Topic: First rig (MK4 - CMBI - R-09): wearability & taping locations?

[arcanah]

Newbie Scandinavian taper here with newbie questions: 

My rig consists of Schoeps MK4s - CMBI - Edirol R-09. I bought it recently (in early anticipation of Genesis' reunion gig(s)).  I've not yet decided on how I should "wear" the mics "stealthily" at venues (bars, arenas & outdoor stadiums). Suggestions (and pictures) would be most welcome!

Also needing recommendations & ideas about recording locations. I'm pretty tall and most often stand on the floor/field -> FOB? 

I'm most interested in (& will soon start taping) various prog/art rock, hard rock & metal bands.

[EDIT: typos & topic wording]

[shaggy]

Welcome fellow Schoeps taper!  How do you plan to record?  The CMBI do not accept any active accessories so 'wearing' the mics would be rather difficult with the mk4/CMBI bodies.  It seems like with the type of music you like to record that having the mics on a stand will be impossible. 

If this is the case, consider the active accesories and a Sonosax SX-M2/LS2....which means more money!

[arcanah]

Thanks for your Comment!

My rig is already bought and the budget is spent (for now). "Wearing ideas" for this gear is just what I'm asking. Stand is unfortunately not an option.

Q: I know Schoeps doesn't recommend active cables between MK4-CMBI, but do you know if that's just a "high-end QC" -issue or a technical impossibility? Even a 4-10 inches (10-25 cm) active cable would help the "wearability" a lot...   

[todd e]

i know you said that the rig is already purchased, but this community does a really good job of keeping the gear-heads together and often people sell gear after only running it a few times, with not much loss on the original price.  i would consider re-evaluating the cmbi (even though it's nice!!) and maybe pick up a pair of the KC5 cables and a pair of cmc6 bodies, this way your profile is significantly reduced and wearing mics is much more feasible.

good luck, welcome to team schoeps.!

to answer your question about functionality, i may be incorrect, but my understanding is that it is physically impossible to use active-bsed cables as the contection is XLR, not the collete active (male/female)

[ianstone]

the one advantage you have with the cmbi is that it is self powered. That is a good thing because you wont need a preamp, but, it can also be a bad thing.
At very high SPL's, although they are self powered, the mics (or the recorder rather) might not be able to handle the high SPL's that the mics are feeding it.
In the case of a preamp, you don't need to worry about it - but when you are relying on the r-09's internal electronics to do that work, you may have some overloads on levels since you have no way of controlling the gain level from the signal right out the back of the microphone.
I hope this makes sense.

I would (if i were you) definitely reconsider. You can sell the cmbi bodies and keep the mk4's/ r-9. For probably the same cost (or maybe less?) than you spent on the cmbi's, you could get a stealthy "NBOX'.
The Nbox is made from high quality electronics which mimic the sound of the cmc6 bodies, yet combine it in a small, portable preamp which would not only power the mk4 capsules but also apply the correct amount of gain. you can get these boxes with either fixed gain or adjustable gain...
the boxes cost around $1150>1250 or so, and include not only the box w/ electronics, but also cables and colletes that the mk4 capsules will screw into. Then you will take the signal out of the nbox via RCA cables, and use an RCA>Mini cord to go into the r-09.

another, yet more expensive option would be the sonosax sx-m2/LS2 (modified sonosax preamp with lemo connectors, and electronics which replace the need for cmc6 bodies). These go for around $1150 or so, but then you'll need to purchase a KCY adapter cable which could run you around $5-600 US.
(i'm in the us so all figures i'm using are USD$)

anyway i hope some of this helps, let us know if you have any other questions or need advice.

[arcanah]

Thanks for your suggestions/comments about my rig. I'll reconsider changing from CMBIs to NBox/Sonosax if I'm not happy with the stealth factor and/or High SPL handling after a few recordings. Regarding high SPL's, I'll just have to see if CMBIs "-15db" setting together with R-09s internal electronics is sufficient.

However, my original newbie question was about optimal recording locations for MK4s and ideas for wearing the mK4-CMBIs (I already came up with one idea I'll try). Or at least some guidelines related to these topics. Or is there a FAQ somewhere about this stuff?

[Brian Skalinder]

However, my original newbie question was about optimal recording locations for MK4s and ideas for wearing the mK4-CMBIs (I already came up with one idea I'll try). Or at least some guidelines related to these topics. Or is there a FAQ somewhere about this stuff?

We try to not openly discuss stealthing techniques, since in the past some security folks have used the information posted here to track down stealthers at the venue.  Nowadays we try to share this information via PMs.  If you don't receive (m)any, I'm guessing it's because not many folks have direct experience stealthing mics the size of the MK4/CMBI combo.

[ianstone]

Thanks for your suggestions/comments about my rig. I'll reconsider changing from CMBIs to NBox/Sonosax if I'm not happy with the stealth factor and/or High SPL handling after a few recordings. Regarding high SPL's, I'll just have to see if CMBIs "-15db" setting together with R-09s internal electronics is sufficient.

However, my original newbie question was about optimal recording locations for MK4s and ideas for wearing the mK4-CMBIs (I already came up with one idea I'll try). Or at least some guidelines related to these topics. Or is there a FAQ somewhere about this stuff?

well ideally you'll want to have the capsules somewhere they wont be impeded at all by anything surrounding you. If theres people in front of you, you probably dont want the capsules lower than avg shoulder height. hat is always the best, you might be able to find a big jamaican hat to house those CMBI's

you probably wont see much of a FAQ or any public info on stealthing really. some folks here do it, but as brian says its kept on the D/L, i choose to only tape bands that allow it though.

best of luck to you!

[jcrab66]

way to dive off the cliff head first