Topic: Anyone using the Schoeps Sphere Attachment KA 40?

[Napo]

The Schoeps site recites (http://www.schoeps.de/en/products/ka40 ) :

'This sphere accessory (40 mm diameter) is for use with omnidirectional microphones.

It creates the illusion of closer placement so that greater miking distances can be used while maintaining good ”focus” in the sound. This in turn improves the blend and balance when recording orchestras or choruses, for example. The effect is due partly to an increase in directivity, but mainly to the elevated mid­range response (see frequency response curves. The low-frequency response remains undiminished.'

I wonder if we tapers can use it with MK21/22 in rock venues à-la-Phish reducing the lateral crowd noise while maintaining a reach bass sound often lost with MK41?

Just trying to be creative 

 

[Gutbucket]

I wonder if we tapers can use it with MK21/22

Not with MK21/22, sphere attachments only work with pressure omnis.

[su6oxone]

I find the 41s to have more than enough bass at the average rock concert.  I like those interesting Schoeps mic setups though.

[Napo]

yes, indeed interesting as on paper they would shield some crowd noise.

Yet the reply from Gutbucket sounds a definitive 'no go'.

[DSatz]

The spheres would physically fit onto many different Schoeps capsules, BUT their effect would be quite harmful functionally and sonically on any capsules except the omnidirectional ones (MK 2, MK 2H, MK 2S, MK 3). I've used them with my MK 2S capsules, where they worked as advertised; I'd be glad to say a little more about that, but let's get some stuff out of the way first.

Very basic facts: Schoeps' omnidirectional capsules are pressure transducers. Pressure transducers have only one side of the diaphragm exposed to the sound field, so they don't need (and don't have) inlets behind the diaphragm. (Please look at the photos--the sides of the omni capsules are sealed, unlike all the other capsules.) You can put a sphere accessory over that kind of capsule and it won't interfere with the way the capsule picks up sound--it will only do what the graphs show in the catalog: create a presence rise and favor the front of the capsule at higher frequencies. And yes, a sphere with the capsule facing forward and flush-mounted in its surface is a very nice and useful way, acoustically, to do that.

All other directional patterns involve some degree of pressure gradient pickup, so they need a path for sound to reach the back of the diaphragm; thus they have rear inlets for sound, which would be covered by anything like these sphere accessories. That would mess up the directional pattern and frequency response of the microphone. While the pattern would be approximately omnidirectional for much of the frequency range, the diaphragm tension and the other acoustical aspects of the directional capsules are completely wrong for use in an omni capsule; I can promise almost anyone that they would find the sound quality unacceptable. This is also why you can't simply turn a cardioid capsule into a usable omni by putting tape over the rear sound inlets (a question that comes up repeatedly when people first learn about the difference between the pressure and pressure gradient pickup principles).

--best regards

[Napo]

DStaz,

your explanation hit the nail to seal the coffin of my (wrong) imagination

T+ for clear explainantion

[NOLAfishwater]

Dsatz, is there a reason you didn't mention the MK5 as one of the acceptable capsules?

[DSatz]

Mainly because I didn't think of them, sorry. Sonically their omni setting is like something between an MK 2 and an MK 2H. And the spheres have a thin layer of soft material lining the hole that the mike goes into, so they might well be OK with the MK 5 capsule's pattern switch.

But just in case (due to the pattern switch) I'd want to double-check with Bernhard Vollmer before saying a definite "yes"--I'll write to him as soon as I sign off here, and with any luck I'll get his reply in the morning, U.S. time. He's used to my crazy questions ...

--best regards

[yug du nord]

^
 

[DSatz]

OK, the word from Mr. Vollmer is in: "Der Umschalter ragt nicht aus dem Gehäuse heraus, also sollte es kein Problem geben"--which is pretty much what we all expected him to say, no?

Or to put that a slightly different way, "The switch doesn't protrude beyond the housing, so there shouldn't be any problem."

--best regards

[Gutbucket]

 

[skaggs]

Would this attachment be applicable utilizing spaced omnis outside and maintain the lack of wind noise while reduing crowd noise?  thoughts?  i utilize my mk2s either on a NOLA split bar or spaced 6-15 feet in front of the soundstage at outdoor shows (primarily Telluride Bluegrass and Blues and Brews).  It would be nice to reduce the crowd noise during some of the quieter acts.  Thanks.

richard

[Gutbucket]

Low end wind noise shouldn't be increased significantly and it also will not really reduce crowd noise much, though you may notice its effect on the tonality of any off-axis crowd noise.  The presence rise favors sound arriving from the front at higher frequencies and the sphere 'shadows' the capsule for high frequencies from the sides and back somewhat, but not enough and not to a low enough frequency to effectively reduce the crowd noise.  It sort of emphasises the direct, on-axis sound tonally more than anything.  A look at the response graphs pretty much sums it up.

Disclaimer- I haven't used the KA40 with Schoeps mics personally, but I've used and experimented with other similar sized sphere attachments on omnis and researched how and why these attachments work.

[DSatz]

I agree with Gutbucket's remarks. The spheres are too small to have any effect below the upper midrange, but the "middle midrange" is where most of the energy of crowd noise is.

I could be wrong, but I question whether spheres would be useful very often in the kind of settings that most of the non-classical recordists describe on this forum. I think more of Symphony Hall in Boston or the late, lamented Studio "A" at RCA Studios in New York--huge spaces that manage to be both clear and warm at the same time. Then the spheres let you choose omnis that have more of a diffuse-field type response (where you would typically see a rise of perhaps 5 - 6 dB or even more on axis around 8 - 10 kHz in the spec sheets) than you might normally prefer, and you set the mikes up farther from the sound sources than most people might consider usual.

The combination can maintain focus while giving you lots of nice blend and delicious room sound. But in order for that to work, the room sound truly has to be delicious, and the blend at that distance has to be suitable esthetically for the type of music that you're recording.

It's one of those techniques that it's nice to pull out of your hat now and then when it's exactly right, but it's probably not an everyday recording method, unless your everyday recording assignments are in nearly perfect acoustical settings.

--best regards

[Napo]

I am learning e'day something new thanks to you TP'ers.