Paul Reed Smith has become synonymous with excellence in thecrafting of guitars. When Smith went looking for a microphone for hisnew recording studio, Riverhouse, he chose the Brauner VM1 tube mic andthe Soundelux 195.
Smith’s philosophy is echoed in the Brauner VM1 microphone. “It’sthe best all-round mic I’ve ever heard—period,” he enthused. “Youcan use it on anything and it will sound musical. Our constant questionabout a track is, ‘How musical does it sound?’ The Brauner soundsmusical on just about anything that you put it on, and it needs verylittle EQ. It’s exceptionally versatile with extraordinary performanceon acoustic guitars, drum overheads, hi-hats, electric guitars andvocals. It’s just a ridiculously good microphone.”
Most of the audio equipment at Riverhouse was recommended by GregLukens at Washington Professional Systems. Record producer Shane Kossreveals that Smith has fine-tuned all of the gear to ensure thebest-possible performance. “We tweaked the Apogee converters and someAPIs so there was a lot of attention paid to all the differentelements,” revealed Koss. But there’s no need to tweak the Brauner orthe Soundelux, Koss said, “They’re so real. I had the Brauner off-axison bass through a guitar amp and it produced one of the best basssounds I’ve ever had.”
For more information on the mic, visit Brauner’s U.S. distributor,Transamerica Audio Group, at www.transaudiogroup.com.
