I’ve been a long-time enthusiast/user of the AKG C 24 stereo mic, so it was a treat to review the new P-24 from Peluso Microphone Lab. I have been a fan of Peluso for years, and several mics in their line have been on a lot of albums that I have produced, including the P-12 [Tape Op #72], P-87, and P-47, plus I own a pair of brass capsule P-414s [#148] that I travel with when working in studios with lean mic lockers. Peluso has seen the ins and outs of just about every vintage mic out there as part of their restoration business, so it's no shock that after all those years of repair and research that their latest offering is a sterling reproduction of a mic that's financially out of reach to many recordists. Ever since I first used an original C 24 at a commercial studio in 2009, I have been looking for something that would get me close to that sound. My search has ended with the P-24.
I used this mic on three sessions with three different artists: Nothing, Blackwater Holylight, and El Ten Eleven. The P-24 traveled with me to Sonic Ranch [Tape Op #94] (where they have an original AKG C 24), I used it in my personal studio, plus I took it to Animal Rites in Los Angeles for a tracking session. I placed it everywhere I could: Drum overheads, front of kit, ambient room mic (on and off axis), acoustic guitar, piano (inside and outside), my bathroom for reverb (seriously), vocals, and in a few weeks I’ll use it for a small chamber orchestral recording. It became my floater mic that moved with me everywhere in the rooms so I could utilize the actual space that I was recording in. The more I could use this mic to achieve direct or indirect ambience, the better. I’m constantly looking for ways to get sound into the stereo field without using the same plug-ins or hardware that everyone has access to, and the P-24 got me there. It was so fast and convenient to have two mics in one body that I could swing around with me, point at the source a few feet away, and say, "That sounds like I’m in the room." Simply turning the mic away from the source to capture the pure room sound has made mixing the material so much easier. I am fortunate to work in amazing rooms, and I try as hard as possible to bring that into the listening experience. The room is everything – this mic helps show that. The ability to set up a speaker in a space, re-amp into a room, then record the ambience is a breeze. Having a super tight stereo capture also helped with processing. The mic took EQ with no problem, and I found myself sending the processed P-24 channels to stereo plates, chambers, or effect units to manipulate the ambience even further. I didn’t expect to get such good results, but I loved what I was hearing and so did the artists that I was tracking.
Adjustable polar patterns are always convenient, but what I loved the most about the P-24 was the degree measurements printed directly on the body of the mic. It removed any guesswork, helped with recall, and allowed me to experiment and then visually check what I was doing. I am one of those who jump in head first with gear. The markings made it easy to find my way back if something didn’t sound right. I also appreciate that this is not a “museum-grade” vintage mic that you’re going to get eyeballed at for being reckless with. The confidence of grabbing and going with the P-24 was a real added bonus. I was not afraid to put the mic too close to a drum kit for a tighter, more present sound. I felt free to place the Peluso where I normally wouldn’t be allowed to with a delicate vintage mic. Yep – used it as a snare mic.
Straight up – the P-24 is clear, very detailed, and holographic in the midrange, which is what I expect from a high-quality AKG C 24-based design. However, what makes it stand out against its contemporaries and vintage counterparts are its bottom and top end. It’s not brittle or pointy up top; many of the C 24s I’ve used at various studios have a shrill top end. This doesn’t happen with the P-24. The body and bottom end also felt rich but not boomy. There was a dimension to the low end that had more extension and detail than what I was used to, which really came into play when mic’ing off-axis and capturing the room sounds of drums. As a drum overhead, it brought the shells and snare up a bit, and that was surprising. Mixing those songs was then easier because I was able to dial in the relationship of the toms and overheads. The P-24 also excelled on close-mic’d sources. Normally, I find myself adding a little bit of “air” to the vintage mics when using them as overheads or when capturing close acoustic sources, but I didn’t need to with the P-24, as it has a very smooth and open/extended top end. When I A/B’d the mic against Sonic Ranch’s original C 24, I felt that the Peluso had a deeper, less poky top end and was less hard-sounding to my ears. While both mics are excellent, the Peluso was really "place and forget." It was easier to work with, and as I brought up close mics on my sources to check phase and polarity, things came together a bit faster with the P-24, perhaps due to the body of its bottom end – using it to get the toms punchy and clear in the stereo image of the drum kit was a breeze. I also didn't have to add too much extra top end EQ on the close mics of my sources. In closing, the P-24 is important to the recording community because it fills a big hole in the pro audio market by helping many of us level up our recordings for a fraction of the cost of a vintage AKG C 24.