Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: One Cylinder on December 30, 2011, 03:49:59 PM
-
Anyone have experience running a set of these on stage? I've read the mic's specs but would love to hear some 1st hand feedback. Can they handle high SPLs? Do they add a significant amount of color to the sound, or are they fairly neutral?
TIA
-
i love my TC25's. but i've only ran them FOB and at FOH. very nice paired with the 4021's. i couldn't afford dpa omni's right now, but these are damn good in lieu of.
-
This page has an application guide on it, I've only used the measurement microphone for testing gear personally.
http://www.earthworksaudio.com/tag/omni-mic/ (http://www.earthworksaudio.com/tag/omni-mic/)
The TC20, TC25, and TC30 series should work well.
-
Anyone have experience running a set of these on stage? I've read the mic's specs but would love to hear some 1st hand feedback. Can they handle high SPLs? Do they add a significant amount of color to the sound, or are they fairly neutral?
TIA
which set do you have in your bag?
-
Thanks for the feedback. The TC25 is the model I'm interested in.....
-
The TC 25 (http://www.earthworksaudio.com/our-microphones/time-coherent-series/tc25/) is designed specifically for loud sounds like drum kits and so should well be able to cope with high sound pressure levels.
The small diaphragm size does tend to make them more noisy than other small diaphragm condensers and, added to the high sound pressure capability, would make them unsuitable for quieter sounds IMHO.
-
I think they should work well... I had Earthworks cards and hypers, never had omnis, but I expect the answer is they are very transparent and "true".
-
One thing I do know about Earthworks mics in general is that they require a reliable power source and the full 48v phantom. The TC25 is spec'd at 10mA which is a pretty high current draw.
-
One thing I do know about Earthworks mics in general is that they require a reliable power source and the full 48v phantom. The TC25 is spec'd at 10mA which is a pretty high current draw.
10mA is the top limit of the phantom power specs. Many phantom power supplies, unfortunately, will not deliver this currens, especially ones built into equipment. So, check the phantom power supply specs very carefully.
-
Apart from the markedly higher self-noise of the tiny-tiny electret capsules, on a fundamental level I'm not sure that fully omnidirectional response at high frequencies is a thing to want. When I listen to recordings that I've made with normal-size omnis (and I've made many over the years, with AKG, Neumann, Schoeps and Beyer microphones among others), my regrets are never, "Gee, if only my microphones had picked up more energy above 6 - 8 kHz from the sides and rear."
I think we really do want the high frequencies to be attenuated off axis. Omnis have a hard enough time creating a stable stereo image without letting unattenuated high frequencies from all angles into the mix.
All the usual techniques of recording stereo with omnidirectional microphones are based on decades-long experience with the characteristics of conventional-sized (e.g. 20 mm diameter) pressure transducers or larger--some of the classic stereo pickup techniques such as the "Decca Tree" are based on conventional omni capsules that are made "acoustically larger" by embedding them in a 40 mm sphere (although the shape is as important as the size in that approach).