Topic: SoundPro In-ear Binaurals - worth it?

[Scuba Jeremy]

I was in the basement doing some spring cleaning and came across one of my mom's old hair dressing mannequins with real human hair and everything. And of course, being the obsessed ass that I am, the first thing I thought about was making it into a taping head.

The plastic is pretty hard, but I'm thinking it would make an okay baffle for HRTF (is that the right term?) open taping. It has a thread on the bottom that I think I can adapt to my stand, and now all I need are some decent binaural mics.

The SoundPro model looks pretty good, but I was surprised at the price - only $70. Should that concern me? Are these things any good?

I want to keep this project cheap, as it will probably not ever realistically replace my current setup, but I thought it would be fun to put the head at the top of my rig, record that to my MD, and run the MC012s into the DAT like normal, clamped just below it. (don't want the head too high up)

Any thoughts on making a head on the cheap? Does it matter what the head is made of? Thanks!

[Mingle]

I've got a pair of the "low sensitivity" in-ear binaurals, and imo for $70 these things rock!  Give a listen to some of the samples Sound Pros has up.  Our own Nick G. taped one or two of them.

I've never tried 'em on anything other than my own head, so I can't help in that dept.

Really though, for $70, I don't think you can go wrong w/ these things.


-Nic

[Mobius]

I'm a low budget stealther and I use them and LOVE them.
I run SP In Ears > batt box (have to use a LOT of bass roll off sometimes) > MD

I know its probably nothing compared to what you can get running a lot of the mics here, but they are INCREDIBLY small and i find the 'omni / baffle' effect of your head to create a great image, provided you
1) find the right place....varies on venue setup / size, as they brickwall quite easily
2) dont move your head at all
3) (and this has turned out bad...though sometimes hilariously) if you go with friends, make sure they dont try to yell something inane in your ear during the band.

Most fun set of mics to use.

[Nick's Picks]

yup, i've run these into an M1..and they do brickwall easily.
however, the parts that do not brickwall sound absolutely fucking awesome.
great mics for the money.  

can you believe how these $2 panasonic elements...(which you can buy at RS) ... can smoke sometimes?
they can!

[Nick's Picks]

hey...can someone point me to the SP links of those two Dylan tracks i recorded w/these?
I can't find them any where on the SP site, and i'm not sure I still have them.
it was "not dark yet" and "the lonesome death of Hattie Carroll".  Both were quieter, and just at the limit of these mics SPL handeling.  on headphones, it was complete virtual reality.  *exactly* like it sounded FOB/DFC at the Cumberland County Civic Center where I recorded that night.

[Chanher]

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?category=samples

[Nick's Picks]

gracias..

[Savage Messiah]

 I have a set of these, but I find that one channel is usually quieter than the other, quite noticeably. So if you are looking for matched pair mics, these aren't ones to get. Also the noise floor isn't all that good either. However, I agree with everyone in saying that the ambient effect these mics produce is pretty awesome, and IMHO rivals the Sonic DSM6 line. That's saying a lot.

If my AT933's are out of commission, these are my backups

[tooldvn]

I was in the basement doing some spring cleaning and came across one of my mom's old hair dressing mannequins with real human hair and everything. And of course, being the obsessed ass that I am, the first thing I thought about was making it into a taping head.

The plastic is pretty hard, but I'm thinking it would make an okay baffle for HRTF (is that the right term?) open taping.

After seeing someone's Nerf football in the rig pics section, I had the same idea, but I think I'm going to use one of the cheaper styrofoam wig heads with a pair of CSB's.  Rig up my own thread in the bottom, and clamp it about midway up the stand with the Bogen Superclamp.  I also think the makeup of the styrofoam might  be better than the hard plastic of a mannequin head.  I will post pics and sound samples once I get this done.

-dvn