Topic: Opinions On Schoeps CMBI

[hayduke]

right now using a Hi-MD and may move on to a JB3 in the future.  fast set up and take down is important to me, don't want to use phantom if i can get away with it and have so far. most recordings done in small venues but will also be in larger halls and outdoors here and there.  i use a stand too (up to 13')  so far i've played with a c1000s and an at822.
anyway looking for a decent single mic and the Schoeps cmbi has caught my eye....any feedback using this as a single mic?

love this site by the way! 

[Sanjay]

Give the studio projects LSD2 a shot.  Its a stereo mic with switchable configs and it sounds damn nice too.  There is one for sale in the yard sale section right now.  I would try that before jumping to schoeps right away.  Plus with that amount of money you save you'll be able to buy a nice preamp in front of it.

Edit:  just realized you didn't want phantom, but with a single point stereo mic you can leave all cables connected in your bag and just hoist in on the stand.  With a preamp you get these advantages

-Optical output into your jb3 (with some preamps, ua-5, v3 optimod ect) - cleaner signal to your recorder
-Adjustable gain - so if you need to boost your signal you can do it with an actual preamp instead of with the levels on the jb3 much cleaner again, also its a bitch to adjust levels on the sony MD's from what i remember
-Level monitoring - with some like v3, mp-2/mixpre have nice colorful levels
-Save money on batteries - most preamps can run off of lithium ion rechargable or sla batteries thus saving you money

So I would seriously consider a preamp and a stereo mic if you want easy take up and down as it will make it well worth it.

[jpschust]

right now using a Hi-MD and may move on to a JB3 in the future.  fast set up and take down is important to me, don't want to use phantom if i can get away with it and have so far. most recordings done in small venues but will also be in larger halls and outdoors here and there.  i use a stand too (up to 13')  so far i've played with a c1000s and an at822.
anyway looking for a decent single mic and the Schoeps cmbi has caught my eye....any feedback using this as a single mic?

love this site by the way! 

not using phantom limits your sound by decreasing dynamic range of your mics.  id suggest you try phantom.  it will open up those c1000s.

[Craig T]

Friend of mine has both the cmc6's and cmbi's and I don't think there's any difference.  Never a/b'd them, but his cmbi sourced recordings sound just as nice.

[Tim]

Friend of mine has both the cmc6's and cmbi's and I don't think there's any difference. Never a/b'd them, but his cmbi sourced recordings sound just as nice.

gfox?

[Craig T]

Friend of mine has both the cmc6's and cmbi's and I don't think there's any difference. Never a/b'd them, but his cmbi sourced recordings sound just as nice.

gfox?

is that a person?  don't know him.  Bear from Philly, he doesn't hang on ts.com, he's to much of a jazz head for all this jamband garbage.   

[Brian Skalinder]

looking for a decent single mic and the Schoeps cmbi has caught my eye

The AT822 is a single-point stereo mic.  Using a single CMBI would give you a mono recording.  Are you sure that's what you want to do?

FWIW, I agree with the recommendations on the LDS2 - real nice single point stereo mic, fast setup.  However, I believe it requires phantom.  A preamp/ADC + battery wouldn't set you back much in terms of setup time - power on, set your gain levels when the show starts, and off you go.

[Tim]

Friend of mine has both the cmc6's and cmbi's and I don't think there's any difference. Never a/b'd them, but his cmbi sourced recordings sound just as nice.

gfox?

is that a person? don't know him. Bear from Philly, he doesn't hang on ts.com, he's to much of a jazz head for all this jamband garbage.

yep - I know he ran the cmbi's for awhile, he's the only person I know of. lives in NYC...

just checking

[hayduke]

thanks for the input all!  another friend pointed me to this:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-PSM-7

as an inexpensive alternative.  did a quick search here and no info found, maybe i'm looking under the wrong name?  anyone have any expierence with this mic? 
reason i asked about the Schoeps in the first place is b/c i may be able to pick up a barely used one for a decent price....

sometimes the bar is crowded, sometimes not. i use a stand 99% percent of the time and hang my bag holding the cords and recorder (Hi-MD or JB3) on the stand or sitting next to it.  i could use a batt box but a UA5 would be a little big....

thanks again for the input!

[Brian Skalinder]

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-PSM-7

I've never seen that mic mentioned here before, so I'm not surprised you didn't find any info.  The SP site is pretty darn lean on specs for that thing - I'd be wary.

We've had a few ideas chucked around but nothing that seems to offer much traction.  So...let's take a step back a moment:

[1]  Do you want to record in stereo or mono?
[2]  What's your total budget - for mic(s) and/or preamp?
[3]  Are you truly dead-set against phantom power?  And if so, what are your objections to running a mic that requires phantom power?

[hayduke]

stereo recording is preferred, although i've pulled some decent mono recordings.

total budget i'd say is in the $700 range, maybe up to $1K but i now need a stand after last night so that will cut into the budget a bit.  i may have more to play with after i find out what kinda tax return i'll see (gonna do that this weekend) so let's ballpark $600 for now... and after trying the JB3 instead of the HI-MD i may pick one of those puppies up too with a spare battery...

and i'm not totally against phantom, just want to keep the rig light and not have to lug too many power supplies or hafta rely on finding an outlet.   one thing i've never used are the small mics meant for stealthing and have started looking into this option with a battbox/bass filter control and the mics on a t-bar on the stand above the crowd...

i really appreciate the input, wish i would have stumbled across this site awhile ago!