Topic: Can anyone recommend great stealth mics?

[SpareRibs]

Hi, I'm new at this. Can anyone recommend a set of great stealth mics for me to slip under my baseball cap? 

[Brian Skalinder]

Open-ended questions may result in a lot of feedback, but not much that's actually worthwhile. And often open-ended questions receive very little feedback.  More info will help:

What's your budget?
For use with what other gear?  Do you need other gear, also, or already have it?
Do you plan on open taping also, or strictly stealth?
For use primarily in large / medium / small venues?
What kind of music, generally?
Typically from what sorts of locations within the venue - up close, far away, in the coat room?

[SpareRibs]

Hi

Well I think I may go with the AT 853RX because everyone is raving about them. Should I get two of them for stereo? And are they small enough to fit under my cap?

I use a Sony Hi-MD MZ RH10. Also what kind of phantom power whould I get or should I get some kind of pre amp with it? Something small I hope.

Also to answer your questions, I would like to record rock and jazz shows. Maybe orchestras too. I'm not sure how far I will be from the stage though. Depends on my ticket.

[SpareRibs]

I don't think I can build a battery box. I have no idea about electronics. Is there something small I could buy?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Check out Soundprofessionals.com

They have lots of good inexpensive equipment (including battery boxes)

Here's a tip for you. Someone on eBay  has been selling pairs of DPA 4061 mics wired to a 1/8" stereo mini plug. Those into a battery box  or directly into your MD would sound great, and they most certainly would fit in your hat!

Splurge on mics now, or you'll just upgrade later. Trust me on that.

MIKE B

[SpareRibs]

thanks buddy

[bagtagsell]

DPA 4061s are truly great.  Makes me want to try 4022s

[audBall]

Hi, I'm new at this. Can anyone recommend a set of great stealth mics for me to slip under my baseball cap? 

Hey, SPareRibs...DPAs are real nice, provided your budget can support the purchase.

Sound Professionals is having a sale through the end of the year (I think) on their SP-CMC-8's.  These are AT943s, which are considerably smaller than the AT853Rx's.  The CMC-8's are going for $199, instead of $249.

These things are tiny.  Not as tiny as the DPAs, but they are still incredibly concealable. 


edit to add-  That $199 is for a pair....and, yes, get a pair.  Stereo is your friend.

[SpareRibs]

Thanks for all the info

Ok, after thinking about it, it looks like I'm getting the SP-CMC-8 due to my budget.
I notice that I have a choice of omidirectional or cardioid. If I am placing the mics on my head inside my cap, omnidirectional is the one to get right?

Is there a big difference between the two or is it marginal?

Also, according to the website, I can add a basic battery module for $45 or a battery module with bass roll off for $65. Which should I get? I'd like to tape rock/jazz shows basically.

[bconnolly]

Thanks for all the info

Ok, after thinking about it, it looks like I'm getting the SP-CMC-8 due to my budget.
I notice that I have a choice of omidirectional or cardioid. If I am placing the mics on my head inside my cap, omnidirectional is the one to get right?

Is there a big difference between the two or is it marginal?

Also, I have a can add a basic battery module for $45 or a battery module with bass roll off for $65. Which should I get? I'd like to tape rock/jazz shows basically.

Based on all the advice I got in this thread, I would go with the cards.  Omnis pick up all of the surrounding noise so you won't have to worry about mic config as much, but they also pick up a lot of crowd noise and, in stealth situations, that is a big issue.  Cards, on the other hand, will pick up sound from the direction to which they are pointed and ditch all of the ambient noise.

Concerning the battery box, I would go with the bass roll-off feature so you can strip the low frequencies if the venue is really boomy.  If nothing else, it's a nice feature to have and it doesn't cost a whole lot to implement.

[Evil Taper]

Thanks for all the info

Ok, after thinking about it, it looks like I'm getting the SP-CMC-8 due to my budget.
I notice that I have a choice of omidirectional or cardioid. If I am placing the mics on my head inside my cap, omnidirectional is the one to get right?

Is there a big difference between the two or is it marginal?

Also, I have a can add a basic battery module for $45 or a battery module with bass roll off for $65. Which should I get? I'd like to tape rock/jazz shows basically.

Based on all the advice I got in this thread, I would go with the cards.  Omnis pick up all of the surrounding noise so you won't have to worry about mic config as much, but they also pick up a lot of crowd noise and, in stealth situations, that is a big issue.  Cards, on the other hand, will pick up sound from the direction to which they are pointed and ditch all of the ambient noise.

Concerning the battery box, I would go with the bass roll-off feature so you can strip the low frequencies if the venue is really boomy.  If nothing else, it's a nice feature to have and it doesn't cost a whole lot to implement.

chiming in here as someone who has stealthed 853s and 4061s, the 4061s are hands down better mics.  occassionally you'll come away with alot of crowd noise, but the same situation would be noisy with the 853s also. 

[audBall]

Cards can pickup alot of crowd noise as well.  It's really dependent upon the situation at hand.  Omnis are the most 'natural' sounding out of the bunch.  I would recommend them w/ the purchase, but that's me...I've been sold on binaural recording since day one and rarely use the other caps. 

However, if you find that you'll be distant from the sound source more often than not, then cards may be the route for you. 

Omnis tend to get shyed away from more often than they should, imo.  In the right spot, (again imo) nothing beats them.

[SpareRibs]

hmmm....all good points.

In a way, I find the omni's more attractive because I am a lover of a more natural sound. I figure if the volume is pretty high, cards wouldn't be that important maybe but I could be wrong.

Crowd noise is not always a problem because I do attend a lot of jazz shows where the crowd is fairly quiet so maybe I'll go with omnis. Thanks for all your input fellas! 

[Evil Taper]

omnis blow away cards for jazz taping, just get pretty close up.  outdoors jazz with the omnis is GOLD.

[setboy]

omnis blow away cards for jazz taping, just get pretty close up.  outdoors jazz with the omnis is GOLD.