Topic: Neumann 184 accessories?

[airbladder]

I just got a pair of Neumann 184's and want to pick up a t-bar, shocks, and wind screens.  The mics are coming with the standard clips, a t-bar, and the stock wind screens.  Looking for recommendations on what others are using.  With out looking the shure vert bar, akg (i think) adjustable t-bar, and shure w-something (they are big) wind screens come to mind.  I am wondering about the shure donuts and other shock mounts that work and won't break the bank. 

Rob Clarke runs his with right angle xlr's using a single schoeps style shock in DIN.  I like that set up.  This will be my second set of mics.  I want a set up that will be small, reasonably priced, and give me lots of options.  Any info, photos, and recommendations would be great.

[airbladder]

Looks like the Shure A53m shock mounts will work.  Looks like these could get packed up in a bag and not get all bent up like other shocks.

[TNJazz]

Looks like the Shure A53m shock mounts will work.  Looks like these could get packed up in a bag and not get all bent up like other shocks.

Yes, the A53M are the best bet for these IMO.  I'm looking for a couple myself at the moment.

[stevetoney]

Ed:

The Shure donuts are a really good option.  Busman's A20 knock-offs are just the right size too.  Those are I think $20 each.  As I recall, the KM184's are 21mm in diameter.  The busman mounts are right at that diameter...or possibly 22mm.  However, the tube that holds the mics on the busmans have a little give so that you can give them a little squeeze on the sides to take up some slack.  I think either would be a good option. 

The busmans have 5/8" standard threads on the bottom.

For windscreens, go with either the Shure 81WS or the DPA0896 (the DPAs are probably a better fit, IMHO).  I've never owned the Shures, but they say these cut the wind in all conditions.  My experience with the DPAs is that they worked fine up to gusty conditions, then you needed to throw rats over them because they're not foolproof when the wind is gusting, say above 20mph or so.  The problem with the Shure's is their size...they're really big and better suited for the longer barrel of...say a AKg460 or 480 mic.  The KM184s are really alot shorter than the AKGs, which makes the Shure 81WS a little too big IMHO because there's not enough of the mic barrel on a 184 protruding out the front of the mic mount to penetrate into the middle of the big ass Shure. 

Hope this helps.

Steve

[DSatz]

Shure rubber donuts are made for 20 mm microphones; Neumann KMs these days are 22 mm in diameter. Even back when they were only 21 mm (KM 83/84/85 era, as well as early examples of the KM 100 series) they were a tight fit in the Shure donuts, and the Neumann logo would regularly get torn off. Now they're very hard to fit in at all.

I would strongly recommend Rycote shock mounts instead.

--best regards

[su6oxone]

The Joe Meeks shocks also fit the km184s perfectly, I forget what model number they are though.  They were fairly cheap when I bought them a year ago or so. 

[ghellquist]

The modern alternative is the Rycote Invision shock mounts. These are several times better. I believe the right size is the INV7:
http://www.rycote.com/products/041107/

// gunnar

[drewski1986]

Here are some links to pictures of the 184's that I bought.  I thought this was a great set up. 

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50/knottypine/DSC01660.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50/knottypine/DSC01654.jpg

I bought a shure donut and had aluminum rod machined to .820 and threaded the rod for 3/8 all thread.  It works pretty good and is a really quick and small setup.

[John Willett]

The Rycote InVision series are the best there is - at any price.

I have already thrown away all my manufacturers mounts and converted every SDC I have over to the Rycote InVision series.

No contest, there is nothing better (and not a lot cheaper).

[taperj]

you guys seem to have the mounts covered... here are the best screens I've found... I've had 'em out in some whipping wind and cant hear any wind and they are light enough to not adversely affect high end response.

here's the foams(a bargain at 4.95$ each)...

http://www.thewindcutter.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15

and those foams fit perfectly under these furs...

http://www.thewindcutter.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=381&zenid=0fdb12444152e3503f4f2c4e6d685da1

I also requested that they fit the furs for my stock neumann foams and sent them the measurement in the notes on my order, she(Rebekah) sized them perfectly to fit both their 1200 series and my stock neumann foams snugly. I am thoroughly impressed with the performance of the screens and dealing with thewindcutter.com was a pleasure, they are very attentive.

Hope this helps, your gonna love your mics.

J

[sparkey]

here's the foams(a bargain at 4.95$ each)...

Holy crap, a reasonably priced set of windscreens??  What is afoot in the taping world???

FWIW, a piece of (acoustically transparent) speaker fabric over your mics prior to putting on the windscreens is a cheap and extremely effective method of eliminating wind noise.  Quite frankly, when the wind is that difficult I generally don't listen to the tapes due to the wind blowing it out of phase.

Josh

[airbladder]

I have never used dead rats before.  Is there any advantage to the small screens and rats over the large foam screens?

[taperj]

Wind noise is percussive. Foam screens no matter how large do not stop percussive noise, they just make it further away from the caps(effectively stopping it but not really, you're only displacing it). Dead rats actually catch the wind and calm it before it hits your foams(and without the need for up to 4 inches of muffling foam), the rats I specified are the second most hardcore they make with 2" hairs. They are also synthetic so they are extremely light. As far as wind phasing, I aim at the stacks in the wind, the less airspace between your mics and the stacks, the less drift. I notice on side by side recordings in the wind that M/S setups and other "perfect" type patterns show much more wind phasing than me blasting the stacks with my km184s in a direct line.

J

[caymanreview]

i had a chance to check out taperj's new dead rats and screens last weekend

long story short, im ordering some myself

ive had homemade dead rats in the past, and his were in a totally different league

[taperj]

Got a rig pic of the furs in action today so you can see what they look like...

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