# Audio control cm-10 vs. umik1 & UMM6



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Finally got a new tascam us-366 so I can XLR in 

remeasured my shop that has been tuned with Dirac live via minidsp flex

i been listening to a tune with Dayton UMM6 and minidsp Umik1
Both of which were very pleasant

I put on the cm-10 with no cal file and ram Dirac , The end result is a completely different shaped response, and all I can say is wow…

the cm-10 with no cal file in sound quality kicks the living s*** out of these usb mics

why ???? I do not know, you get what you pay for….. I think I’m going to invest in that joesphson c-550h no doubt


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## Bikey (May 15, 2021)

Interesting. Is this the first XLR / non-USB mic you used with the miniDSP?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Bikey said:


> Interesting. Is this the first XLR / non-USB mic you used with the miniDSP?


with Dirac yes…..

i have a few XLR mics I regularly use, just have t had a usb interface…. I’ve used XLR to a rolls phantom power to 1/4” to 1/8” and into a line in on a soundcard and calibration for the soundcard in REW works excellent, I’ve been using the cm10 for some time now that way, but Dirac doesn’t look at REW sound card cal file…. And so I needed a true XLR to ADC and I to usb card

now I have one and what I’m getting back is much better, the highs are tamed and the mids (oh the mids) are so so smooth now, 500-1k response to die for….

the cm10 has a built in preamp that has its calibration embedded i to the preamp somehow…. So as long as I get the analog audio from it faithfully into Dirac it’s 100% awesome


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## Bikey (May 15, 2021)

Is there any way to get the mic calibration into the Dirac signal chain for the higher end mics (which don't have a built-in customized correction)?
For your current setup, it is just the CM-10 to the Tascam, then USB to your computer?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Bikey said:


> Is there any way to get the mic calibration into the Dirac signal chain for the higher end mics (which don't have a built-in customized correction)?
> For your current setup, it is just the CM-10 to the Tascam, then USB to your computer?


yes exactly,

i ran a soundcard cal on the tascam Just to see the correction and it measured flat to 18k and then drops off , so , for argument sakes it’s flat

but yeah cm-10>tascam>pc>Dirac


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## Picassotheimpaler (Sep 21, 2014)

Have you still been having better luck with this/other microphones??
Seems strange that a mic would make such a difference if it is calibrated just like another one, but sometimes you don't question results lol


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## Speedhunter (Feb 21, 2020)

oabeieo said:


> the cm-10 with no cal file in sound quality kicks the living s*** out of these usb mics
> 
> why ???? I do not know, you get what you pay for….. I think I’m going to invest in that joesphson c-550h no doubt


^This 🤣😂


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Yes 

it’s crazy how different each one of my microphones is even the ones with the same name brand and same model number

I have 8 audio control cm-10s, all of them are different… not by much but a little bit. Overall they all produce a similar sounding tune…pretty hard to discern from one to the other

i have 2 umik1 and both are radically different from eachother…. (I’m pretty sure the calibration file is a generic one) with some minor offsets.

i have 1 UMM6 and it sounds good but different then the others

I have 1 ecm8000 and it sounds great! Close to the cm10 but still a bit different

I have 1 umik2 and it sounda lot like a umik1 but definitely better a lot like the umm6

The umm6, umik1 and 2 all sound the most similar…. Umm6 definitely better 

the cm10s pretty much the same to 200hz. Then compared the cm-10 drops down in frequency about 4 db from 500-5khz then is flat then drops down another 2 db at 12k (compared to the usb mics) and the cm-10 sounds the best of all of them

All compared using a flat target in Dirac and then compared in REW moving mic averages or sweeps 

None of them are within 2db of eachother…. None


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## Picassotheimpaler (Sep 21, 2014)

oabeieo said:


> Yes
> 
> it’s crazy how different each one of my microphones is even the ones with the same name brand and same model number
> 
> ...


Hmm, interesting...are any of those externally calibrated mic? Like from a calibration company/service??


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## Speedhunter (Feb 21, 2020)

Talking about few db here but yesterday on fixing midbass post, you were so confident about 20db difference....maybe i find you also on S/N ratio in amplifiers and how its a big deal if its 100db or 110db.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Picassotheimpaler said:


> Hmm, interesting...are any of those externally calibrated mic? Like from a calibration company/service??


well cross spectrum does a nice job from what I hear , but they just test it against a class 1 mic

for a grand studio six has a class 1 usb mic
That would be pretty nice for most of what I do 

Eliminate all the extras….

i think once you find a mic that produces a sound that is pleasing (flat) stick with it. For me it’s the cm10….. it’s a dam good sounding mic.

the tonality that comes from it is so good in the midrange…. I have to boost 18k a tad after a flat tune with them, but that’s simple….. everything else otherwise is just right

and when iasca 3050A measures flat with it , the usb mics are different

i guess you could say I finally figured out why my 90s cars sounded so much better. I was using cm10 with audio control meter and I thought it was a flat responce because mic said so

fast forward 20 years to 2015 and I get a usb mic and I just can’t get that same sound (can get close) but flat never sounds like it did with that trusty old meter….. it was the mic the whole time

And it makes me glad to finally see REW amd the 3050a are agreeing completely now…. They operate the same amd produce the same numbers (as long as I use the same mic on both)

this meter is 35 years old and still perfectly accurate……. What a awesome machine


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## Picassotheimpaler (Sep 21, 2014)

There's one at the shop that we still use. Thing is a tank


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Picassotheimpaler said:


> There's one at the shop that we still use. Thing is a tank


Go get the mic off of it
Get a USB adapter that runs at 96K or higher so that you can be sure that it won’t drop off at 20 K


And run yourself a tune with it …. And do flat 

Seriously go get it


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## Picassotheimpaler (Sep 21, 2014)

oabeieo said:


> Go get the mic off of it
> Get a USB adapter that runs at 96K or higher so that you can be sure that it won’t drop off at 20 K
> 
> 
> ...


I was gonna try exactly that when I get it hooked up. 
Run one with the AF mic and one with that one on different presets just to see how different they sound


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Picassotheimpaler said:


> I was gonna try exactly that when I get it hooked up.
> Run one with the AF mic and one with that one on different presets just to see how different they sound


The cm-10 is a 12-50v mic 
The 3050A outputs 12 V to the mic

At 48 V The mic is more sensitive in the very top end… I got a 12 V Phantom power just for that Mic so I don’t need the 4db Q 1.4 boost at 18300hz 


If the mic is not as sensitive on the very top octave at 12 V then the inverse will happen on your measurement… 

Once I put a 12 phantom power on I don’t need to use the 18 K boost 


That’s seriously the only difference I could see 

So I’m fairly confident it was calibrated for 12 V Phantom power. But that is the only difference I could see at 48 V


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