm but not muddy like 67, and not brittle, harsh sounding like U87. U47 is sounds well balanced IMO. I think i will buy Vintage one from them. Thank you. Subscribed.
@TechZone Audio Products Will you make matched stereo pairs, and ship to Canada? I'd love to use a pair for drum overheads, and am happy to pay a bit more in shipping to get them here.
@TechZone Audio Products another good channel to send a review mic to is Podcastage. Mike (Booth Junkie) looks at mics with an optics to voice over. Bandrew (Podcastage) looks at them for singing, instruments, everyday usage... totally different review types.
Holy crap!!! Ok... so, I started recording life with a low budget. I did what I culd with what I had. But, I DID start out with a condenser mic.. one of the cheapie kit ones you tested a while back. The hissing from that other mic has been a real thorn in my side for months. Any way... I ordered this TZ x2 after watching your video and I am blown away! The noise floor if almost non existent! The clarity and range is phenomenal! Worth EVERY penny! Thanks Mike! I'm actually looking forward to recording this weekend! You're the best!
@@feverishcully1529 Yeah my guess is it's similar to the usual Alice build, employing a Schoeps style circuit in a BM-700 body, but with corrective EQ added.
