Topic: Need new small omnis

[nicegrin]

Hey guys!

Long time since I bought some new mics. Need some soild omnis I can use for stack taping loud rock stuff with.
Small and portable. Budget up to $1500.
Had these in the past but need something ideally better.

*Sennheiser MKE2 - OK but overloaded easily
*Countryman b3s - Nice but had issues with overloading despite mod.
*Nevaton MCE400s - Great sounding but matching was an issue and also build quality not great but of the 3 I liked these the most sonically. Very "round" sound and not as harsh as DPA 4061s, so something sonically similar to these would be great.

What are the best options these days? And also what powering options to consider?

Thanks!

[beatkilla]

I’m surprised you say the Sennheiser mke2 overloaded easily.

Were they powered with 9 volt battery box?

Were they the MM knockoffs?


I use sennheiser mke2 mke1 mke platinum on the loudest stacks with a 9 volt battery box and there is absolutely zero distortion.

[nicegrin]

I’m surprised you say the Sennheiser mke2 overloaded easily.

Were they powered with 9 volt battery box?

Were they the MM knockoffs?


I use sennheiser mke2 mke1 mke platinum on the loudest stacks with a 9 volt battery box and there is absolutely zero distortion.

Yes MMs. And yes powered by a standard 9v BB like SPSB-11 or similar.

[breakonthru]

with that budget you could get DPA 2006s which arent really small but are high quality omnis. they do however use the same elements of the 4061 which you described as "harsh" (first time ive heard that - i always thought the consensus was that 4061 are neutral, perhaps too revealing?)

[rocksuitcase]

with that budget you could get DPA 2006s which arent really small but are high quality omnis. they do however use the same elements of the 4061 which you described as "harsh" (first time ive heard that - i always thought the consensus was that 4061 are neutral, perhaps too revealing?)

the "book" on 4061's is neutral, however, their high output may show up as harsh depending on pre-amp/battery box etc. I love mine, but we don't use them        yet     

edit to respond to voltronic:
My statement was not comparing 4061 to 4060, my comparison is AKG ck22|460 pre-amps (bodies) vs DPA 4061 -where the DPA's are 6 DB "hotter" in output signal than the AKG's.
either way, 4061 are great sounding and very neutral IMO.

[voltronic]

with that budget you could get DPA 2006s which arent really small but are high quality omnis. they do however use the same elements of the 4061 which you described as "harsh" (first time ive heard that - i always thought the consensus was that 4061 are neutral, perhaps too revealing?)

the "book" on 4061's is neutral, however, their high output may show up as harsh depending on pre-amp/battery box etc. I love mine, but we don't use them        yet     

The 4061s are not "high output" at all. In fact, the 4061 is the lower-output / less sensitive version of the 4060. Maybe what you're hearing is that the standard short grids on the capsule have a 12 kHz bump in response to increase speech intelligibility when worn as a lav under clothing. You can easily correct this with EQ, as I do with all of my recordings made with these mics.

Otherwise, there is neutral as you can get and handle high SPL with ease.

Here's an old folder of samples I made with concerts I recorded using them. All had compensating EQ in the treble.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/auvka6syq8jgopr/AAArGSLuwKHxTmim80n6vFIDa?dl=0

[Scooter123]

DPAs

I stupidly sold mine, and wish I had them back for a stealthier rig for stack tapes. 

[Gutbucket]

DPA 4061.  Can EQ them to whatever response you want IME.   Or if not wanting to EQ, just remove the short grids entirely for less high frequency boost above 10khz if that's what you are looking for.  The long grids are usless IMO, except you can pop the screens out and then sand them down to the same length as the short grids for use as spares (no need to replace the screens).. or sand them down farther for less high frequency boost than the short grids provide.  Once you sand them down far enough it becomes equivalent to using no grid.

[SMsound]

The new 4060 CORE can take more SPL's than the old ones.

The old logic was to get 4061's not 4060's so you wouldn't overload on loud sources (4061 has a worse noise floor). But with the new CORE model 4060/4061 specs, this often isn't necessary. I corresponded with DPA engineers who say nowadays they sell 4061's for bodypacks that can't take a hot signal (so the 4061 basically acts like a pad), but if your recorder can take a hot signal like a MixPre or Zoom F3 or whatever, then 4060's are fine on many loud sources like inside the lid of the piano. Maybe loud shows are even louder, not sure.

[Gutbucket]

That's true.  Reduced distortion and higher max SPL with CORE versions.

But since the request specifies "stack taping loud rock stuff" 4061 is probably the right choice.  Noise floor won't be an issue at all there.  It's quiet acoustic stuff with church mouse audiences in especially quiet rooms where 4060 outperforms 4061 in typical taper use.

The practical issue other than that may be output level. 4060 is considerably more sensitive than 4061 and its higher output level at high SPLs can sometimes overdrive small preamps that may have weak batteries and recorders which lack sufficient headroom.  The flip side of that is less gain is required, so a battery box rather than preamp may suffice.