Topic: Favorite stealth-cardioids?

[Arni99]

I had:
sp-cmc-8
sp-cmc-4u(with low sens mod)
mm-hlsc-1
stc-11 (church cardioids)

any other great sounding mini cardioids out there i haven´t had yet?

ok , DPA 402x series, but their price ......the samples from dimeadozen.org didn´t convince me to do the step towards the dpa402x mics....

So which pair of mics sounds best to you?

My DPA4061´s OMNIS I like MOST! Never had such a full natural sound when using cardioids.

SP-CMC-8 sound too thin for ME.
SP-CMC-4U(low sens modded by SP) more bass than the SP-CMC-8 and overall richer sound than the SP-CMC-8.
MM-HLSC-1: these mics can really shine in CERTAIN situations (when there´s plenty of bass coming from the PA).
otherwise it sounds extremely thin but the high frequencies sound lovely .
STC-11 church cardioids: fuller(more bass) sound than the 3 above but also some kind of sound-colouration which i didn´t like. Of course most mics are NOT "transparent" sounding and add their own colouration to the sound recorded.

If I had to choose again from the 4 cardioids above, I would go for the MM-HLSC-1 cause it is more sensitive than the low-sens-modded AND does NOT distort at high SPL.
The church cards are for sure the BEST starter mics around for the given price .

More important is to KNOW, WHICH of someone´s mic will smoke other mics in WHICH situation(acoustics of the venue, crowd behaviour, spot to tape from,  etc. ).

[OOK]

My vote is for 853's   

[danlynch]

I recently just did some post-production on a nice clear recording made by someone in a small venue in Europe, with the Church Cards.  The sound was nice and sharp, but the problem, as with many of the low-cost mics, was that the bass response was weak.  I'm surprised to hear that these mics have "more bass" than the other 3.  After some level modifications and some EQ, they made a really nice recording--but there's just not much "there" there at the bottom end.

I'm listening to my White Stripes recording from Tuesday (FOB DPA 4021s) with a nice pair of Sennheiser headphones.  Its pretty humorous to suggest that there's no midrange in these mics. 

[Arni99]

I recently just did some post-production on a nice clear recording made by someone in a small venue in Europe, with the Church Cards.  The sound was nice and sharp, but the problem, as with many of the low-cost mics, was that the bass response was weak.  I'm surprised to hear that these mics have "more bass" than the other 3.  After some level modifications and some EQ, they made a really nice recording--but there's just not much "there" there at the bottom end.

I'm listening to my White Stripes recording from Tuesday (FOB DPA 4021s) with a nice pair of Sennheiser headphones.  Its pretty humorous to suggest that there's no midrange in these mics. 

I used my church cards at a small club in Vienna and the bass was really "omni-like" , so I guess if the soundguy kills low frequencies NO mic in the world can do a good sounding recording with nice low frequency levels.

[M]

You may want to try looking into some shure mx185's and audix adx40's.

For me the at853's are the best all round so far but I think that will change.  Like it was said before different mics for different situations.   

[Alchemy]

I'm listening to my White Stripes recording from Tuesday (FOB DPA 4021s) with a nice pair of Sennheiser headphones.  Its pretty humorous to suggest that there's no midrange in these mics. 

I'm not even about to get into an argument about how something sounds over the internet. Whatever sounds best to your ears is correct. I think it is pretty evident from the posts in this thread that we all have our own opinions about "good sounding" stealth cardiod microphones.

[Arni99]

I'm listening to my White Stripes recording from Tuesday (FOB DPA 4021s) with a nice pair of Sennheiser headphones.  Its pretty humorous to suggest that there's no midrange in these mics. 

I'm not even about to get into an argument about how something sounds over the internet. Whatever sounds best to your ears is correct. I think it is pretty evident from the posts in this thread that we all have our own opinions about "good sounding" stealth cardiod microphones.

sure, but after 4 shows with my dpa 4061 omnis the need for cardioids is fading and fading and......
after the next bad sounding venue I will change my mind for sure HAHA!

[George]

I own a pair of at853 cards (with mini xlr) and a pair of dpa4061's.  Their both great mics and I selected both for a particular reason.  The dpa's can sound stunning in the right environment.  I taped a MMW show with them last year when I first got them and I was floored (and still am) at how incredibly holographic they sound.  It's still like I'm sitting in the venue watching the show.  The at's serve their own purpose.  I generally use them for seats that are farther away from the stage, they do sound pretty good to great, but not in the same realm as the dpa's.  The at's definitely lack that low end punch I'm used to hear with my dpa's.  Midrange on the dpa's?  I'd say its very smooth and silky.

[dactylus]

wasn't DPA supposed to be releasing a mini 406x-type card? (not the one that is already available for vocal mic'ing off the headband)

I heard that the dpa mini 406x-type cards are coming within the next 90 days - i was told to monitor the dpa web site for release info...

 

[Dede2002]

I had:
sp-cmc-8
sp-cmc-4u(with low sens mod)
mm-hlsc-1
stc-11 (church cardioids)

any other great sounding mini cardioids out there i haven´t had yet?

ok , DPA 402x series, but their price ......the samples from dimeadozen.org didn´t convince me to do the step towards the dpa402x mics....

Arni,

Very nice thread

[DaveG73]

I'm not sure what "samples" you "heard on Dime", but as an owner of a pair of low-cost stealth mics and a also recent owner of a pair of DPA 4021's, I can assure you that the difference is quite striking.

If you would like to sample some fine DPA 402x's recordings, search for "Scott Brown" at archive.org, or you can visit my site linked in my signature and sample the Roger Waters, White Stripes or Fiery Furnaces recordings I've made in the last few months.

Huge +T's to your website. www.nyctaper.com  Very well put together.

I wish I could figure out how to do something similar.

Thanks for sharing.  That White Stripes is Killer.  You should sell copies of that show 

I would also love to know how to set up something similar.

If you feel like giving a tutorial on how you got it set up I would be very interested.

Dave.

[Nick's Picks]

you know..., I forgot about the Audix micro line.
those sound better than the ATs, but re much larger. 

[George]

you know..., I forgot about the Audix micro line.
those sound better than the ATs, but re much larger. 

Indeed.  The 1290c's sounded great in the limited amount of use I got out of them.  Very smooth and fun to listen to.  In comparison, the at853 cards sound a little unrefined/rough around the edges (in terms of midrange). 

The downside was that they are simply too long and heavy to stealth with if your going for a minimal/no hassle rig.

[danlynch]

It wasn't even originally my idea, but came from a post by T-section user dmaster:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,82802.msg1120045.html#msg1120045

I pretty much used all of his suggestions, added a few ideas of my own, used some trial and error, and of course added the content.  Oh yeah, and I layed out the cash for bandwidth.

I'm not sure what "samples" you "heard on Dime", but as an owner of a pair of low-cost stealth mics and a also recent owner of a pair of DPA 4021's, I can assure you that the difference is quite striking.

If you would like to sample some fine DPA 402x's recordings, search for "Scott Brown" at archive.org, or you can visit my site linked in my signature and sample the Roger Waters, White Stripes or Fiery Furnaces recordings I've made in the last few months.

Huge +T's to your website. www.nyctaper.com  Very well put together.

I wish I could figure out how to do something similar.

Thanks for sharing.  That White Stripes is Killer.  You should sell copies of that show 

I would also love to know how to set up something similar.

If you feel like giving a tutorial on how you got it set up I would be very interested.

Dave.

[prof_peabody]

I recently just did some post-production on a nice clear recording made by someone in a small venue in Europe, with the Church Cards.  The sound was nice and sharp, but the problem, as with many of the low-cost mics, was that the bass response was weak.  I'm surprised to hear that these mics have "more bass" than the other 3.  After some level modifications and some EQ, they made a really nice recording--but there's just not much "there" there at the bottom end.

I'm listening to my White Stripes recording from Tuesday (FOB DPA 4021s) with a nice pair of Sennheiser headphones.  Its pretty humorous to suggest that there's no midrange in these mics. 

I have had a chance to use a variety of equipment AT853, AT933, AT944, KM140, 4023...  A lot of people complain about lack of bass on low cost rigs.  And this is true, most low cost rigs have terrible bass response.  I've used a couple different SP batt boxes and the CA-9100; all I can say is that running the AT mics under phantom power is one of the best improvements you can make to the sound quality of these rigs.  Anyone who is using a 9V battery box should look at moving to phantom power set-up.  If you take a look through the Team Audio Technica thread you'll see a lot of similar comments from other tapers.  A phantom rig does not add much cost either.

For stealth DPAs, I really recommend the 4023 over the 4021.  The disconnecting lemo connectors are very handy.  My only problem with the DPAs for stealthing is the really flat frequency response... I don't think a lot of pre-amps handle the high end response from the DPAs very well and forces you into a V3 or 722 to get a really nice sound.