Topic: Newbie Microphone Questions

[lds490]

After seeing shows and trading tapes/disks for many years, I want to start recording.  I'm thinking of starting with some mini stealth mics.  I'll likely upgrade to something for open taping pretty soon, but stealth mics will probably come in handy.  I'm thinking of the Giant Squid Audio omni powered stereo mics:
http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-poweredbattery1.htm
I figure that I can't really go wrong for only $90.  On the other hand, you get what you pay for.  Does anybody out there use these?

Has anybody seen (or heard) the OKM/Soundman mics?  
http://www.okmmicrophones.com/IE/okmhome.html
They look good, but I have no way of judging.

Also, what do y'all think of stereo mics?  I'm thinking of the Rode NT4 or the Studio Projects LSD2.  Does anybody use these?  As a newbie, it seems like it may be easier for me to have only one single stereo mic with a fixed XY configuration instead of having to deal with setting up 2 microphones.   The LSD2 costs about $800.  Am I better off with a matched pair for that amount of money?

Thanks for the input.  This board is a great resource.

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

I have one recording with the Giant Squids.  It sounds pretty good, but there are no other recordings that night for me to compare to...  I've heard that some of Darren's mics (GS) have had problems that have needed fixing...  But I'm thinking Darren has worked most of those out...  He's around on the board...

The Audio Technica 8xx series is a great set of stealths...

As for larger mics, the Studio Project C4 mics are a nice stereo matched pair with both card and omni caps and comes with case, windscreens and mounts.  $300 for the pair.

I think someone is selling a pair of ADK SC-1s in Yard Sale, they are about the same, if not better.

Rode makes good mics, I've heard good things about their new NT1000 ().  I've used an NT4 before and it is nice.  But with these types of single-point stereo mics, they run XY all the time, which may or may not be appropriate for recording some shows.

Good luck!

Terry

[greenone]

There are a few tapers on DAT-Heads that use the OKM mics with seemingly good success - I know there's one guy in Germany who tapes with them a lot (Sebastian Boschert, I think).

If you want to hear how they sound, there are some examples up on archive.org's Live  Music Archive - here's a link: http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-searchresults.php?searchAll=yes&collection=etree&submit=main&search=okm&limit=100&start=0

[Sean Gallemore]

never have cared for the OKMs, although I don't give the tapers much credit either