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Bad measurement mic...

Posted: Mon, 2019-Nov-11, 01:41
by Soundman2020
Just a quick rant from me, to get this forum area started: I strongly dislike the Behringer ECM-8000 acoustic measurement mic! It's a disaster.

There's not many mics I completely avoid, but this one I do. Build quality is poor, there's a factory defect in many mics that leaves the internal grounding messed up, so you get major mains hum (I know, because I got one of them! Brand new, and it buzzes like crazy), and the consistency is all over the place.

It's supposed to be a piece of precision equipment that you can rely on for accurate acoustic measurements... but it isn't.

Here's a graph from a company that specializes in calibrating mics, showing the calibrated frequency response of 85 ECM8000 mics that were sent to them for calibration, (normalized at 1 kHz):
ecm8000_calibration-frequency_response_differences-large.jpg
You can see the huge scary differences... easily +/- 5dB... and that's supposed to be a precision mic? :shock: :roll:

Now compare that to what the manufacturer actually claims for their mic:
Behringer-ECM8000_Technical_Graph-polar-response.jpg

It doesn't match too well! :)

The only time I'd use a Behringer ECM-8000 is if it did not have the internal grounding defect, and had been properly calibrated by a company such as the one mentioned above. Otherwise... Nope.

For about the same money, you can get a much better mic, such as the PreSonus PRM1, or something similar from another reputable manufacturer.

Caveat Emptor.

Re: Bad measurement mic...

Posted: Wed, 2020-Jan-15, 19:43
by Purelythemusic
Aw man, just happens to be the one I bought a few years ago...still might be good for something...maybe...

Re: Bad measurement mic...

Posted: Wed, 2020-Jan-15, 19:54
by Soundman2020
Purelythemusic wrote:Aw man, just happens to be the one I bought a few years ago...still might be good for something...maybe...
It might still be OK for the initial setup... but if you want to do precision tuning in there, then perhaps it would be better to sell it e-bay and get a good one. I list a few of those in the thread on how to calibrate and use REW to test and tune your room acoustics.

- Stuart -

Re: Bad measurement mic...

Posted: Wed, 2020-Jan-15, 22:08
by endorka
Purelythemusic wrote:Aw man, just happens to be the one I bought a few years ago...still might be good for something...maybe...


I have two of them, now gainfully employed as talkback / listenback mics and drum "room" mics.

In an emergency I used one to record a mandolin once. Despite the odds being stacked against it - high self noise on a quiet source, and omni pickup pattern while close to the acoustic guitar player, it gave a remarkably compelling recording.

Cheers,
Jennifer