Topic: Opinions on these mics: Giant Squid

[jaguaracer]

Hello all!
I am looking to get into the taping game and was wondering if anyone could give me their impressions of these mics:
http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-cardioidstereo.html

I am looking to stealth record classical concerts in a fairly small venue and was wondering if these would be a decent buy for the price.
If not, is there any other mics one could recommend for <90.
Thank you & Happy Holidays


[edit]: sorry if this should go in the noob area. I'm not totally sure where this thread belongs. Should I cross-post?

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

I have a pair of the Cards with Battery Box that I'll sell you for $50 delivered. 

Terry Watts
twatts@kci.com

[jaguaracer]

I have a pair of the Cards with Battery Box that I'll sell you for $50 delivered. 

Terry Watts
twatts@kci.com

Thank you gladly. I'm interested unless anyone can sway me not to buy these.
Thank you so much.
Email sent.

[Sanjay]

I have a pair of the Cards with Battery Box that I'll sell you for $50 delivered. 

Terry Watts
twatts@kci.com

Those are omni's but they sound nice nontheless.

I have some recordings that I made with these exact same mics before i sold them to terry here: www.geneseo.edu/~sms21/tunes1.htm

Tim Reynolds 6/23/04 and Robert Randolph 6/24/04 will give you a feel on how these mics perform in various situations.

[Gordon]

I have one show (hank III) and it doesn't sound bad at all.  hank III alows taping so these were not stealthed ie they were probablly on a stand above the crowd etc.

[Evil Taper]

I am running these mics currently and am desperately seeking to upgrade from them.  I'd recommend saving money and buying something better like some sound professionals cmc4 or cmc8 mics.  The squids make OK recordings, but you will not stay satisfied with them for that long.  Specifically, if you are talking about recording symphonies you will probably not be all that pleased with the results.  The clarity is as good as the price tag.  Recordings will be very listenable, just not as crisp or full as one would like.  As an entry level mic to get acquianted with stealth recording they are a good buy.  From my experience these will sound best in very small venues with little crowd noise.  Once again though, I'd highly recommend saving your money and buying a higher end mic kit.  If you're not recording in extremely high SPL environments than the sp-cmc-4 or sp-cmc-8 are a much better bang for the buck.  Only drawback IMO in comparing the sound professionals to the squids is that the omni's will make a less directional than those cardiods will.  For classical music you may want a more environmental recording, but unless you have at least 500 to spend on some DPA 4061 omnis it's a trade off that is worth making.  Best bet would be to listen to some recordings of some other "entry level" mic sources and see what sound you like best.  But the Sound Professionals are a higher quality mic than the squids for not much more.

[Sanjay]

But the Sound Professionals are a higher quality mic than the squids for not much more.

the problem is being able to find the 4's or 8's, since they are out of stock indefinatly your only option is the low cost version which is the same mic as the squids, so you might as well save some $ if you have to buy new.  Best bet find some 853's aka cmc-4's used. I picked up a pair on ebay for $76, granted they are white.

[Evil Taper]

I had emailed sound professionals not long ago and they said they are expecting to have them back in stock very shortly.  Also a point I forgot about the sound professionals is that you can change the caps to turn them into an omni mic if you wish.  So I'd say email them and see what they can tell ya about availability.

[thierryhenry]

$50 aint bad to begin with something, but soon enough you will want to upgrade, might want to save the $50 get another $70 and CMC-2's from SP when they come back, lot better in the long run in my opinion.

[spyder9]

Jaguaracer just bought my old set of GSL cards on eBay.  They were shipped on Tuesday.  Should be there soon.

[jaguaracer]

Thanks for all your help guys!!
Can't wait to get these in the mail.  Just got a battery box too! All I need is a recorder now.

[spyder9]

Get a Nomad Jukebox 3 off of eBay.  We'll help you with the rest.

[Evil Taper]

I got a Jukebox 3 directly from Creative on ebay for $150 BRAND NEW.  Not bad for such a useful and taper friendly recorder.  You can also get a second battery from Creative for $50 brand new.  You're going to want the second battery for the long shows.  So $200 for the entire unit is a steal IMO, people pay >$500 for portable DAT.

[thierryhenry]

I got a Jukebox 3 directly from Creative on ebay for $150 BRAND NEW.  Not bad for such a useful and taper friendly recorder.  You can also get a second battery from Creative for $50 brand new.  You're going to want the second battery for the long shows.  So $200 for the entire unit is a steal IMO, people pay >$500 for portable DAT.

Very true.

[Evil Taper]

These mics are very dull sounding.  The high end will be there but you'll have to EQ the recordings and the result will be a tad on the harsh side.  There is also a mild hum from them, record your tv from your couch and see waht it sounds like, it doesn't sound like the tv.  I've ran these with a Sony MD and also with a JB3 and the results are the same.  I guess they're cool for making a few recordings while getting familiarized with the hobby but I definately wish I had bought some better equiptment to begin with because now I have a recording of a band I really wanted to capture and I'm just not fully satisfied with the results.  If you're just out to make some mid grade tapes then I guess they're a bargain, as good as those single point stereo mics in a worst case scenario, but you do get what you pay for.  Now if you are using these to record lectures or meetings than they'll be a great buy.  For professional bands on though, save your money.