http://www.adkmic.com/specs/Vienna.html

The specs for the ADK Vienna are available at http://www.adkmic.com/specs/Vienna.html

I'm double posting this same post in this topic and also the topic in this forum for the ADK Hamburg.

Both the Hamburg and Vienna are testing out really well. They're both really smooth-sounding mics. Many people are familiar with the harshness and hyped upper-mids in many of the Chinese-made mics. These mics are much smoother and sound well even when used over several tracks.

Here's the thing about these two mics - the Hamburg and Vienna - since so many people have been asking about the difference: They sound a lot alike. I imagine many people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. They are voiced almost identical. The difference is that the Vienna has just a little more openess to it by what is probably a mild bump - maybe +2 dB at around 2-4K or so, and then another little bump around 12-15K or so. ADK doesn't release response curves [ it's their own intellectual property, so that's understandable ]. So, the Vienna sounds like a Hamburg that has a little bit boosted around 2-4K and 12-15K. Meaning, that you can get a Vienna to sound just like a Hamburg by cutting a few dB at or around those frequencies. And since cutting dB is usually the desired way to go, as far as I'm concerned, if you have a Vienna than you can also get the sound of a Hamburg out of it.

But, you can not get a Hamburg to sound like a Vienna as easily. And I would never recommend a mic that someone had to boost the EQ to get a desired sound, especially when many are not exactly running the highest-end EQ's. : )

These are beautiful mics. One thing they have over a mic like the Studio Projects C1, which is a popular mic that I have recommended often for years in this price range, is that these mics work equally well on vocals and instruments. I have recommend the C1 as a vocal mic only, and have always felt it was a poor acoustic [ especially stringed ] instrument mic. The Vienna and Hamburg raise the bar. There's also a smoother and better mid-range on these mics than most people would expect for mics with a street price of around $250. These mics have a litte bit of color to them, but not too much. So far both these mics have performed well - better than expected - on male vox, female vox, various acoustic guitars [ dark and bright ]. Tests are still ongoing and will include amps, drums, OH's, brass and percussion instruments.

People often ask for recommendations of mics that work equally well with vocals and acoustic guitar. Mics with both those attributes are few and far between and virtually non-existent in this price range. The ADK Vienna and Hamburg record both vocals and acoustic guitar equally well. For that alone they deserve high praise.

To add even more to the confusion between these mics, ADK has also just announced new models, Vienna II and Hamburg II. And they will be additional models, with the original Vienna and Hamburg's still remaining in production and on the market.

At this point I would recommend either the Vienna or the Hamburg as the best all-purpose LDC's you can buy for under $300. And outside of the MXL V69 [ which I've covered and reviewed here ] I think these are the best LDC mics in their price range - flat out.

For anyone who is interested in either the Vienna or the Hamburg and isn't sure which way to go, I recommend that you pick up the Vienna - for the reasons I stated above. I feel that with the Vienna you can basically also have the performance of the Hamburg - with just a little bit of EQ cutting. But with the Hamburg you can't really get the performance of the Vienna. Still, either mic is a great choice. You can't go wrong with either one in this price range.

I had initally thought that perhaps ADK had released something of a 'salt and pepper" team in the Vienna and Hamburg. But I don't feel that's the case. IMO, if you have either of these mics that buying the other one is not going to increase your sonic arsenal. In fact, if you have either the Vienna or the Hamburg, and you want another mic - I'd recommend you buy the same model mic so that you'll have a matched pair. IMO, you'll get more mileage out of a pair than one of each.

Although the Vienna is not the Hamburg, at this point the mics are so close in sound and off-axis performance, that I'm including an MP3 attachment here of a Hamburg used through an A Designs MP-1 mic preamp on an excellent recording SF member "gonzo-x" did multi-tracking acoustic guitar. Additional notes on the recording are available here.

Tests are still ongoing and these mics are still "on the bench". But this is where I am so far and what I've found out about these excellent mics. More coming soon...

Gonzo_ADK_Hamburg_320.mp3 (5,669 Kb, 92 downloads)

quote:

ADK doesn't release response curves [ it's there own intellectual property, so that's understandable ].

Well, I have the response chart for the TC. Will I be hunted down and shot for my top secret knowledge?

Actually, the Hamburg is the only mic I've ever bought that didn't come with a response chart...I thought it was odd...not policy.

Anyway, IMO, I think the Hamburg's rise is higher than the 2-3k...I would expect to see a broad bump between 3-7k--maybe a double bump up 3-4, down a bit through 5k, then humping up again 6-7k...then back towards flat a bit...then up say 4db at 12k...falling off drastically above as every mic's response chart does.

Not that the charts really matter much...but...

quote:

Originally posted by Popmann:
Actually, the Hamburg is the only mic I've ever bought that didn't come with a response chart...I thought it was odd...not policy.

Oddly enough CE's don't come with them either! I believe I read that TT's now come with them, but since CE's are finished in the US and the tube changes things they don't... But a "general chart" like what comes with most mics would be nice!

Matched pairs come with charts from a 3rd party company that matches them, I believe.

They don't have any frequencies charts on their site either. I emailed Larry about this a long time ago and he said he'd try to get them on the site (that was about a year ago)... I guess it doesn't matter, it isn't that hard to figure it out by ear.

-Dusty

quote:

I guess it doesn't matter, it isn't that hard to figure it out by ear.

OK, Dust...the TC shouldn't be too far removed, and I've got it's chart sitting right here. Put your CE in cardoid and tell me what you hear...I'll tell you how well it matches the chart. I'll give you a clue...well, no I won't.

Good point, Pop.

-Dusty

More notes. Maybe a little redundant, but they're "notes" as I go along...

I spoke with Larry Villella of ADK after I'd had a chance to use the Hamburg and the Vienna side by side. He said I was correct that both mics basically sounded the same with the Vienna being tuned a little brighter. I was surprised they sounded as close as they do, and the only difference I hear is in the EQ curve. Larry also said that they were both designed so that people wouldn't have to use any EQ on them to get the right tone.

They're still great mics and in that price range both the Hamburg and Vienna knock the C1 off its long-held position at the top of the mountain for budget LDC mics. The C1 is still a very good vocal mic, IMO, but the Hamburg and Vienna are even better and worth the little bit of extra investment. They both have smoother mids and work equally well on vox and acoustic instruments.

Even though the Vienna is brighter, it doesn't have the "hyped" sound you get from a lot of Chinese-made budget mics. And there's no grainyness as can found with the AT4033 and AT4040. I'd say if you know you want a mic that's a little toned down then get the Hamburg. If you want something that sounds more open get the Vienna. If you're undecided which one to get then get the Vienna - which I've commented can be made to sound like the Hamburg by cutting a little dB around 3K and maybe even a touch around 12K.

I think if you have one of them it's not worth getting the other one. I know ADK might like folks to think there's enough difference, but coming from an objective guy [ me ] who listens to all kinds of mics through a really high-end critical system - they just ain't that different.

Either way you go I don't feel there's a better LDC mic on the market at this point below $300 than the ADK Hamburg and Vienna.

This is from the ADK website on the Vienna:

quote:

he Vienna Edition was the product of a year-long R&D and Beta – done in a ‘tag-team’ approach. If microphones are the paintbrush in the art of audio, then one begins to ask: what color? What texture? Our research has concluded that there is a parallel between music, language, and handcrafted musical instruments. If we compare the Steinway to the Bosendorfer, Beethoven to Mozart, or a Vintage U-47 to an Original C-12, we find similar color gradation – we see it as the Road from Hamburg to Vienna!!!

The Application for the Vienna would be when you want that certain “Sparkle” - Historically the Vintage Austrian Tone.

THE VIENNA IS A POP/ROCK VOCAL MIC WITH AN ABILITY TO HANDLE A WIDE VARIETY OF HIGH SPL APPLICATIONS.

And this is from the ADK website on the Hamburg:

quote:

The Hamburg Edition was the product of a year-long R&D and Beta – done in a ‘tag-team’ approach. If microphones are the paintbrush in the art of audio, then one begins to ask: what color / what texture? Our research has concluded that there is a parallel between music, language, and handcrafted musical instruments. If we compare the Steinway to the Bosendorfer, Beethoven to Mozart, a Vintage U-47 to an Original C-12, there is color gradation – we call it the Road from Hamburg to Vienna!!!

The Application for the Hamburg would be when you want that certain “Smoothness”, Historically the Vintage German Tone.

THE HAMBURG IS A FOLK/JAZZ/COUNTRY VOCAL MIC THAT CAN HANDLE A VARIETY OF HIGH SPL APPLICATIONS.

I'm sorry but I don't find this to be the case at all. As much as I like Larry Villella and the guys at ADK as well as a lot of their mics – including the Vienna and the Hamburg – there just isn't that much difference in the sound of these two mics.

I recently wrote a rant on some insight into the German and Austrian sound in The Les Pauls and Stratocasters of the Microphone World.

I've used the Hamburg and it does have a German type of color and sound. And I've used the Vienna and it does not have an Austrian sound. The Vienna sounds like it was made in Hamburg and about 100 kilometers outside of Hamburg on the road to Vienna the truck broke down. The truck might have made it to Berlin, but that's about as close as the Vienna mic gets to Vienna, Austria. The Vienna has a brighter sound, but it's still got that German color and "sheen" to it. Which still makes it a damn good sounding mic, and in general the one I recommend between the two.

I don't in any way want to take away from the excellent sound quality of these two mics. They're still about the best FET condenser mics you're going to find in that price range. But on the whole Vienna/Hamburg, C-12/47 thing – at least with the Vienna mic they missed the mark. If ADK is on the road from Hamburg, Germany to Vienna, Austria with these mics, the Vienna should have been called the "Berlin".

One thing I've found that I don't like about the Vienna and the Hamburg are the tapered shape of the bodies. From a practical use perspective in the studio, I'd consider this a design flaw that ADK should address when designing the MKII versions. The problem is with the way they sit in the shockmount. If you have them in the upright position with the capsule on top then there's no problem. But try and suspend the mic in an upside down position [ for various applications such as drum OH's, toms, behind the bridge of an acoustic guitar or just because you like to use mics in that position – like I often do ] and the mic can easily slip out from the shockmount.

The Vienna and Hamburg sit in the shockmount upright like an ice cream cone. It's the same cone shape that allows a paper cup to sit upright securely in a plastic holder. But try and set a paper cup upside down in the plastic holder – and the cup falls to the floor.

A straight body allows for an even grip of the mic in the shockmount – because pressure is applied evenly. A tapered body is a poor design because the pressure within the shockmount is mostly on the part of the mic with the greatest circumference – while the section lower on the mic with lesser circumference has very little to no pressure. This makes using a tapered-body mic at angles fewer than 90 degrees on the mic stand unstable allowing the mic to move out of its position or slip entirely out of the shockmount.

In a recent mic test session [ where all the mics were positioned upside down ] we had a Hamburg that was being set into position – with no XLR cable attached – slip out of the shockmount. Fortunately, lighting-fast ninja reflexes caught the mic before it smashed headfirst into the hardwood floor.

quote:

Originally posted by Dot:
One thing I've found that I don't like about the Vienna and the Hamburg are the tapered shape of the bodies.

Yeah, I noticed that as well when I got my Vienna... I just make sure I wrap the mic cord around the stand and I place the shockmount high up on the mic so that it grips it real tight.

I love the vibe that you can only get from a mic hanging upside down. Even if there is no technical reason for it for doing vocals, I think it looks cool.

-tkr

You get a lot for the money, I was expecting a cardbox but got this.

I forgot to post here that the ADK Vienna and Hamburg were reviewed in July 2005...
http://www.studioreviews.com/vienna-hamburg.htm

I have also had my eye on this mic for a year now, and have decided to finally get one. However, now that I am shopping around, I keep seeing this Vienna Mark 8. Does anyone know the deal with this mic, and if it is worth the $50 difference? Has anyone heard it and/or compared it to the original?

Thanks!