Topic: Neumann 184

[scdegraaf]

I have a (ignorant) question. My husband just bought a Neumann KM184 matched set to use in his home studio. He can simply connect them with cables to his studio equipment. He suggested I could use them for my live recordings when open taping is possible.

I am only used to  DPA4061's which I run with with a battery box and a Zoom R-07 and a Zoom H6 when I have soundboard access.

I realize the Neumann require a different setup, but I don't know which. The Zoom H6 has XLR inputs (other than the R-07) and I own 2 good XLR cables which I use to connect the H6 to the soundboard, but  I will need more for recordings with mics. I've seen the term "active cables" come by, but I never bothered to learn about this . Any help is welcome.
Sylvia

[DSatz]

That's a wise question IMO, since you asked it instead of guessing. To connect a pair of KM 184s to the balanced inputs of your recorder, any good-quality XLR-3 cables can be used. The mikes require 48-Volt phantom powering, which the Zoom H6 offers.

Active cables aren't a consideration for the type of microphone that you have, but here's the explanation: They allow a person to run just the capsule of a condenser microphone at some distance from its amplifier/body without loss of signal quality, since the crucial first stage of the amplifier circuitry--the impedance converter--is built into the cable socket that the capsule screws onto. You then connect the other end of the cable to the microphone's amplifier/body, which can be a few feet away.

A capsule on one of those cables is smaller, lighter, and easier to suspend and/or conceal than the complete microphone would be. However, the amplifier has to provide the operating current for the cable's circuitry, plus the capsule has to work acoustically on the neutral physical fitting of the cable socket. Neumann created the KM 180 series in 1993 to be a simplified, lower-priced counterpart to their modular KM 100 series (1988), and its design omitted both of those characteristics. (There was also a patent issue which I won't go into here.)

--best regards

[scdegraaf]

Thank you for your clear and swift answer. It looks like I have all that is needed. Next month I have the chance to do open taping, so I'll give it a try (after practicing at home a few times). It'll be nice to hear the difference from the DPA4061's (which I still love after all these years). I may run the DPA's as well just in case.

[Gutbucket]

If you are able to do so I encourage you to run both pairs concurrently, which will provide the best basis of comparison.  Do so using the most appropriate stereo microphone configuration for each pair, which will differ between pairs due to the KM184s having a cardioid sensitivity pattern verses the omnidirectional pattern of the 4061s.  Choice of configuration will have a significant influence on the resulting recordings and subsequent comparison.

The biggest difference in using cardioid pattern microphones is that you will need to consider the angle between the microphones (and how that relates to the recording environment) in combination with the amount of spacing between them, unlike the miniature omnis where angle doesn't matter and only spacing does (along with the possible presence or absence of a baffle of some sort between the two microphones).  Generally, you'll be using less spacing in combination with angle for the cardioid pair, compared to whatever spacing you determine to be optimal for the omni pair.

[Nick's Picks]

those neumanns will make some nice recordings for you, and your husband.   Great on acoustic guitar, Drums overheads, ...just about anything.