Topic: Help - my bottom is heavy

[vwmule]

Posted this on my team board but wanted to get a little more exposure.
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I taped Oteil and the Peacemakers last weekend at an outdoor venue in Tampa called Skipper's Smokehouse. I ran Studio Projects C4 (xy, fob, dfc) > Wmod UA5 > JB3. It was my first full recording with the JB3, and from a technical standpoint, it worked fine. I love the simplicity.

But listening to the recording on disc leaves me less than pleased. The bottom end is very heavy,  borderline distorted.  It certainly did not sound that way that night and I'm puzzled as to what could have introduced such pronounced lows. In my car it seems as though I've got a subwoofer. Which I don't.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not sure if the JB3 is the culprit or the UA5. The bass roll off was off, by the way.

Some have suggested the combination of wmod and c4 isn't the best since the mics tend to be warm themselves. I've never heard others having issues, however.

[Chuck]

Are you sure you were running the cardioid caps? The omni's don't have the holes on the side. The C4 omnis are VERY warm sounding.

[vwmule]

positive I was running cards. I've never used the omni.

[Tim]

what are you listening on?

[vwmule]

I listened on my home stereo (Yamaha amp > Paradigm mains) and in the car, a VW with Monsoon stereo package. I've also listened through headphones on my work computer. Same thing every time. It's tolerable at low volume but when you turn it, up it's quite jarring.

[philR]

could be the warm mod ua-5.

[Tim]

I listened on my home stereo (Yamaha amp > Paradigm mains) and in the car, a VW with Monsoon stereo package. I've also listened through headphones on my work computer. Same thing every time. It's tolerable at low volume but when you turn it, up it's quite jarring.

alright, just checking...

well x/y should theoretically cut out some of the boom ... I dunno what to tell you except that thunderous bass can sometimes kill you fob, it's happened to everyone.

[dnsacks]

def NOT the jb3 -- as it's merely writing the zeros and ones (digital info) being fed to it from the optical out of the ua5 (you are running the ua5>jb3 via a digital cable, right?)

Did you notice whether the venue had subs running under the stage, etc.?  Oteil's band is pretty bass-heavy in the first place, could be you merely made an accurate recording of what was being played.

Can you open the wavs in a wav editor and confirm that there was no clipping, etc. (level saturation can also cause the bass to sound overbearing) -- finally, if you do have good editing software, could be a good idea to try running the music through a high pass filter to cut out/diminish some of the lower bass and see whether that helps

[Chuck]

If you were running too hot and clipping, that could account for it.

[vwmule]

The speaker stacks at Skipper's are pathetic. I can only imagine the look on Oteil's face when he walked in for the first time. I do think they had subs sitting on the ground; perhaps that it what I'm picking up. But it did not sound that way during the show itself.

As for the JB3, yes, I'm using optical. I ran levels somewhat conservative staying a bit below the overload bars.

Thanks to all who have responded to quickly (and please continue to contribute if you have something to say)

[Ed.]

i'm having the exact same problem, only opposite.  my bottom isn't heavy enuf.

i'd try some different micing techniques and see what that does.  the wmod kind of adds a heavier bottom end from what i've heard.  maybe a pmod would work better with the c4's.  its hard to say, could be the venue too.

i think my lack of lowend is coming from my mics, which is a shame, cuz i just got them, and i kind of like 'em.

[Tim]

I'd say it is definitely coming from your mics, the audix have a pretty steep lowend rolloff (at about 40hz I believe).

[Tim]

have you tried one of these?

[F.O.Bean]

I'd say it is definitely coming from your mics, the audix have a pretty steep lowend rolloff (at about 40hz I believe).

so do the schoeps tim, i can almost say for certain that their freq range is 40-20k

[Brian Skalinder]

I'd say it is definitely coming from your mics, the audix have a pretty steep lowend rolloff (at about 40hz I believe).

so do the schoeps tim, i can almost say for certain that their freq range is 40-20k

A little tough to read the small Schoeps chart, but IMO it's easy to see the difference in plot.

[sexymexi]

could be the warm mod ua-5.

i'd say the same, my ua-5 is kinda bottom heavy.  It was worse when i was using a shitty ol pioneer receiver, my onkyo cleaned it up quite a bit.  But almost every tape i've made with the ua-5 has had a little more low end than i'd desire.  I normally run rolloff to account for it.  But different mic techniques also will help, XY smoothes the low end out with my rig and DIN is usually the best choice for me.  good luck, hope you get some better results.

[Ed.]

I'd say it is definitely coming from your mics, the audix have a pretty steep lowend rolloff (at about 40hz I believe).

yep, i'm saving up for some ck63s, cables, and jk labs box.  only thing is i can't sell the audix's until i get the jklabs box cuz it'll take awhile to get it.  so i'm going to have to deal with them for awhile.  i think i'm going to try out the superluxes with the v3 tho, just for shits and giggles.

[nic]

I do think they had subs sitting on the ground; perhaps that it what I'm picking up. But it did not sound that way during the show itself.

fyi, unless your mics were exactly at your ear level, they will pick frequencies that your ears did not hear.

[hexyjones]

The speaker stacks at Skipper's are pathetic. I can only imagine the look on Oteil's face when he walked in for the first time. I do think they had subs sitting on the ground; perhaps that it what I'm picking up. But it did not sound that way during the show itself.

As for the JB3, yes, I'm using optical. I ran levels somewhat conservative staying a bit below the overload bars.

Thanks to all who have responded to quickly (and please continue to contribute if you have something to say)

You should be completely ignoring the JB3 meters...focus on getting the levels right on the UA5(dont let the peak light come on!)....the only thing the JB3 meters can tell you is that you are actually getting a signal....

[Brian Skalinder]

You should be completely ignoring the JB3 meters...focus on getting the levels right on the UA5(dont let the peak light come on!)....the only thing the JB3 meters can tell you is that you are actually getting a signal....

Or to monitor L/R balance.  I used to use the UA5 light to monitor peak levels, and the JB3 meters to monitor L/R balance.  Worked well for me.

[bagtagsell]

have you tried this?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6303181813/103-4481723-7003840?v=glance