Topic: Stealthing very loud metal shows...extended from Team EVIL

[Ed.]

people have stealthed v3s before, pfife stealths his ua5, don't really see what you're getting at when you kids say they're not stealthable.

also, post production might not be needed if you weren't using $50 mics - just saying is all.  for as many shows as i tape, if i had to listen to them on 5-6 different stereos to tweak them everytime i made a show, i'd still be working on shows from 2 years ago.  i commend you for your dedication.  but i'd rather just drop the money and get better equipment, then fix my shows all the time.

and i'd go with the 4061's, i started out running dynamic audio omni mics, never once did i have a problem running fob with them.

[Evil Taper]

Ok cool.  Those mics suck, but they looked good for the money at the time.  If i didn't just blow all my money on xmas i'd buy the new mics.  But next month is just as good.  Not really any shows I wanna go to now anyway.  Thanks.

[Evil Taper]

Off topic as usual, but has anyone ever powered their mics with a phantom power tubed preamp?  I know this wouldn't work outside of your home since these units need to be plugged in, but it's just somethin I was pondering.  I bought a vaccum tube preamp for a studio mic to run, love analog sound for everying.  Possibly running tube processing on master recordings could add a great warmth to them?  I'll fuck around with it once I get it and let you guys know what I think about it.  Just more crap to go over.

But with the CMC8s, how much bottom end are you losing compared to the 4061s?  I've been going through my recordings made with the cmc series mics and have noticed that most of them are lacking the true wetness of the bassdrums.  Will the DPAs preserve the dynamic qualities of the sub range sounds properly?  Anal I know, but why buy something that is going to need an upgrade.  From what I understand, this could just be the trade off between the cardiod pickup versus the omni pickup.  I love ambience, but don't love crowd noise.  Hard choices to make.

[pfife]

Off topic as usual, but has anyone ever powered their mics with a phantom power tubed preamp?  I know this wouldn't work outside of your home since these units need to be plugged in, but it's just somethin I was pondering.

Check out the remote power section!  Almost all preamps used for taping are made for home/studio use but have been made portable by making battery packs for them!

Also, DPA's are known for being a very transparent mic- you are going to get quite accurate reproduction of what was there using DPAs (which may not always be a good thing...)

[Evil Taper]

I am listening to Shwilliys Static-X show from 08-30-04 made with the DPAs and asside from some crowd noise it's a great recording..too bad the lame trader I got it from burned me one from an mp3 source   Never will understand why people ruin great recordings by having them clip between tracks.  But it seems that the omni recordings tend to have more crowd noise...like you're actually there heh.  What kind of battery module do you have to run the DPAs on?  Just a small battery pack like the lame squids i'm running now?

[Tim]

Here's the thing....people keep telling me that if running omnis that i should be taping as close to the stacks as possible.  In my humble personal opinion, the recordings made from this sort of venue location have good sound, but are missing that live ambience that is the live sound in itself.  I ALWAYS stand FOB whether I have gear or not, I think the sound is mixed most purely in this sort of location and also you get to enjoy the throw that the venue has...which sometimes is not a plus I do admit...but it's just such a different sound.  If recording right in front of the stacks you may as well be running a SBD show, since it doesn't have that live warmth that you get FOB anyway.  I know I can really get cocky and sound like an asshole so disregard this shit if you think i'm a retard.  Thanks you evil fuckers.

fwiw - I completely agree. To me stack taping is a last resort, I haven't heard many stack tapes that I actually like....

[Evil Taper]

The bass pickup with these 4061s is sick.  Running a substantial bass boost on the playback and it's flawless.  I'll take that as a trade off for a bit of chatter. 

And what is up with these ticket things?

[Tim]

Off topic as usual, but has anyone ever powered their mics with a phantom power tubed preamp? 

schoeps make dc powered tube mics... I have 3 good friends who run them, 2 are on this board... there are a gew other guys too.

http://posthorn.com/S_m222.html

[Evil Taper]

The name schoeps scares me...prices are insane.  Doesn't anyone else make a tube unit?  It was just an idea I had.
Not shelling out $2000 for mics.

[Tim]

$2000? That would get you 1 power supply, and one body. You'd need another $2k for stereo, oh and another $1500 for a pair of mk41's. not to mention everyting else...

DC powered tubes are expensive, really the schoeps are the only practical ones for our purposes though you could spend about the same and carry a car battery and run some neumann's...

there is a tube mod for the adk a51tl's but they're not DC powerable afaik...

[Evil Taper]

Yeah I didn't think it would be practical, just curious if anyone had played around with the idea.  Maybe once I get new mics I'll record a friends indie band and split the signal, run one through a standard power unit and the other through the phamtom tube pre, to see what kind of sound differance it actually produces.  If you do listen to older aucience recordings like Pink Floyd/The Doors those old analog system sure do make a different sound than the digital gear we use now.  Not saying it's better or worse, just so much warmer than the ultra crisp recordings you get now.

[pfife]

Just a small battery pack like the lame squids i'm running now?

Pretty much.  There are multiple ways to wire them, but they only need that amount of power- whereas many others need full phantom power to run at a peak performance.  There's other boxes DPA makes called MPS boxes- checkem

[zhianosatch]

Here's the thing....people keep telling me that if running omnis that i should be taping as close to the stacks as possible. 

this is a shit-assed mantra and a great way to ruin what might normally be a great tape, partly for the reason you stated. omnis get a bad rap because many users are stupid and don't run them correctly in the first place.
every taping situation is different and has to be handled with your best judgment, which will improve with experience. you can't align yourself with a single technique and not expect to miss golden opportunities with a different one. however, i'll only attempt to stick my head in a stack at a bad religion concert; never have i seen entire crowds moving so much. i fight for the sweet spot at almost every other GA show i attend and my tapes thank me for it.
the dpa 406x series is the best true "stealth" mic available and will make better tapes than any other mics but the high end SD crew (Schoeps, Neumann, DPA, MG, AKG, ETC. etc.).

[zhianosatch]

$2000? That would get you 1 power supply, and one body.

body, schmody!

[Evil Taper]

Well I do think I'm convinced that the DPAs are a better buy than the SPs.  Less shit to haul around means easier crotchability means more shows taped.  Also to trade off a bit of crowd noise for a recording filled with true ambience, definately worth it.  Looks like i'm going to be broke until march, oh well.