Topic: Do my recordings lack bass?

[firmdragon]

Take a listen.

Recently my taping buddies have been dogging me about lack of bass on my recordings.  Not enough umph as they describe it.  Are they right?

OKM-II rock>A3>M1

http://www3.telus.net/public/a5a32245/dtsample.mp3

er warning this is 5mb

[super-phat-al]

im not familiar with an A3?  OKM-II stands for oktava MK-012s right?  I would say you're missing some serious bass in there.  If there was bass i dont think you would have any problems.  Are you running the -10db on the oktavas?

[Sean Gallemore]

i'd agree

[Sean Gallemore]

the OKM-II Soundman mics are omni mics for stealthing.

You weren't standing by the stacks obviously....

[Brian Skalinder]

OKM-IIs are not Oktavas, but Soundman OKM-IIs, I assume the "rock" means the R version.

To my ears, the sample lacks bass in a big way, and mids taboot.  Very thin and tinny sounding to my ears (though this is just over Sony 7506 headphones at work).

How did it sound at the venue?
Was the A3 bass rolloff engaged?

[firmdragon]

the OKM-II Soundman mics are omni mics for stealthing.

You weren't standing by the stacks obviously....

hmm actually , i was about 2 arms length from the stack.  

as for A3 settings: the attenuater was on as was the bass filter setting.  i know that i need the attenuater for sure other wise i'll run into distortion problems.  hmm i'm gonna have to try it with the bass filter off.  man i've been using this setting for 2+ years now.  i feel kinda bad. eh. i guess you learn something new everyday.

[leegeddy]

the OKM-II Soundman mics are omni mics for stealthing.

You weren't standing by the stacks obviously....

hmm actually , i was about 2 arms length from the stack.  

as for A3 settings: the attenuater was on as was the bass filter setting.  i know that i need the attenuater for sure other wise i'll run into distortion problems.  hmm i'm gonna have to try it with the bass filter off.  man i've been using this setting for 2+ years now.  i feel kinda bad. eh. i guess you learn something new everyday.

from Soundman's site:

Low Frequency Roll Off
The switch position " /" is chosen to record speech or music with excessive bass portions; frequencies below 300Hz are attenuated. The switch position "-" (linear) is chosen to record music.

Linear Attenuation
The switch position "-20dB" is used to record high sound pressure levels to prevent clipping. For moderate SPLs, especially with the A3 on the LINE input, the switch position "0" is recommended.

steve;

a rolloff at 300hz is quite too high, imo.  i assume there aren't any other settings on the A3 box, right?

marc

[Sean Gallemore]

jeepers, that might be it

[jhirte]

Steve, post a clip of the Amen tape.. ZERO low end. I need to get a copy of MD's Sonics tape...

Steve is a stack hugger folks... the man gets VERY friendly with them.

-Jim

[Sean Gallemore]

a lot of omni stealthers are

[zhianosatch]

300 Hz! Allah! Try something more like 70-80.

[jhirte]

Oh Steve, yr Sonics tapes sound pretty good though. What do you have for roll off on those ? Mike normally runs his stack huggers @ 150hz. for local H I ran @ 85hz......
300hz seems WAY high..

[sexymexi]

yea its lacking a bit, but its there, just more mid lows..  if there is a 300 hz pad, then yea, look into correcting that. i think i've run my 75hz pad once. and it wasn't a whole lot different, but i havn't used it since.  

[jkoch]

i always do stack pulls from typically a max of about 12 feet away and never had bass rolloff over 107hz. i typically will use 107 or 96 depending on the band and venue. for example..jason mraz - typically 96, damien rice - typically 107. if you've seen/taped these guys you'll probably get why