Can you tell the difference...

crisscross

crisscross

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...between a koa and a mango soprano?
I recorded an Andantino by Carulli with a Kanile'a koa and with a Pono mango soprano.
Can you tell,which one is which

Pice-wise, the Kanile'a costs 3 or 4times the cost of the Pono, but is the sound recognizably better?
 
Well, I have to confess, I honestly cannot discern one ounce of difference in the two! Beautiful playing on both, though!
 
Listening through a laptop speaker, to a digital recording like this, I would never expect to hear a difference. I suspect one would have to be in the room to have a chance of hearing the difference. The difference is going to be subtle, and probably involve overtones that are often chopped off of digital processing.

All that aside, they both sound lovely with such accomplished musicanship! Bravo!
 
That Carulli piece sounds surprisingly good too! It's a popular piece for beginning classical guitar and doesn't lose much without the root bass notes. The instruments sound slightly different (Kanile'a is slightly more woody with a wee more lower treble) but, based on the recording, I can't say one or the other is better. Besides, 90% of the tone comes out of your hands and close mic recording tends to equalize the small differences. I too own a Koa Kanile'a and with a Pono (but mahogany) and listening to somebody play them in a small room the differences are obvious—the Kanile'a is louder, more dynamic and sweeter in tone—but recorded with my KM-184 Neumann mics both ukuleles just sound like me playing and are hard to tell apart.
 
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I found that virtually impossible to tell which was which and I listened a few times.........Beautifully played though!
Mike
 
Thanks to everyone, who took the time to listen to my efforts. I have to admit, I forgot which one is which...:rolleyes:
No, wait a moment, I did a little Ritardando with the Pono that doesn't take place with the Kanile'a, so Kherome is right,
the second one is the mango ukulele.
 
crisscross said:
Thanks to everyone, who took the time to listen to my efforts. I have to admit, I forgot which one is which...:rolleyes:
No, wait a moment, I did a little Ritardando with the Pono that doesn't take place with the Kanile'a, so Kherome is right,
the second one is the mango ukulele.
Click to expand...

:eek: I listened so hard! haha

I have been listening to so many uke demos lately and I was particularly interested in mango. Something about it!
 
Crisscross, I couldn't have possibly told the diference (in fact both sounded exactly the same to me, so I suppose the recording equipment superceded the difference in sound).

But regardless, that was beautiful playing. I also play classical music on uke (baritone), and your recording is pretty darn inspirational. Thanks for posting it.
 
Thanks John Boy! As to the recording equipment being responsible for the sameness of the sound, that's certainly a big factor.
But I recorded the same piece with my Kamaka soprano, and there, you can tell the difference...
 
I certainly can tell the difference there! Very interesting post. I'm curious, do you have any preference for the sound of any of them over the others?

And once again, wonderful playing. Thanks for posting these.
 
Thanks John Boy! I tend to prefer my Pono MGS, though it depends on my current mindset...
 
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