samples

Many of the following sound clips were submitted by our customers.

Hopefully you will get an idea of how our microphones might perform in your own studio. When known, specific technical details of the recording chain used for each clip are included.

You'll need a player such as Windows Media Player or Real Player in order to play these clips.

And please check back often for more clips. We are constantly testing and experimenting with our microphones and want to help you make better recordings with them in your own studio.

Enjoy!

Microphone Flavour Spectrum

Here is a chart, complete with clickable sound samples, of the flavour of KEL mics relative to each other, and other recommended competitor models. (Note: a new window will pop up)

Acoustic Guitar and Percussion
Here's a couple of acoustic guitars, shaker and talking drum recorded only with HM-1s. All recordings were made with Yamaha PM-1000 channel strips direct to hard disk with Nuendo and MOTU 1224 and no processing, EQ or compression of any kind during tracking. Special thanks to Josh Karnes and Dan Vogel for these.

HM-1 on Symphony Orchestra

Thanks to Dan Vogel (see acoustic guitar and clip above) for these clips featuring a single pair of HM-1s on the York Symphony Orchestra in York, PA. The mics were set in an ORTF array about 10 feet above and 10 feet behind the conductor's head. We think the HM-1 sounds especially good on the brass sections. Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3

KEL Mics on Acoustic Country Swing Band

All tracks on these clips were recorded with KEL mics, including HM-1s, HM-2Ds and HM-7Us. Thanks so much to Troy Engle and Justin Carbone from Unplugged Demos for the clips. If you are a Bluegrass fan you will probably recognize Troy's name from The Isaacs and Justin's from Special Consensus. Enjoy!

HM-2d on Kick/Front of Kit

These unprocessed clips feature the HM-2d in use outside kick drum (phase flipped), to pick up the kick and front of kit, blended with one pair of HM-1s on overheads in ORTF. Thanks to Daniel Roy of Winnipeg for manning the drums. There is no EQ or compression on these tracks. Everything you hear is a combination of the drummer, drums, space, mic selection and placement, mic pres (Focusrite ISA428 impedance set to medium for the HM-1s and Amek/Neve 9098 DMP for the HM-2d) and converters (Lucid) (Note: a new window will pop up.)

HM-2D on Blues Guitar

Mark Bussiers writes ... "Thought that I would send you a quick and dirty sound clip using one single HM-2D into a FMR RNP and RNC. The guitar is a Mexican made Muddy Waters tele played through an ancient humming, crackling, fully cranked, Gibson GA-8T with the tremolo engaged. I've tried to capture a 'warts and all' lo-fi vibe and in my opinion the HM-2D was instrumental in helping me do this."

HM-1 Acoustic Guitar Solo
This nice sounding clip was sent in by Sean Roberts of Toronto. A pair of HM-1s was set up in X-Y just off the 12-th fret/neck/body area of his Washburn. Mics went into a Great River MP-2NV pre (Loading button in / Impedance out) into an M-Audio delta 1010. Slight EQ was used around 200 Hz.

HM-1 on Electric Guitar Amp
Here's Sean Roberts again, this time with a clip of his Tele through a vintage Valco amp. Two HM-1s were used, one about 3 inches out front between the centre and edge of the speaker and 45-degrees off-axis and the other about 2 feet up and out. The recording was done in his kitchen!

HM-7U Voiceover

This is a simple spoken word recording of the HM-7U into an Amek 9098. No EQ, filters, compression. The mic was positioned about 5 inches from the narrator, on-axis

HM-2D Simple Narration

Here's a quick clip so you can hear the sound of the HM-2D compared to the HM-7U, same set-up as above.

HM-7U Soprano Sax

Mono mic with light stereo reverb. No EQ or compression.

HM-2D Soprano Sax

Mono Mic with light stereo reverb. No Eq or Compression.

HM-1 on Jazz Sax and Nylon String Guitar

Stereo pair of HM-1s on each instrument, roughly 2 feet straight out from the guitar and three feet from the sax.

Male Voiceover through the HM-1 and a Behringer Xenyx mixer

Thanks to Thomas Aldrich of Orlando, Florida for submitting this clip. Great voice, sounding fine through an HM-1.

KEL Mics on Male and Female Pop Recordings

Chris Lago a Toronto/Hollywood-based producer sent in these clips comparing various KEL mics to each other on a couple of tunes he produced. Click on the name of each mic to hear a sample. Note: these tracks are processed and are run through a fairly coloured ART tube pre:

HM-1

HM-7U

HM-2D

HM-7U on female voice, featuring Karamel. NOTE: this track is processed and EQ'd and demonstrates how it might be used in a pop production.

HM-1 Female vocals and male backing vocals

This clip features the supremely talented 12 year old Logan Murrell of Knoxville, TN. Darrell Puett is on harmony vocals. All vocals were tracked with an HM-1 into a Korg workstation. No information is available about the backing tracks, which were pre-recorded.

HM-2d Mic Comparison

Here's a simple comparison of the HM-2D on male narration and electric guitar amplifier versus a variety of other popular mics.
(Note: a new window will pop up.)

Rock Drums

This clip features the HM-1 on overheads and toms, and the HM-4 (discontinued) on kick (blended with a prototype dynamic kick mic). Snare was a prototype dynamic instrument mic. Tracks were recorded through a Neotek Elite console to a RADAR at Winnipeg's Private Ear Recording.

More clips coming soon ...