Topic: Your favorite Mics? Why?

[TNJazz]

Bout time you showed up, muj.  Where ya been?

[kbergend]

A friend has a pair of the Nevatons (and other of their mics too).  I've always enjoyed his recordings so when I saw that the last of these was available before the model change, I knew I had to get them.  Here's the recording of Eilen Jewell I made with them last night.
http://www.archive.org/details/EilenJewelSellersvilleTheatreSellersvillePa

Chuck

Chuck, those Nevatons do sound really nice but FYI somehow your recording got stretched to about 5% slower than its proper speed - Eilen sounds like a contralto!  Jason Beek dropped you a note on the archive about it.

After 7 years I've grown into what I use now, and I love the liveliness and detail of 480s for louder shows and the natural sound and flexibility of my Milab DC-196s for closer miking of acoustic music.  Schoeps are great mics but a little soft for my taste.  Still love my well-worn AT943s for stealth, they're not terribly strong at the high or low ends but very natural sounding -- here's a sample of Eilen Jewell (at her actual pitch) recorded at Joe's Pub in NYC with a stock PMD620.

http://tapers.org/kbergendorff/wav/ej2008-08-10t10.wav
 
I do plan on buying a pair of MG200s before I die (I think they sound incredible, an amazing combination of detail and refinement), but right now we need a new kitchen.

[TNJazz]

Keith, having those Milabs here for a while before they ended up with you really has had me wanting a pair for a LONG time!

That being said, here's a small torrent of the DC196 in blumlein that I did the other evening:

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=531878

[kbergend]

5% is only about a semitone, which is less than the difference between 48/44.1.

I arrived at the 5% stretch estimate by resampling one of the tracks in Audition until Eilen sounded like herself, which was at 95% compression of the original file.  I didn't measure the difference in pitch, but sounds to me like it's off by more than a semitone.

[kbergend]

Keith, having those Milabs here for a while before they ended up with you really has had me wanting a pair for a LONG time!

That being said, here's a small torrent of the DC196 in blumlein that I did the other evening:

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=531878

Thanks Dirk!  I don't have a BT client here at the office but I'll take a listen tonight.  I certainly haven't had any regrets about buying those mics.  I used them again last month to record Session Americana's holiday shows, in fact seeing them play the first time was my inspiration for buying them so I could set up an unobtrusive Blumlein pair to capture their unique performing style "up close and personal".  They sit around a small circular table with an omni AT4050 in the middle, a configuration that cries out for realistic spatial imaging (someday I'd love to drop a Soundfield mic into the middle of them and do a true surround recording).  Here's an mp3 sample, a little bit of mono board mixed in to boost the vocals but it's mostly the Milabs:

http://tapers.org/mp3s/sessionamericana2009-12-12.matrix.mp3f/sa2009-12-12d2t03.mp3

I'll be bringing them to Memphis next month to record a few nights of acoustic music at the Folk Alliance conference, really looking forward to it!

[frogger]

Chuck, those Nevatons do sound really nice but FYI somehow your recording got stretched to about 5% slower than its proper speed - Eilen sounds like a contralto!  Jason Beek dropped you a note on the archive about it.

After 7 years I've grown into what I use now, and I love the liveliness and detail of 480s for louder shows and the natural sound and flexibility of my Milab DC-196s for closer miking of acoustic music.  Schoeps are great mics but a little soft for my taste.  Still love my well-worn AT943s for stealth, they're not terribly strong at the high or low ends but very natural sounding -- here's a sample of Eilen Jewell (at her actual pitch) recorded at Joe's Pub in NYC with a stock PMD620.

http://tapers.org/kbergendorff/wav/ej2008-08-10t10.wav
 
I do plan on buying a pair of MG200s before I die (I think they sound incredible, an amazing combination of detail and refinement), but right now we need a new kitchen.

Keith,

I screwed up in the dithering.  I've fixed it now, just waiting to hear from greenone as to how I get it to redo the derivations.

Thanks,
Chuck

[kbergend]

That being said, here's a small torrent of the DC196 in blumlein that I did the other evening:

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=531878

Wow, these guys really cook!  Great sounding pull, I just love the soundstage.
 

[kbergend]

Keith,

I screwed up in the dithering.  I've fixed it now, just waiting to hear from greenone as to how I get it to redo the derivations.

Thanks,
Chuck

Hey, shit happens -- it was just disarming to hear them in slow motion!  Thanks for sharing, I love Eilen & her band and will be uploading some of the shows I've recorded myself now that she's approved on LMA.

[tapersaregeeks]

Definitely the Sony ECM-MS907 Stereo Condenser Microphone! Hands down!

[sparkey]

Neumann 140 /184.  I have never really been able to tell the difference between the two in sound quality. 

Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought the KM14x and the 18x are the same mics, other than the 14x's have interchangeable caps and the 18x's have fixed caps (?)

There has been much debate on that.  I personally thought I pulled better tapes with my 184's over my 140's, but in hindsight I think the difference was that I was generally running active cables with the 140's, which changed the sound a bit.  I definitely prefer hypers to cards for what I do, and the substantial price bump between the 140's and 150's is enough for me to just opt for the Schoeps hypers.

I love my mk41>kc5>cmc6.  I can run those mics up front, in back, acoustic, electric and they sound great no matter where I go.  They are tremendously forgiving and compact.

Lot's of great choices here....DPA4011's for on stage, Neumann U-89's for delicious large diaphragm low end, mk41/4021/km140 in the hat....lots of goodies to try, followed by arguing about things only dogs can hear :-)

[fmaderjr]

Definitely the Sony ECM-MS907 Stereo Condenser Microphone! Hands down!

You are kidding, aren't you? Since you're a newbie, you may not be. Do some research on the forum and try something like a Church Audio CA-14 or CA-11. Doesn't cost a whole lot more and the difference is amazing. For one thing, you'll now have bass in your recordings and being able to separate the mics improves the sound stage.

[jnorman34]

over the years, i have owned pairs of DPA 4011s, 4006s, 4061s, schoeps CMC64s, neumann km184s, km140s, AKG C460s, C480s, gefell m300s, AT4051s, and many others.  there are really a lot of very nice mics out there that can do a fine job if you understand the situations in which they excel or have weaknesses. 

for lower cost, i think the DPA 4061s are simply amazing, and i still use them as flanks.  the AT4051s are just great mics all around, and compete with almost anything made, IMO, and you can get them cheap.  i really have not ever found any mics at lower price points that have satisfied me like these two pairs.  another extremely nice low cost omni is the AT4022 - i could not get over how great those things sounded for the price.

mid-level cost, the km184s and AKG c460/480 seem to rule here for me.  the neumanns are about as musical as any mic i have ever used.  the C480/ck61 mics are just about interchangeable with my DPA 4011s in overdub sessions - big transparent and honest - they are just great mics.  the ck62 omni caps with the 460 or 480 bodies, and the at4049 seem to be my favorite mid priced omnis, though the dpa 4061s hold their own with anything (other than some self noise issues in rare situations).

higher cost - for me, the DPA 4011 is the most accurate and transparent cardioid mic made.   the schoeps CMC64s were a very nice ORTF pair, but i found them a tad boomy for my taste as spot mics in the studio - i eventually sold those (but, hey - that's just me - i know many folks love them for good reason).  my current main cardioid mics for ORTF pair are the neumann km140, which i just love - while they are not as flat as the schoeps, and not as accurate as the dpa 4011s, they have a sound that i just cant get out of anything else.  for higher end omnis, the km131 near field, and the schoep cmc6/mk2 near fields are my favorites, with the dpa 4006s right there with them.

BTW, i did a shoot out of the km184 vs km140 over in the gear shootout forum on gearslutz if you are interested in hearing those two pairs side by side - i did the test on a flute and piano duo in the studio, to keep it clean and open to best illustrate freq response comparison.

[sparkey]

BTW, i did a shoot out of the km184 vs km140 over in the gear shootout forum on gearslutz if you are interested in hearing those two pairs side by side - i did the test on a flute and piano duo in the studio, to keep it clean and open to best illustrate freq response comparison.

yes please

[Brian Skalinder]

yes please

http://www.gearslutz.com/

[jnorman34]

here is the link to the km184 vs km140 shootout:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-shoot-outs-sound-file-comparisons-audio-tests/499468-km184-vs-km140.html