In the May 2007 issue of EQ Magazine, microphone modder Klaus Heyne had some interesting philosophical tidbits.
"There was magic when sounds sounded good. They touched you. When sound didn't sound good, it went to your brain to analyze, to maybe appreciate it on a cerebral level but certainly not on a visceral level."
"A major manufacturer approached me last year and said 'We want you to design a $1,000 microphone.' I said that I can't do that. It's impossible. He said, 'Make a few compromises, it will still be better than any other kind of microphone in this price class.'
I said, ''True, but I cannot live with that. I must be able to plug it in and feel good about what I hear, whether it's my design or somebody else's.' I can't say 'for what it is it sounds pretty good.' That's not how I live my life."
"...the best microphones work not by being the closest to how our ears work, but by having the best euphemistic additions or alterations that make us feel good about what we hear."
"My definition of a good mic is: the musical experience never even wanders away from my pleasure center to my intellectual side, to where I might think: 'oh yeah, I can really hear the cymbals, they're right over here...'"
This is similar to poor movie mixes de-suspending reality by making the audience think: "hey there's a sound coming from the left surround speaker!"
http://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?topic=19045.0
"There was magic when sounds sounded good. They touched you. When sound didn't sound good, it went to your brain to analyze, to maybe appreciate it on a cerebral level but certainly not on a visceral level."
"A major manufacturer approached me last year and said 'We want you to design a $1,000 microphone.' I said that I can't do that. It's impossible. He said, 'Make a few compromises, it will still be better than any other kind of microphone in this price class.'
I said, ''True, but I cannot live with that. I must be able to plug it in and feel good about what I hear, whether it's my design or somebody else's.' I can't say 'for what it is it sounds pretty good.' That's not how I live my life."
"...the best microphones work not by being the closest to how our ears work, but by having the best euphemistic additions or alterations that make us feel good about what we hear."
"My definition of a good mic is: the musical experience never even wanders away from my pleasure center to my intellectual side, to where I might think: 'oh yeah, I can really hear the cymbals, they're right over here...'"
This is similar to poor movie mixes de-suspending reality by making the audience think: "hey there's a sound coming from the left surround speaker!"
http://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?topic=19045.0
