Topic: Mo' Booty? How to get a bit more bass in my rig...

[Zeke]

Hey Y'all

I'm sort of a noob with a dozen or so shows under my belt.  I've been involved with music for many years though, just not on this end of the mic.

Oh, and I'm a bass player  so that's one of the reasons I'd like to see a bit more low end oomph in my recordings.

My Gear:

Microphone Madness MM-HLSC-1 cards > MM Battery Box > iRiver H160 (w/rockbox)

I'm aware that these mics are known for a lite bass response, though I wasn't so aware of this before I bought them a few years ago.  The battery box has the ability to block bass freqs but I've got it set to 16 Hz (which probably means it's not blocking anything).

I record mostly loud rock shows, and I have been impressed with the ability of my rig to handle this.  I don't want to invest a bunch more in my rig -- if I could find some mics/preamp setup that could do what this one does but with better bass response I would probably sell what I have.  iRiver is staying though, at least for now.

So what would you experienced guys suggest?

I'm looking to stay battery portable, and I've seen alot of posts about the Church Audio stuff.  Would the sound quality be comparable but with more booty?

Thanks alot, this site has been invaluable to me so far and I want to thank all of you for that.

Zeke

[jnorman34]

clearly, you are ready to upgrade your mics to acheive what you are after.  it depends heavily on what your budget is, and what kinds of conditions you record under.  omnis are going to give you the best bass response because they do not exhibit proximity effect like cards do, BUT you have to be able to carefully place omnis to get top quality recordings (and to avoid too much crowd noise), so they are often limited in large venues where you have no control over where you palce your mics. 

to get good quality when you are at a fair distance from a stage, you will need some pretty good quality mics, probably of hypercard configuration.  if you are regularly able to set up close to stage lip, cards can work fine.  for entry level, decent quality mics that can offer both card and hypercard (as well as omni), you might consider the akg blue line c391b's with multiple caps.  some folks like the SP C4s which also offer more than one capsule choice and are very affordable.  if you have a bigger budget than that, let us know and we will inundate you with a number of other mic choices.

[Jammin72]

Number 1 consideration in any recording rig.... Microphone.  It's all about the transducer!  After that it's real estate... location, location, location.

[jnorman34]

yo jammin - ck63's - yeah baby!!!

[Jammin72]

yo jammin - ck63's - yeah baby!!!

Probably the most underrated, most linear hyper available on the market!  Not 'cause I own it, just 'cause I've heard it.

MK41  is the other hyper with the mostest.  The cardioid debate gets very thick very quickly.

[Jammin72]

yo jammin - ck63's - yeah baby!!!

Probably the most underrated, most linear hyper available on the market!  Not 'cause I own it, just 'cause I've heard it.

MK41  is the other hyper with the mostest.  The cardioid debate gets very thick very quickly.

How quickly I forget the MG21... shame shame.

[udovdh]

Dunno the MM stuff but if they are like what they are made of there is plenty of bass.

If you see the specs for the mic capsule they need 16K terminating or so.
Perhaps the iriver has a lower impedance?
I suspect that may cause a (relative) lack of bass.

[BC]

Add EQ post.

[Dede2002]

Hey Y'all

I'm sort of a noob with a dozen or so shows under my belt.  I've been involved with music for many years though, just not on this end of the mic.

Oh, and I'm a bass player  so that's one of the reasons I'd like to see a bit more low end oomph in my recordings.

My Gear:

Microphone Madness MM-HLSC-1 cards > MM Battery Box > iRiver H160 (w/rockbox)

I'm aware that these mics are known for a lite bass response, though I wasn't so aware of this before I bought them a few years ago.  The battery box has the ability to block bass freqs but I've got it set to 16 Hz (which probably means it's not blocking anything).

I record mostly loud rock shows, and I have been impressed with the ability of my rig to handle this.  I don't want to invest a bunch more in my rig -- if I could find some mics/preamp setup that could do what this one does but with better bass response I would probably sell what I have.  iRiver is staying though, at least for now.

So what would you experienced guys suggest?

I'm looking to stay battery portable, and I've seen alot of posts about the Church Audio stuff.  Would the sound quality be comparable but with more booty?

Thanks alot, this site has been invaluable to me so far and I want to thank all of you for that.

Zeke

Hello Zeke,

I've never used  an iRiver H160. I'm an Edirol R-09 user plus a HLSC-1 pair. Yes, the bass is not it's strong feature if you're looking for earth shaking,deep bass. But it has a very nice bass. Tight, controled and well defined. No worries about HPF on post and so on. But you can always add a touch of bass later. Just a touch would be more than enough, trust me. My 2 cents.

[Javier Cinakowski]

Add EQ post.

Can't boost what was never captued.  Additionally, who wants to deal with that after every show.  Capture the recording right the first time IMO...

[Dede2002]

Add EQ post.

Can't boost what was never captued.  Additionally, who wants to deal with that after every show.  Capture the recording right the first time IMO...

Hey Javier, how are you? I agree 100% with your remarks. But this is not exactly what happens with the HLSC-1. In my extremely humble opinion, it does capture bass all right. Not a huge amount of bass, but more than enough for you to add a little touch on the lower frequencies and make it more pleasant to listen.
Take care

[Javier Cinakowski]

Add EQ post.

Can't boost what was never captued.  Additionally, who wants to deal with that after every show.  Capture the recording right the first time IMO...

Hey Javier, how are you? I agree 100% with your remarks. But this is not exactly what happens with the HLSC-1. In my extremely humble opinion, it does capture bass all right. Not a huge amount of bass, but more than enough for you to add a little touch on the lower frequencies and make it more pleasant to listen.
Take care

Doin well my freind!

Hey, if you want to take the time and EQ after every show, have at it!   I think I would just EQ on my stereo instead....

[Dede2002]

Add EQ post.

Can't boost what was never captued.  Additionally, who wants to deal with that after every show.  Capture the recording right the first time IMO...

Hey Javier, how are you? I agree 100% with your remarks. But this is not exactly what happens with the HLSC-1. In my extremely humble opinion, it does capture bass all right. Not a huge amount of bass, but more than enough for you to add a little touch on the lower frequencies and make it more pleasant to listen.
Take care

Doin well my freind!

Hey, if you want to take the time and EQ after every show, have at it!   I think I would just EQ on my stereo instead....

That's also good idea 

[Jimna]

Add EQ post.

Can't boost what was never captued.  Additionally, who wants to deal with that after every show.  Capture the recording right the first time IMO...

^^that guy is more ofter right than wrong.   fact.

[Liquid Drum]

When I used the HLSC I got LOTS of bass frequencies (A bit too much for me, but was easy to EQ).