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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: lushka on April 16, 2017, 09:04:44 AM
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Hey Guys,
Current rig consists of the following:
AT943 (Hypers) (mounted on glasses) > SP-Preamp > PCM-M10
Been thinking of upgrading my mics. Mostly tape stealth PA'd Rock and Metal shows in large/smallish venues. Not really interested in getting any large mic elements, e.g. Schoeps and the likes, was hoping to stay as inconspicuous as possible and avoid any 'binaural' options (4060, 4061). Current budget for a stereo pair is $700 - $1400. Would really appreciate some feedback.
Thanks,
Alex
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Why not buy the at943 cardiod capsules for $119 from soundpros?
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If you need to stay that small, you already have what you need IMO. With that budget, I would be looking at an mbho or akg active setup.
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Thank you for your feedback. Could you recommend any reliable MBHO vendor, preferably, someone knowledgeable with stealth setups and customizations?
Cheers,
Alex
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You said you don't want any full size mic capsules...MBHO are the same size as Schoeps or AKG etc.
Not that you can't stealth with an active setup that size - people do it all the time - but you cannot mount them on your glasses.
I'm considering putting together an MBHO active setup. You can buy the capsules and remote collettes form No Hype audio in the EU or Dale Pro Audio in the USA.
Get the PFA power adapters from Jon at Naiant studios.
You need P48 phantom power to run these.
That said..the only mics I can think of that I like the sound of that are really small are the Countryman B3 and the Nevaton MCE400.
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You can run the Schoeps capsules with actives >:D easily. In fact, my biggest issue is people around me do not know I am taping and seem to want to talk to me while the music is playing. How I "wear" my mics I think is more discreet than the small caps on my glasses
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There's really not much (in size/quality/price) in terms of cardioid mics between the AT mics (853 are a little bigger than 943 or 933) and standard small diameter condenser (SDC) mics. All the high end SDC mics folks talk about around here (Schoeps, Neumann, AKG, MBHO, etc) are around 3/4" in diameter. They are basically all driven by the size of a standard XLR connector in diameter. AT853 might be considered an upgrade, but not by much.
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You can run the Schoeps capsules with actives >:D easily. In fact, my biggest issue is people around me do not know I am taping and seem to want to talk to me while the music is playing. How I "wear" my mics I think is more discreet than the small caps on my glasses
Agreed. attention is diverted by the fact that a white dude is wearing a kangol, not what's under it. :lol:
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Hey Guys,
Thank you so much for your detailed responses. I initially thought that MBHO is a smallish set-up, but how do you run an active system in a stealth setting?
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That's a big question. Probably the "classic" stealth rig is a set of Schoeps 4v cards>nbob kcy>nbox>small deck, mounted inside a kangol hat on a vertical mounting bar. Set you back around 2500-3k, a little cheaper if you substitute a naiant IPA or a baby Nbox for the full Nbox. If you don't mind mic bodies taped to your chest, you can do the same thing with mbho actives for a lot less, let's say mbho 603/200>actives>mic bodies>interconnect cable>p48 deck like Marantz 661 or tascam d100. Tougher to stealth but certainly doable. Happy to answer any questions by PM. I'm sure this is all clear as mud.
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^You could run MBHO caps into Naiant PFA's and skip the MBHO bodies!! Way steathier than having bodies in the gear chain.
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That's a nice rig, forgot that the IPA works with lots of mics.
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Neumanns and Schoeps are typically where people go for an upgrade at your level. People have been stealthing both for decades. I will say this--a microphone upgrade will make the single biggest difference in the quality of your recordings.
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Neumanns and Schoeps are typically where people go for an upgrade at your level. People have been stealthing both for decades. I will say this--a microphone upgrade will make the single biggest difference in the quality of your recordings.
Plus location. Scoring good seats is as important as having good mics.
It's the main reason I decided to sell my Nbox + Nbobs afterall.
I'm always doing video at the back of the arena so a Schoeps rig doesn't ad that much for me in that situation, soundquality wise