Topic: THE BEST mic for recording live music with permission and space for mic-stand ?

[DiggerinVA]

My point is the room has it's sound and how much of the room sound you want is part of the equation. LD's have a habit of grabbing that more so than SD's. (there is a thread that describes these general differences somewhere in this forum). There are the pattern choices as well which affect this the amount of the room. Tonal balance is more of a manufacturer's color, at least that is what I have found to generally be true (yes they will many times have that red herring).

One rule is you get what you pay for.

[stevetoney]

Regarding the sound of a room, some rooms have more reflective or reverberant walls than others so yeah I understand the point about 'some rooms have a sound'.  But I agree with Jon...it's not necessarily about picking a mic for a room...it's about picking a polar pattern and a distance from the stage to get the sound you want on the recording.  In that respect, LD vs SD...potato vs potahtoe.  Our job is to optimize the ratio of sound coming from the walls (and audience) to the sound coming directly from the stage to achieve the results that we want.  Some people want less reflective sound than others so you adjust either the pattern or the distance, but I've never read that SDs, as a rule, allow you to acheive a side rejection more than LDs.   

[DiggerinVA]

Actually all rooms at least have an effect on on the sound. How full the room is has it's effects as well. Just ask the people who run sound.

So we can read the spec's and look at the patterns and tell how the microphone is going to sound? I do believe that there are variations in how those patterns are derived. I may be wrong. So for me those sheets are just hints as to how the component will preform.

My experience is My LD (C38B) pattern is a bit wider than most SD's and sound fuller, even though the spec's don't support it. I also learned you can not read spec sheets with consumer audio equipment a predict how said component will sound with other components.


Here is a thought. High Fidelity is the recreation of a musical event at a later date and time. At least that is the definition I was taught.

[bombdiggity]

man I love those Schoeps mics from all the recordings I heard but those were mainly done in stealth
for stealth recording I have myself Sennheiser MKE2 and CA-14 mics but for "official" recordings I have no recordings for comparison and since bigger mics can be used there will be other options then the mics I know for stealth recording...

Let your ears be your guide and let your experience shed light on future choices. 

Open/stealth is really just a mounting option.  The same mics can be used in either mode with greater or lesser degrees of difficulty. 

The best mic is a matter of opinion (the opiner's taste) and appropriateness (how well suited its character is to the setting in which it will be used).  Many (most?) here have several mics or capsules to provide the flexibility to adapt their tools to what they expect will work best in each setting (based on room, musicians, location, operating mode).  Estimating all that in advance is a significant part of the craft. 

You already have two mics that will give you fairly different results.  The CA-14's can use both card and omni caps, which provides more options. 

Most full size mics (as opposed to miniaturized clip-ons) will provide richer low end response.  Whether you want that may depend on what sorts of shows you intend to use them at.  Investing in some full size mics might be a good idea if after thinking about when and where you're likely to use them you can narrow down to some you like that should shine in the applications you expect.  Listening to what others have gotten (especially with bands or rooms you're familiar with) should help. 

[paulbaptiste]

For all in ones  I'd throw in a Busman Marantz PMD 660 an often overlooked amazing sounding deck that can be found here in the yard for way less than its worth, and if you can get one around that 3-400 range they've been selling for I don't think there is a better bang for you buck recording device IMO in the "Lower" price range

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

1. Listen to various sources AT THE VENUES YOU'LL BE GOING TO. Note what you like and don't like about them.
2. Spend as much as you can on your mics.
3. Decide if you want to (and have the option to) run more than 2 channels. If you record small bands it's likely you'll be able to grab a SBD patch. SBD+Mics=

FWIW I have about $2G's into my rig for open taping. I'm very happy with it. The only thing I'm considering adding at this point is a Grace V3.

My open rig is:

Beyer CK930 > Tinybox > M10 (2 channel recording)
or
Beyer CK930 > Tascam DR-680 (When I'm running more than 2 channels).

One nice thing about my setup is that it's possible to run open or stealth with it (although I've yet to run stealth with the CK930's...but it can be done).

[olli66]

guys, thanks for all the replies!
I'm off to Stockholm now (Springsteen), will digg more into everything that's been said here once I'm back...

[cashandkerouac]

lots of good feedback and some excellent equipment options to choose from.  however, your taping location will influence the quality of your recordings more than anything else.  the best mics in the world won't save you if you're in a krappy spot to record the show.  i've made some stellar recordings with $300 mics in a great location, and have come away with some real dogs using $2,000 mics in a krappy spot.   

[illconditioned]

I wonder if the safest bet might be a mid-side rig.  You can basically "point and shoot", and then do processing is post to choose the amount of "room" that you get.

The added benefit of this setup is that you can also use it for other applications like video, ambient recording, etc.

There are a wide range of options, from Sony ECM-907, Shure VP88, all the way up to something like Sanken.  If you are willing to use a separate fig 8 mic, there are even more options.

  Richard

[F.O.Bean]

I'd go with mk41s for around $1,200 and an NBob active cable for around $450-500 and then you just need a TinyBox preamp and a Sony m10 recorder for a total of like $2,200