Jim Boggia: Flying High with the Sputnik
Jim Boggia: Flying High with the Sputnik
The singer/songwriter delivers top-notch vocal recordings with M-Audio's Sputnik tube mic
The singer/songwriter delivers top-notch vocal recordings with M-Audio's Sputnik tube mic
Singer/songwriter Jim Boggia has sung in some of the finest recording facilities in the country on a variety of records, national commercials and television shows—in addition to recording several CDs of his own material. Armed with the M-Audio Sputnik microphone and the ProjectMix I/O control surface, Boggia delivers vocal and guitar tracks that garner rave reviews.
When you first got the Sputnik, what were your initial reactions?
Even before I hooked it up, I was amazed at just how solid everything felt. You can tell that it’s a quality piece and it’s made really well. After I hooked it up, I thought it sounded fantastic. The first thing I did was a jingle session where somebody sent me the files and I had to put a vocal on it. The sound is really big and really rich, and the top end is nice and open. Some other mics have a bump in that frequency range, which makes it difficult to stack a lot of vocal tracks on top of each other. But the Sputnik’s response is perfect, and the noise floor is incredibly low. When I sent the files back, they called me up the next day and said, “What mic are you using? This sounds fantastic.” And once I told them what it was, it made believers out of them.
How would you compare the Sputnik to something like a U47 or a C12?
I haven’t had too much experience with a C12, but I’ve definitely sung on a couple U47s that have been cherried out to the to the point of ridiculousness. The Sputnik is right on par with mics of that caliber. And you could buy ten Sputniks for the price of one U47. I did a background vocal session for a friend with the Sputnik and the ProjectMix I/O. He was blown away and wondered what I cut the vocal with. And that seems to be the general reaction to the Sputnik—it’s just an amazing mic at an amazing price.
When you first got the Sputnik, what were your initial reactions?
Even before I hooked it up, I was amazed at just how solid everything felt. You can tell that it’s a quality piece and it’s made really well. After I hooked it up, I thought it sounded fantastic. The first thing I did was a jingle session where somebody sent me the files and I had to put a vocal on it. The sound is really big and really rich, and the top end is nice and open. Some other mics have a bump in that frequency range, which makes it difficult to stack a lot of vocal tracks on top of each other. But the Sputnik’s response is perfect, and the noise floor is incredibly low. When I sent the files back, they called me up the next day and said, “What mic are you using? This sounds fantastic.” And once I told them what it was, it made believers out of them.
How would you compare the Sputnik to something like a U47 or a C12?
I haven’t had too much experience with a C12, but I’ve definitely sung on a couple U47s that have been cherried out to the to the point of ridiculousness. The Sputnik is right on par with mics of that caliber. And you could buy ten Sputniks for the price of one U47. I did a background vocal session for a friend with the Sputnik and the ProjectMix I/O. He was blown away and wondered what I cut the vocal with. And that seems to be the general reaction to the Sputnik—it’s just an amazing mic at an amazing price.
