In Today's World of Lav's How Does the SONY ECM 44B Stack Up?

[Chris Swanberg]

I am sure that for the old hands in the sound world, you are perplexed why new hands ask question about "how does the XYZ stack up against the ZYX?"

I mean the obvious answer is "listen for yourelf and decide".

But most of us lack two things... a) access (current or past) to other mics to compare, and perhaps more importantly... a highly developed ear to utilize as our comparator. Hence we turn to older more experienced hands to ask.

Which brings me to my question. The ECM-44 and 44b are hardly new. Yet they still seem to be around. My question is simple... dollar for sound in the LAV world, how do these older LAV's stand up against the newer crop of lavalier mics?

Subjective opinions are expected, but I appreciate any input on this issue.

Thank you for your time answering this inquiry.

[Dan Brockett]

I have been testing sixteen popular wired lavaliers for an article for KenStone.net. If you can wait a few weeks, the article will have lots of samples of wired lavs being tested in several different situations and you can listen and judge for yourself.

I did test the ECM-44B against almost everything else on the market. My impressions of it?

1. Good value. It sounded better than an inexpensive lav should.
2. It's huge. It was the largest omni lavalier I tested and it is really big for a modern lavalier or compared to a modern lavalier
3. In comparison with the Sony ECM-55 and 88 I also tested, the ECM-55 sounded significantly better than the 44 with cleaner, clearer highs and more pleasant mids. And of course, the $600.00 ECM-88 sounded leagues better.
4. For an inexpensive lavalier, not bad but for another $100.00, you get a much better sounding microphone.
5. If you think you want the ECM-44, I would check out the Countryman EMW too. Countryman were not very nice and refused to supply us with a review sample of the EMW or the B3 but I own a B6 so the B6 is in the article at least. Everyone else was wonderful and supplied us with all of the lavs we needed for the article. Around 40 pages long, dozens of sound samples and lots of photography. Coming soon!

Best,

Dan

Originally Posted by Chris Swanberg

I am sure that for the old hands in the sound world, you are perplexed why new hands ask question about "how does the XYZ stack up against the ZYX?"

I mean the obvious answer is "listen for yourelf and decide".

But most of us lack two things... a) access (current or past) to other mics to compare, and perhaps more importantly... a highly developed ear to utilize as our comparator. Hence we turn to older more experienced hands to ask.

Which brings me to my question. The ECM-44 and 44b are hardly new. Yet they still seem to be around. My question is simple... dollar for sound in the LAV world, how do these older LAV's stand up against the newer crop of lavalier mics?

Subjective opinions are expected, but I appreciate any input on this issue.

Thank you for your time answering this inquiry.

[Seth Bloombaum]

The 44 is representative of a different mic philosophy than most well-regarded lavs today. Current designs are largely as transparent as possible.

The ECM44 has somewhat of a built-in eq curve that is suitable for voice. It does sound good out of the box.

[Chris Swanberg]

Exactly the types of responses I was hoping for. Thanks guys! Oh, and, Dan I check the site daily for your LAV article. Should be informative and I am looking forward to it.

I asked because I picked up a pair of ECM-44B's for about $150 to use as my "starter" lav mikes for interviews, etc. I figured for what I paid I could probably sell them later on for close to what I paid when I develop a better ear and more information.

Again, thanks!

[Roshdi Alkadri]

this is very interesting, i was actually about to buy the 44b but is considering a long term investment in the 88B for its size and sound quality.