Perhaps this belongs in "Ask the Tapers", but I'll start here.
Frequent lurker, just starting to take the first baby steps towards taping. Not much of a tech-head so I'm slowly taking in all that I can for now. No rig, but I just got a couple of mics extremely cheap from a former employer.
I managed to get a pair of Earthworks SR68's. What I'm wondering is if Earthworks mics are considered generally good. I ask because off the top of my head I've only seen one taper who uses Earthworks. Jerry E. (Eaglesberger, I think) is a Chicago area taper who runs Earthworks SR77's. I have yet to hear a show he's taped that sounds average or less. I've been impressed with every show of his that I've heard.
So it seems odd to me that I don't see other tapers using Earthworks. Is there a reason there aren't many people using them?
It will be quite some time before I actually have everything I need to tape a show. For now I plan to use them to get acquainted with the process. I guess my main question is ....... are they mics I can plan on using in the future or are they just good enough for practice?
Thanks; this place is a great resource.
Hey, that'd be me!
All the questions have pretty much been answered already, but I'll ad a little bit.
The bottom end does drop off on the SR77's, but this isn't really an issue to me as I tape mostly in smaller venues. I picked the Earthworks because I didn't like the boominess of some other mics in small rooms. And they're cardioid only, but I've never needed anything different in the places I've taped. They are also excellent outdoors when I can get close to the stage.
They do use more power than some other mics, but the 12 Ah battery for my V3 has no problem powering them for as long as I've ever needed it to, including festivals.
One final thng - they're made in the USA!!