Topic: Microphone "transparency": detail, color, distortion

[grider]

Hey Chris.

My belief is that mic disortion/color or whatever of the mic is usually a much bigger problem than the actual sound in the room.

If the sound in these places was playback from our recording, people would notice a real degradation in quality compared to what the sound mixer/PA normally produces.

You might hear something that is off, like too much bass, slightly muddy vocals, or whatever.  But in the recording that won't bother you because there are so many other problems due to the mics!!!

  Richard

Run the same gear two nights in row for the same band.  One night in the middle of the room.  The next night back under a balcony near the corner.  You'll quickly become a frim believer that the actual sound in the room - in terms of relevance to taping, this should really be the actual sound in the room where your mics are located is probably the biggest single factor in the quality of the recording.

Not saying mics are not important, but I;d rather run in a sweeter spot with lower end mics than run in a bad spot with any mics.

I agree completely.  I've got a whole bunch of clamps, tent poles, velcro and whatever it takes to get up close.  And I've made some great recordings this way.  I'm just looking for great as well as realistic.

In my opinion, there is nothing more fun than *feeling* like you're in the room at the sweet spot.  Even if it is on the ceiling!

  Richard

Hey Richard if your really looking for low distortion and high performance check out the DPA 4090 I have purchased one for my sound measurements. Its a sweet mic. Not to expensive as DPA goes. But its considered to be one of the best omni mics in its class. I agree with you omni mics can be great but they are not so good in a big space with lots of reverb, unless thats the sound your going for ( classical recordings ) I think the mic is important but I think a ok mic in a sweet spot will always sound better then a great mic in a bad spot.

I think that's the real challenge of taping live shows to get your mics where they need to be in order to pickup the show with a good balance. For me its always been easy because I always just put my mics in front of my console. But for real tapers out in the audience its a real challenge.

so did you secure the microphone, Chris?

[Church-Audio]

Hey Chris.

My belief is that mic disortion/color or whatever of the mic is usually a much bigger problem than the actual sound in the room.

If the sound in these places was playback from our recording, people would notice a real degradation in quality compared to what the sound mixer/PA normally produces.

You might hear something that is off, like too much bass, slightly muddy vocals, or whatever.  But in the recording that won't bother you because there are so many other problems due to the mics!!!

  Richard

Run the same gear two nights in row for the same band.  One night in the middle of the room.  The next night back under a balcony near the corner.  You'll quickly become a frim believer that the actual sound in the room - in terms of relevance to taping, this should really be the actual sound in the room where your mics are located is probably the biggest single factor in the quality of the recording.

Not saying mics are not important, but I;d rather run in a sweeter spot with lower end mics than run in a bad spot with any mics.

I agree completely.  I've got a whole bunch of clamps, tent poles, velcro and whatever it takes to get up close.  And I've made some great recordings this way.  I'm just looking for great as well as realistic.

In my opinion, there is nothing more fun than *feeling* like you're in the room at the sweet spot.  Even if it is on the ceiling!

  Richard

Hey Richard if your really looking for low distortion and high performance check out the DPA 4090 I have purchased one for my sound measurements. Its a sweet mic. Not to expensive as DPA goes. But its considered to be one of the best omni mics in its class. I agree with you omni mics can be great but they are not so good in a big space with lots of reverb, unless thats the sound your going for ( classical recordings ) I think the mic is important but I think a ok mic in a sweet spot will always sound better then a great mic in a bad spot.

I think that's the real challenge of taping live shows to get your mics where they need to be in order to pickup the show with a good balance. For me its always been easy because I always just put my mics in front of my console. But for real tapers out in the audience its a real challenge.

so did you secure the microphone, Chris?

I had a long chat with Bruce at DPA nice guy! I am calling him back monday to place the order.

[John Willett]

I've been doing a lot of critical listening (read, obsessing) lately with my various mics.

I always took the view, get better mics and/or add soundboard to get better and better sound.  That is true, but what is the *best* sound I can get?

For neutrality and transparency, the best I have heard are the Sennheiser symmetrical capsule MKH series (MKH 20, 30, 40 etc.).

The symmetrical design lowers intermodulation distortion amazingly and makes these the most neutral, uncoloured and revealing mics around.

The first time I heard a recording of the human voice on a demo CD I felt myself relaxing and saying "that's right" and the same voice through the other mics sounded "recorded".

If you want to hear, I have a copy of the original Sennheiser demo CD where you hear the effects of IM-distortion and noise - I ripped this from the original CD (deleted many years ago) and have put a few of my own recordings made with these mics. on the end.

Not knocking any other mics, as mic. colouration is an integral part of choosing what mic. to use in what situation - but for clear, uncoloured sound that let's you really hear what is there, these are unbeatable.