Topic: Need Help picking the right Mic's

[piperedworm]

Hello my friends!  I am finally in a position to think about getting some really nice Equipment.  I have been using a Microtrack up until now.  I picked up a SD 702 and am looking to upgrade my Mic's.  I currently have a set of Samson CO2's that I got to get me started with the MicroTrack, but now since I have the SD 702 I have been looking at some different options.  The two that caught my eye are the Neumann 184's and of course the Schoepps CMC6/Mk4*

Other then the price, what is your professional opinion as to the pro's and con's?  Any other Mic's you would recommend?

Any help would be great.

[jeromejello]

Hello my friends!  I am finally in a position to think about getting some really nice Equipment.  I have been using a Microtrack up until now.  I picked up a SD 702 and am looking to upgrade my Mic's.  I currently have a set of Samson CO2's that I got to get me started with the MicroTrack, but now since I have the SD 702 I have been looking at some different options.  The two that caught my eye are the Neumann 184's and of course the Schoepps CMC6/Mk4*

Other then the price, what is your professional opinion as to the pro's and con's?  Any other Mic's you would recommend?

Any help would be great.

the main difference (besides price and obvious sound differences) is the 184's are a fixed card pattern mic, while the schemps are modular allowing for different polar patterns and active cables.

i am pretty sure that anything is going to be an upgrade to the samsons.  beyer 930s are comparable to the 184 for about half the price.  peluso makes a very nice mic that will please you if you like the schemp sound... and then there is always the heat... akg

/kidding... just fluffing akg

[piperedworm]

Thanks my friend!  I notice you are using the 722, any ideas as to the power options, I did find a couple 6800 mah batteries on BH photo, however one thing I really liked about my microtrack is that I used a battery pack.  I did find a Pro-X 9 hour pack, thoughts?

[setboy]

What kind of music?
do you want to be able to run mre than one pattern?
under cover and open taping? or just open?

[piperedworm]

 

What kind of music?
do you want to be able to run mre than one pattern?
under cover and open taping? or just open?

Open taping, outdoor and indoor venues.  Venues are usually medium to large.  Music is Mainly Rock and Roll, nice and loud. 

[darby]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned going to the Live Music Archive
and listening to various sources of mics used at shows of bands you like

[digifish_music]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned going to the Live Music Archive
and listening to various sources of mics used at shows of bands you like

I am surprised you didn't include a link... 

http://www.archive.org/details/etree

Type the mic you want to hear into the search at the top left.

or...

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Beyer%20Dynamic%20930

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Neumann%20184

digifish

[Todd R]

 

What kind of music?
do you want to be able to run mre than one pattern?
under cover and open taping? or just open?

Open taping, outdoor and indoor venues.  Venues are usually medium to large.  Music is Mainly Rock and Roll, nice and loud. 

The LMA is a great place to start to give you an idea how different mics sound.  Even better if you can find recordings of the same show (and hopefully same location, mic pattern, preamp, etc) with two different mics you are interested in to see how they compare to one another. 

That said, I find it hard to give recommendations without regard to price and without much more detail on typical usage.  For instance, for me medium to large venues means something like Denver's Fillmore (3600 people) to the Pepsi Center (~20,000) -- in this case you might want nothing other than hypercards.  Other people might think medium to large is a 700 person club up to the Fillmore with 3600 (cards only or option of cards and hypers).  Also, even with open taping, will you record in a taping section (e.g, potentially very large stands, high footprint, high profile, and generally behind the soundboard or worse), or might you want to tape more discreetly in front of the board (closer to PA stacks, generally requires quick set up and tear down, and smaller mics with a lower profile and less visual impact)?  Then there is personal style:  want flexibility and versatility regardless of size (or cost) or prefer light, easy to set up?

Without knowing cost, usage, size, multipattern vs single pattern, etc, etc, I'd imagine you'll get recommendations all over the board as to what is best. 

Based on what you've given to go on, I'd recommend the Milab VM44-links that I have or the Neumann km140/143/150 series.  But only because I like both of those (and don't like schoeps particularly) and I really value a small, active-style setup.  Or DPAs (402x) I suppose, though for the money I might prefer the Milab VM44 cards and then also get the omni caps for them.

[Red Boink]

You can't go wrong with schoeps mics and they hold their value well, in fact they appreciate.

The Beyers mentioned above are good, too.  Listening to samples of captured shows is a good start, but often, you'll get excellent hardware recording a bad PA.  Best if you can make a contact close to you and try out a few mics, sometimes tough to do, but worth the time.

Good Luck


John

[ArchivalAudio]

Milab VM-44 Links
ther are some comps of the Km 140's and the VM 44 Links
listed here
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,112988.0.html

peace
-- Ian

[digifish_music]

You can't go wrong with schoeps mics and they hold their value well, in fact they appreciate.

Yes you can...they are very expensive, so any accidents or theft can be severe

digifish

[page]

The LMA is a great place to start to give you an idea how different mics sound.  Even better if you can find recordings of the same show (and hopefully same location, mic pattern, preamp, etc) with two different mics you are interested in to see how they compare to one another. 

To me, finding comps as noted above is the only way I ever find any use of surfing archive for sounds. I can make my mic (the BSCS-L in the sig) sound dark and rumbly in the bass or neutered in the bass (ala a neumann) in the same venue for a comparable show. I don't doubt it's possible with other mics as well, so if:

- I don't know the traits of a mic, and
- I don't know how the person did their aiming config (not always listed), and
- I don't know how that room/area typically sounds, and
- I don't know how the FOH/crew tweaked the mix that evening, then

then I'm not really getting an accurate picture of what that piece of gear sounds like. Until I started taping in Richmond at shows where lots of others were (and I clamped to their stands), I didn't have a good reference for what Mic A sounds like compared to Mic B. Even then, since many here use different preamps or recorders, I still don't a great idea, but at least I'm making headway. Now, I look forward to hearing tapes that others made at shows I was at, cause I can compared to the baseline I have (mine), and slowly get an idea of "so, do I want brighter tapes, or darker tapes, or more midrange, or what?" and then go searching through my experiences. However, all of this occurs after I have references to gear I know, thus; surfing archive becomes more valuable as you gain experience, but starting out there is tough (and was for me).

So Todd; I'm not aiming this post at you, this is not intended as an attack on what you've said (I just used your quote for the bolded portion was my intent) I just honestly don't understand why people recommend surfing the archive for comp information that they don't have a reference to.

Personally; I think a better question I would ask the OP would be, "what sonic characteristics do you enjoy, use many adjectives" and draw upon experience here for mics that fit as many of those characteristics as possible and then find sets of those mics to test-drive or at least tapes from rooms I know with those mics.

I've done dumb crap before, so maybe the above is off-base.