Townsend Labs Sphere L22 Vs Slate Digital ML-1 

The correction for the reflection filter isn't supposed to emulate a filter, but correct for if you're actually USING the reflection filter. Also, townsend says you can use colored pres if you want the coloration of the pre. The processing of the mic itself isn't thrown off by using a colored pre.

I am so thankful for this channel, I have NEVER been so excited to subscribe to something. Thanks for all your help this year.

Yep, adjusting the pickup pattern is huge. Even the Antelope Edge Duo will let you adjust pickup patterns.

if you have two of the same preamps or a two ch. pre you can use the townsend labs , that's what the cal. switch for on the back to match to a external pre.

You got the mic shield setting backward. It's tonal correction for using the physical mic shield.

I have the Slate and I love it, but I would love to try the Townsend. By the way man, your room looks amazing!

I own both the Slate and the Sphere. The Sphere is the winner for me.

It’s very important that you’re not judging the accuracy of the ML-1 using a preamp emulation first. Think of the real world signal flow; you can’t put a preamp before a mic, so why would you do this in VMR. The signal needs to be clean when hitting the mic emulations. So putting any plugin or module before the emulation is going to deteriorate the accuracy. Otherwise great comparison. I’ve never used the L22 so it was enlightening to see what it can do!

I sold my ML-1 and bought the L22. I thought the Slate mic and power/pre was cheaply made. I'm much happier with the Townsend. It sounds richer and feels richer.

Great comparison, Thanks for putting this together for us!

Great comparison. One question though, and please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding of the UA Isosphere mic shield feature is that it is a compensation that can be applied to a recording that used a mic shield behind the mic to adjust for EQ and other issues that mic shields can cause, it is not a method for emulating mic shields. So, if you use it when no mic shield was there in the original recording at all, it would most likely lead to unwanted results.

Fantastic review! Thank you !

I would love and i think alot of people on youtube will love too see how you put the plugins in while using the microphones and differences with vocals i know you said piano and guitar but please add vocals cause lot of us are using this as a main vocal mic i only need it for vocals so do you think i hear a difference from my slate or you think its gonna be close main reason is vocals for me

Fady, I believe the isophere feature is meant to be used to compensate for the coloration that occurs if you had used an isolation filter such as the SE RF-X, Aston Halo and the likes. I do not believe it was intended to be used if the original recording did not occur with one of these devices.

I’m very skeptical it’s possible to reproduce transient response characteristics but an engineer who happens to be a master musician I trust says it’s great fun so gonna try one. I’ve got dozens of great mics (drummer) but often would like to leave mic colour choice to the mix like I can do with drums these days (vdrums and plugins). I didn’t know why on earth a company would make such such a system and leave off other models like Coles, Sanken , Schoeps, Calrec, Earthworks, Royer, Gefell, Beyer, Crown PZM etc love my Neumanns for sure but it’s just one brand? keen to give it a bash and have a fun creative fiddle. Thanks for the vid.

Idt the isosphere function is to emulate a isobooth. It’s the opposite. When you use an isobooth, you use isosphere to make it sound less like it’s in the isobooth.

What a great review for both.. subbed 👏🏾 hope there is a Black Friday deal for Townsend

Great video! Was looking for this comparison. I only have the Townsend Sphere. It sounds great through my wa273 even though it’s colored it’s very smooth but I like it through my Neve 5211 even better. Long as you match the levels exactly which is easy through the 5211 because they have stepped pots. Also it works fantastic through a symphony desktop which I tested on my channel. Any interface wheee you can link the inputs would work. And it’s low latency using the plug-in directly in your DAW. I do have the Apollo x4 as my main interface. It’s definitely better with that because of the ua plug-in. I’ve done a comparison between the Apollo and Symphony Desktop on my channel and I used the Sphere as my test mic if your interested.

True polar pattern emulation is not possible on a microphone with one diaphragm. The Townsend L22 has two (front and back) in Omni, The final signal is filtered by the plugin. If not, it the emulation will need to be direct to the single diaghram of the Slate

Killing it Fady! 🔥

Great video and awesome comparison. I have a humble home studio with a few nice pieces. I picked up the Slate on sale back during the summer, and I really like it. I am not a purist, so I ran it into a Neve DPX then ran an 1176… man what a cool sound! Then this month UAD ran the special promotion, buy any rack mount and get a free Sphere… I did it. I haven’t unboxed the Sphere yet. I am actually a little perplexed… Can’t use it with the hardware that costs twice as much… I mean what gives here? I was tempted to run it through the Neve, pick up a 2nd 1176… just so I could get both signals through the hardware. I don’t know what to expect. Can you achieve the presence that the 1176 provides with just an L 22? By the way, I dabble in building DIY mics. And the capsule in the Slate is a C12 style capsule, while the capsules in the Sphere is the U87/67 style. The difference in price of the 2 mics is mostly in the extra capsule, but also in the switches… that is extra soldering that requires manual labor. Thanks for a the great video!

Maaaan! this was really usefull, im about to buy the sphere l22 and this vid helped me a lot to take the final decision, just a question, if i wanna use any of the UAD preamps, do i need to use on the Unison place or after the sphere plugin?

Do you still use the Sphere now that you have moved away from UAD? if so, what's the chain you use? txs

Great job man. Thank you for the comparison. I have the Townsend but have not really used much yet. Interested in your thoughts about the accuracy of the emulations. Thnx again !

Hey Fady, if you still use both mics regularly, in which situations do you prefer to use the ml-1 and why?

Thanks for this video-- great stuff. Also just out of curiosity...can you tell me about that light that's on the tripod behind you? It looks cool :)

Greetings from Pittsburgh! Thanks for the helpful videos! I was set on buying a Neumann TLM 107 but now I am rethinking that. Have you used the TLM 107?

Can you compare ML1 to Sony c80 please

Have the Slate ML-1 and its great, but I really want to replace it with the L22 :)

Love your video theres a deal going on for a few more days get a l22 frew with a apollo x6 i just ordered it on sweetwater , i have one question on console I understand you cant put a Compressor in the unison slot , so the first insert will be the townsend plugins but can i put a Auto tune plugin under the townsend plugin on the second insert and a Avalon plugins on the 3rd insert and reverb on the otherside insert while tracking live my recording, cause i already own the slate mic and i put plugins on the unison pre and inserts in my console while i track live logic and it sounds great , but i cant pass this deal up and like the fact i can hear the microphones color live in apollo

I just sold my L22 because of exactly what you said. The variations are too subtle.

Hi! Now that Townsend Labs owns the Sphere L22... Do you believe that Universal Audio will ever develop any new plugins (especially on Spark) for the Sphere? I have a UAudio Twin Duo USB (but since UAudio is so prejudicial about which of their devices will work on Windows/Apple systems, and I am about to move to a Mac... I decided upon the RME Babyface Pro (hoping to never purchase another Uaudio DSP device ever again since I can't use on Windows AND Mac)... Big cash grab for their brand which I cannot afford.

I’m thinking about purchasing either the Townsend L22 or the new UA Sphere DLX. Not sure why one would choose one over the other. I also am using the behringer umc204hd. How clean is the preamp on that? Would that be good enough to use with Virtuam Mic System or should I think about getting analog vocal chain instead?