Topic: The Lowly Dynamic Microphone...

[hexyjones]

So I grab this cassette tape "Starlight 85" and head out to the car...well there is no Jerry on this...its some reggae band...

"Sounds good..." I think to myself..."hmmph...who is this? Sounds like a SBD..."

But then I hear some crowd between songs..."hmmm...audience, not bad..."

So I finally figure out this is "George Wesley and the Iretations" at Penn State...like 1990.

I made this tape with a Sony D5 and pair of Radio Shack Highball Dynamic Mics...Damn does it sound nice!!! Probably some analog compression happening...but to think some shit mics can sound so nice...

So now - I have to try again...

I am a mic whore...so I've put together a set of Realistic "Dual Response" Dynamic Cardioid Mics...I think these are roughly the eqivalent of a Shure SM53...

http://www.shure.com/pdf/discontinued/sm53-54.pdf

Question...am I at risk of too much SPL? I mean - we use 57s for micing guitar amps...so am I safe here?

I know these are no 441s - but I just want to have some fun...I will still be running my "A" rig...

Anyone else still sport Dynamic mics once in while...?

[BC]

Nice, goes to show it doesn't take a ton of pricey equipment to make a nice recording!

I always think it is funny how we use mics that cost thousands of dollars (to say nothing about the price of the  other equipment in the chain!!) to tape a band that is being mic'ed onstage by dynamic mics that cost in the range of $100...

[rocksuitcase]

we've been using a pair of Beyer Dynamic M201-E's for a while now as our "b"rig.
I used to use a different pair of M 201's extensively back in the day ( 82 through 89) with the GD and many other bands.
At the time I owned a live sound company and we used them for tom tom's, violins, flutes etc.
I had a running buddy, T.P. who used a pair of Beyer M88's at that time and we had friends using M-160 ribbon mic's ( the M 160's would always be with in 25 to 30 feet from the stage at al GA shows, and the 201's and 88's about 20 feet behind them)
I remember Jim Wise would run Sennheiser 421's or 441's around that same time.  My crew never bought in to the Nak thing, but later most of us "moved up" to Neumann or AKG.
When I convert those old tapes the lack of analog noise on the .wav files surprised me at first.
Anyway, when we use the M 201's these days through a DMIC 20 or a UA-5 they sound remarkably clean and allow you to ride the levels more than with a condenser.  This is probably due to the sensitivity being around -125 db SPL instead of say -136 or -140 on my AKG 460's.  The M 201's have no bass response below 40 Hz, so they are not as bumping as most of the mics we use today, but the high end with Beyers is "accurate".
I was waiting for an appropriate topic for my first post to this forum.  I joined yesterday because of my taping buddy kindm's.

[Tim]

welcome +T

I love stories from you old schoolers... the history and characters of the GD taping scene interest me to no end, you should see my compendiums!

thanks for sharing...

[bluegrass_brad]

Dynamic mics handle high SPL's really well (except for ribbons, which can be ruptured by really high spl's).  Thus their widespread use mic'ing guitar cabs, drums, etc.  As far as vocal mics go, it is almost impossible to overload a SM58. 

[rocksuitcase]

Thanks for the welcome

I should add that the Beyer M 201's are hyper cardiod.

Funny, I don't mind being called old skool anymore, it's what it is.  In 99 @ a phish show at Great woods MA which they opened with Boston's "MOre than a Feeling/Long time" this guy says, "Hey gramps, what is this song they are playing, is it Little Feat?"  I tell him what the song is and we both laugh long and hard.  I can't blame him, he was about 17 and I was a late 30's dude with white hair!  I've always held the theory that my hair went grey/white very early due to serious body/brain abuse as a youngster! 

[greenone]

Hey Kyle, welcome aboard, good to see ya here. What are you doing up so damn early, old man?

[ts]

Yea, I used M88's in the early 80's and still love the sound of those tapes. Last time I used them and liked them was the fall '84 tour and I had like 14th row dead center seats for most of the tour. Following tours the section was mostly behind the board so I switched to condenser mics and sold my interest in the 88's.
More recently, '02, I used the M201's, which I don't own anymore.  Made a great PLQ at Hershey from real close, light on bass but crystal clear.
ts

[Chuck]

OK, I'll admit to running SM57's at a few Grateful Dead shows in the 1980's.
 

[hexyjones]

OK, I'll admit to running SM57's at a few Grateful Dead shows in the 1980's.
 

...and they sounded like...

[Chuck]

They really weren't bad. Especially if you were up close. There was not much low end if I remember correctly.
I'll have to go back and listen to those recordings now...

[urobouros]

Has anyone ever run 2 card/2 dynamic mix?

[hexyjones]

Has anyone ever run 2 card/2 dynamic mix?

You mean 2 CONDenser / 2 dynamic?

Back in the day, I can remember guys running 441s/421s with NAKS...not sure how they mixed...

[urobouros]

I got a pair of Superlux ECO-88's with my HMK-H8K set.  I was planning on trying to sell them on ebay.  According to these guys (http://www.lentine.com/pa/items/84581.stm) I wouldn't need another phantom power unit (Since mine only has two i/o).  I have a couple of 4 mic mixers and was just wondering if it might be worth my while to keep the ECO's.  I don't have a preamp if that would affect the output with four mics in.

[rocksuitcase]

Hey Kyle, welcome aboard, good to see ya here. What are you doing up so damn early, old man?

I am finding this board very stimulating.  It is making me want to go out and tape more.  I haven't really done many shows lately.

I was up early because I had an early wire running job to do.  Running Ethernet cables, hooking up computers, the day job, ya know.