Studio Projects C1

15 years of making music. 10 years full time. Multiple award winning album releases. ProTools. Have used dozens of mics, high end and middle.

The Studio Projects C1 has been my primary at-home vocal recording mic for several years now, and I love it. It's very flattering on my voice which I can't say for many other mics in this price range. When I head into the studio where I have access to the big-buck mics, I bring this mic with me for vocals. I've also used it as an overhead percussion mic and on acoustic guitar. Good results.

all the 10's here are bogus - it's a terrible mic as are all studio projects products - their new rip off is the Toft mixer - they fall apart! Terrible company, terrible products, constantly filling up the forums with bogus praise. Get an Audio Technica.

First thing, I contacted the company to know where I could find one of those inn Montreal. Never got an answer.
The I finally found one, bought it, tested it for about 10 minutes, everything was OK, put it back in the box.
Got it out for the second time about five months later when I needed to record someone with it. About 20 minutes into recording, the mic started making a loud rumbling noise that rendered it completely unusable. I wrote to the company to see where I could send it to be repaired (there's absolutely no information whatsoever about warranty on their website), they never replied.
So I brought it back to the store where I bought it, they sent it back to the company, taking care to explain the problem started only after 15-20 min. of usage. I get the supposedly repaired mic 3 weeks after, go home and plug it, same problem. They charged me 17$ for shipping.
Now for the sound: I think this thing has been over hyped. All I get from this is a cold, metallic, overly bright and harsh sound. Tried some cheaper mics from Apex that sounded a lot better than this.
Customer support is non existent, so make sure you buy this thing in a store that cares, or you'll be just flushing 300$ down the toilet.
I'll probably sell it when, if ever, it is fixed.
Useless over hyped stuff.

I own a small project studio, but occasionally do tracking work with some other, nice studios.

There has been some discussion places versing the c1 against the U87 and I had a good opportunity to AB them the other day at a friend's studio and wanted to post it. I own the c1 my friend owns everything else. First, I was playing a BreedLove AD25 in a quiet room with the mics running into a GREAT RIVER pre and an Empirical Labs Distressor. We were monitoring with Event 2020s. The part was a very simple rhythm track. The differences were certainly audible. The c1 has a high end boost that, to my ears, starts around 7k and goes all the way up. This adds a crisp, air sound that might me cool on some things, but that was not 100% true to the guitar, and would sabotage a project if you used it on everything. Also, the low end under 150, again to my ears, did a weird boomy thing. I didnt hear it at first, but once I did it was obviously there. With those lows pulled out of the c1, both mics sounded great!. I would prefer the C1 on a track that I needed a high end boost on. I can see how people like these on vocals.

I gave it a ten because of the price difference. The c1 is not a $2000 mic. But it is great for what you pay. I would never record a bass or guitar amp or kick with it, but I dont need it for that. I need it for acoustic and vocals and it does wonderful on them. I plan on buying a second one for a matched pair. Just watch those highs!

Also, I called SP once because the mic was distorting. It had built up condensation on the diaphragm and they fixed it for free, hassle free, and paid for the return shipping. REALLY NICE!

Recording on my own for about 6 years. I am a graduate of RAC. (Recording Arts Canada) After working for other people I decided to build my own project studio with gear i like.
I AM A PRO TOOLS USER!
(mic pres) avalon 737. api 3124. mackie onyx 800r. vintech x73i. Universal audio 6176.
(mic) Neumann km 184 x 2 akg 414 x 2 akg d112 royer 121 sennheiser 421 x 2 shure sm7b shure sm58 -57 neumann u87
and i got behringer c2 and studio projects just for the hell of it.
reverb (not tellin) its one of the reasons why i have such a great list of equipment.
I also have many other tools BUT. What new engineers or people just starting to record need to know, is that its not only equipment. A GREAT producers can take a studio projects and make an entire record sound great. you have to learn to start with nothing and work your way up. Cause you can have the best equipment in the world and still not have a clue what your doing. learn to work with what your given!!

This mic sounded great a first. I loved it. comes with everything you need. Can even stack a bunch of tracks on top of each other and it sounded awsome. I wouldnt use it on acoustic guitar but vox was the only thing i really wanted it for anyways.
THEN it stoped working. And i take real good care of my equipment. I only took this mic out when someone wanted to do a different vocal part or something, so i didn't use it that much. Always used pop filter and wind screen.
Then i got it fixed. (FOR FREE NONE THE LESS) AMAZING support. some of the best i have ever delt with, then i use it for another year not very often mind you. I save up get a Neumann u87 and couldn't wait to go head to head with both mics. The studio projects broke again. this time not under warrenty.
it just cutz in and out fades down to nothing you tap it it comes right back. not reliable. totally get what you pay for. if you are just starting a project studio invest in something that will last for you. if your just looking for another mic to add to the collection then ya its great for the price. i just didn't wanna be bothered anymore.

I've been recording for about three years and am a home enthusiast and musician. I'm using a Mackie Onyx 400F for my front end pres and mackie's Tracktion 3 to mix, along with about 200 odds-and-ends of VST plugins. My other Mics are all fairly cheap: An Aphex tube condenser, some 57s, a couple of cheap AKG 100s. I'm monitoring through a pair of Mackie 824s.

This is a unidirectional condenser that comes with a fairly typical mounting bracket. I chose it because reviews suited it well to vocals and I have VERY dead basement recording area with poor high-end harmonics but good everything else.

This Mic delivered almost exactly the sound I'd been looking for, which is to say a thick-yet-crisp vocal reproduction similar to Neumanns. The mid and low ends are nowhere near as accurate as the Neumann, but you'd be hard pressed to find an average CD listener who could tell. Vocals float absolutely beautifully in the mix with this mic and are very clear. The two-stage pad switch is great for people like myself with wide ranging vocals (read: loud-ass with poor control.)

Hey, I'm a hypnotist at the New York Hypnosis Center - healthwithhypnosis dot com. I've done a lot of recordings over the year. I have an arsenal of microphones and I can tell you ... not every microphone suits every voice or for the particular
job at hand.

I have an AKG C414, a Rode NTK, Sennheiser 414 ElectroVoice RE27, several wired Sony Lavalier microphones, a Rode NTG-2, Shure SM57 and SM7 ... and all these mics work great for vocals with the right processor.

But if I'm going straight into my computer and I want the warmest, most compelling sound for MY VOICE without any processors .. just an attached USB sound card.... this Studio Projects C1 microphone is pure silk and power. Damn .. if you want an example of a dynamic compared to this .. mosey over to one of my websites at Gadaboutgaddis dot com and you will here the automatic intro thru the Sennheiser. Studio Projects have a winner. I WISH I had the Neumann U87 which this microphone has been compared to .. to give it a go .. but in the meantime .... This very very inexpensive microphone is a ten plus to me .. a triple platinum beauty.

Voice over baby .. pure silky persuasion.

I've been recording in my own home studio for 2 years now. I have a Shure Beta 87C mic, a Studio Projects C1 mic (1st generation), a Presonus Firepod firewire audio interface, a Studio Projects VTB1 mic pre-amp, Yamaha PSR3000 keyboard, Korg pa800 keyboard, and a tcElectronic MXL300 for reverb. I used to own a Studio Projects B1, Shure Beta 87A, Shure SM58, and Shure SM57 but got rid of them all while upgrading my equipment. I record everything digitally to my laptop with Cubase SX installed.

I use the thick wool sheets bought on eBay for sound-proofing my little vocal recording box corner, with only the mic inside that box to eliminate most of the other background noises. I listen to the recording with a headphone instead of the studio monitors. The main purpose of the mic is to record vocal, as the music is firewire-fed directly to the audio interface & my laptop (placed outside my studio to not have to deal with the fan noise.

This is my own opinions, with sound quality gets higher going down:
- Shure SM57 & SM58 (dynamic) are pretty much the same.
- Shure Beta 87A & Beta 87C (dynamic) are pretty much the same, they sound better than the SMs.
- Studio Projects B1 (condensor) sounds better than the Betas & the SMs.
- Studio Projects C1 (condensor) sounds more silky & has more details than the B1.

In the end, I got rid of the B1 cuz the C1 is better in my studio. I also got rid of the SMs cuz the Beta is better for singing live. The 87A was easier to sell, so I kept the 87C instead.

I have a tenor voice, and had no problem with the C1. The dynamics sound way too warm and muddy compare to the condensors in recording but will do just fine in live performance (the condensors will tear your ears off with feedbacks as they will pick up every single little noise).

I don't want to give the C1 a 10 rating. But for my own taste and limited knowledge, it is affordable and meets my expectation.

Making Music 20 years.
Session Musician, home project studio owner and producer.
Logic and Pro tools.
Mackie HR824 and Yamaha NS-10s.

The Studio Projects C1 is a decent mic and a great mic for the money. I bought a used one ( I refuse to buy new Chinese-made equipment) from a friend. Beside quality control issues that another poster pointed out, a huge reason that there are bad reviews of this mic is that people are using poor quality preamps. If you are not setting aside some money to get a good preamp and a/d converter everything will sound like crap. You can get an RNP dual channel preamp for around $500 that will help you hear the mics presense and tone. If your going to use cheap ART tube preamps you might as well dip the mic in mud. While I would not compare the mics recording quality to the Soundelux, AKG, and Neumann mics I own and use, I do not believe that there is a better condensor mic in the under five hundred dollar range. Hey...both my AKG 414 and Soundelux 251 sound poor though a bad preamp and my SM57 sound sweet though my Neve and UA preamps. Budget for a good preamp folks, that is what I have learned.

Been making music forever. Havent we all? Im a dorm room recorder. In college.Recording to Pro Tools. Decent KRK monitors and my ears.

What can I say about this mic? Seeing that I had no experience with condensers personally (i had used some in others studio's) I didnt know what to expect. All I can say is I was blown away. I sing R&B music, and for the high baritone and tenor notes i sing this is king. I dont have a low voice really. More like a Justin Timberlake. Using my monitors and my ears I was able to mix a couple of pretty pro sounding tracks to complete my demo...I was contacted by a label under Universal about my "proffesional" sound...Now Im one step closer to reaching my dream and I owe it all to this microphone. I give it a 9 becuz for what I had to do with it, it was a champ. Cant give it a 10. nothings perfect