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Mic Recommendations

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BleedingMe:
I'm looking to upgrade, well that's probably the wrong wording, buy some new mics with different charateristics I guess. I'm currently running CA-11's & CA-14's Cardioids with either PCM-M10 & Roland R-05 and a CA BatteryBox. I really only stealth tape with mics clipped under my collar or the CA-11's in croakies. I mostly attend shows at smaller clubs or theatres with the occasional arena show.

I don't want to break the bank, so I'm looking at the Sound Professionals mics which I like the sound of, but not sure on which ones would be the best fit for my purposes. I'm tossing up between either the SP-CMC-8 or the SP-CMC-4U (with mod of course), but most of the older posts where there are pictures comparing are long gone. What size and weight are the SP-CMC-4U compared to the CA-14's as these have been fine so far for stealthing, but much bigger and heavy would be an issue. Or should I just spend the extra $200 and go ahead and get the SP-CMC-8? And are these mics fine to plug straight into the recorder with PP? I know it's not ideal, but at bigger venues in Australia they wand and would probably ask questions if they found a Battery Box or Pre-amp. I've gone straight into the recorder with the CA-11's at a very loud Meshuggah show with no problems. And I've also run the CA-14's with no BB without any issues at all.

Cheers

nulldogmas:
I can't speak the battery box question because I always use one, but when I've done tests on the SP-CMC-4U vs the CA-14 cards, the results have been indistinguishable. The 4Us are maybe the tiniest bit narrower because they don't have the built-in windscreens, but they're a smidge longer. They're great mics, but I don't know that I'd consider them a significant upgrade.

Lots of people love the SP-CMC-8s, but their sound is a little thin for my tastes. Like the others, they'd fit fine under a collar or clipped to a hat.

BleedingMe:
Thanks for the reply.  :)

I see what you mean about the SP-CMC-8s. I've listened to a few shows recorded with them and although they seem very clear, the sound is wafer thin for my tastes as well. I'm pretty sure it would be easy to get a similar result if you rolled-off the bass in post with the SP-CMC-4U. Seeing as the SP-CMC-4U's are a lot cheaper and aren't too big, I might go with them. This way I can get one of their Battery Boxes as well. From what I have heard, there are a enough differences between the 4U's and the CA14's to warrant getting a pair.

acidjack:
The SP-CMC-4 is arguably an upgrade to CA-14, but I really mean "arguably." I'd call them a lateral move.

Unless you want to go all-in with much better full-size mics that have "active" solutions, like Beyers or AKGs or something of that nature, then I think you should stick w/ what you've got.

voltronic:

--- Quote from: acidjack on August 17, 2017, 01:37:19 PM ---The SP-CMC-4 is arguably an upgrade to CA-14, but I really mean "arguably." I'd call them a lateral move.

Unless you want to go all-in with much better full-size mics that have "active" solutions, like Beyers or AKGs or something of that nature, then I think you should stick w/ what you've got.

--- End quote ---

For tiny size and quality, I can't imagine beating the DPA 4061.  Expensive new, but you can find them used all the time after professional theaters swap out for new ones.  You'll find them terminated to all different configurations depending on what wireless lav packs they were used with.  Ignore that, and just but a couple that look like they're in good shape.  Then, send them off to one of the cable builders here to terminate two of them to a miniplug so you could power them from your existing battery box (they require 8V, so a 9V source is just fine).

EDIT:  I would say that this is only worth doing if you're going to use the battery box.  These probably won't perform great with the lower PIP voltage of the R-05.

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