Producer-engineer Barry Hufker is an associate professor of audio production at Webster University in St. Louis, a program he founded 18 years ago. Like most career sound engineers, Hufker is passionate about his equipment, opinionated about his craft and skeptical about new gear. As a regular customer of distribution company Las Vegas Pro Audio, Hufker agreed to test the M600 universal mic mount by Enhanced Audio.
When the mic mounts arrived, Hufker brought them unopened to his class of upper-division audio majors. To begin, they hooked up his Brauner VMA tube condenser to its factory mount. They recorded spoken word and, as Hufker fully expected, the VMA sounded great. No surprise. Then they swapped out the factory mount for the Enhanced Audio M600.
"We were very rigorous — everything was exactly the same," he explained. "I heard the difference, but it was still hard to believe. With the Enhanced Audio M600, everything sounded crisper, clearer, more detailed. The bass had better definition and the high end was cleaner."
In the highly reverberant St. Ambrose Church in St. Louis, Hufker recorded the St. Louis Chamber Chorus, fighting the competing demands of distance from the chorus for a nice blend versus proximity to cut down on reverberation. He started with a pair of Sonodore RCM402 omni condensers in their factory mounts, achieved the best balance he could, then recorded another sample with the M600 mounts, changing nothing else. Listening to the two recordings back to back, Hufker noted tighter bass, clearer midrange and a tighter stereo image.
When not teaching, Hufker records classical, jazz and international music in and around St. Louis. His credits include Bobby McFerrin, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Brubeck and Chanticleer, plus regular engagements with the Opera Theater of St. Louis and the St. Louis Chamber Chorus.
For more information, visit www.lasvegasproaudio.com and www.enhancedaudio.ie.
