Behringer may have just taken the lead in "Best Bang/buck" mics

Phil,

It depends. We use the ECM8000s sometimes, and at other times, we'll use the Oktava MC012's, the Marshall MXL-603S's, the Audix TR-40's, or the Shure SM81's. Last two bands we recorded, we used the ECM8000's in the small studio, and the Oktava MC012's in the big studio.
 
had to get them

after reading all of these posts i decided that i better blow $70 on a set of mics that would be "a great addition to any studio." you can never have to many mics anyway, right? and i am excited to try something with a pattern other than cardioid. i told my brother who i purchase a lot of equipment with to build upa decent studio about what a deal it was and he said that we should think about it. i came on here, read more posts, and just ordered them. oh well, i'm not about to pass this up. you guys all rock, especially harvey!
-Ralf ^The Screaming End Recording Studio^
 
better

I like them better now than I did when I was testing them wrong using the speaker..there are still a few subtle differences between each mic, but for $35 each, I'm more impressed than I was. Definitely useful to have around, might even be fun on kick drum, for a more natural sound than with a cardiod.

--Sal
 
ouch

Don't try using stuff when it's cold like that or whatnot..you could break it even, because as things warm up, condensation might form inside..give them a good few hours before you start messing around.

Besides, if you saw the stuff that happened to them before the cold @ UPS, you'd be amazed that they work at all :P

--Sal
 
I just received a pair of ECM8000s a couple weeks ago... bringing my grand total of mics up to a whopping 3! Thanks Harvey.

I found an interesting application for them (some of you may scoff, but wtf).

I noticed that with the addition of a little masking tape, the small diameter mic body fits rather well in the bridge of my upright bass. With the end of the mic about 2" away from where my right hand touches the strings.

I find that I get a usable sound out of this set up, a nice mix of the bass tone and string/fretboard noise.
 
Lame-
Very cool! I like to hear this type of stuff. Creative recording is where it's at and it's even cooler when the gear is so inexpensive.

Sal-
I sure know what UPS did to the Mackie 32/8 I bought off ebay a couple of months ago....finally got my money back from the ordeal and I now HATE UPS!


heylow
Rock Jedi/Indie Snob
www.heylowsoundsystem.net
 
aww

Your Mackie got ruined? That sucks! How heavy was it? It it was over 70 lbs, it got treated as a 'metal' and sent down a special area each time it got unloaded/sorted/and reloaded..so that might explain it.. Don't blame UPS tho, Fed-EX and USPS handle their stuff the same way essentially. Just gotta make sure you declare the value high enough so you get your full $$ paid back. I think if it's over $5k, it gets handled as a 'high value', im not sure of the exact $$ amount..but then they have a special lady who goes around with it and it gets treated a little nicer usually. My guess as to why it got busted was whoever shipped it didn't package it properly, or some idiot dropped it not thinking it was anything fragile..if you saw half the stuff that comes down the metals belt, you'd wonder who these idiots are shipping it..people ship big hunks of metal, with and without packaging..tires, as is, metal slabs, boxes filled JUST with screws, boxes of clothing just stuffed with everything imaginable..but accidents do happen, so doh. I'm extra careful when I see pro audio stuff comin :) One time this guy got like 8 of those huge Mackie PA speakers that weighed like 90lbs each, talk about a bitch..ugh...but it pays the bills weekly when there's not guaranteed studio time, and the health insurance is the best you can get, and it's a paid workout..so its fun.

Whenever you ship something, and its fragile..pick the fastest method whoever you choose, because then it gets unloaded/loaded the least, which is where the damage would occur, in my opinion.
--Sal
 
Yeah.....

It was basicly a combination of the guy packing really poorly and the fact that you could tell it was actually dropped HARD on one corner. The blow basicly twisted the entire casing apart and totally disintegrated the corner it was dropped on. The guy had actually packed it with the meter bridge ON!! Needless to say that the meter bridge was toast!:rolleyes:

That thing was something like 80 or 90 pounds and was packed in that plain old thin single ply cardboard that people might use to pack clothing and whatnot....no corner reinforcements and one single wrapping of SMALL bubblewrap (like mics come in) and a sheet of thin styrofoam over the pots.

Now mind you, it was poorly packed but you could tell that whoever dropped it KNEW it broke....oh well. The guy was cool...he totally refunded me and dealt with UPS himself. I'm over it...the only thing I'm out is shipping which I can live with.


:cool:
heylow
Rock Jedi/Indie Snob
www.heylowsoundsystem.net
 
ahh

OK, yah..no wonder Mackie tells you 'SAVE THE BOX' in the manuals and on the actual box :) But I think, as far as I know, UPS policy is to deliver even if you know it's broken, and then have it handled from there..for whatever reason..I may be wrong, I'm not a 'company guy' I just work for them (Go Teamsters, hehe). I've heard packages come through all the time that sound like there's broken glass rattling around..stuff opens up all the time because people pack it with like 1 piece of tape, and all their porn goes spilling out, or the bottle of wine..there was a huge bottle of wine broken on the floor the other week. I'm just annoyed cuz I paid like $150 shipping extra on my 32*8, and I saw one come through UPS, and Musician's Friend said they can't ship it UPS because it's too big..but we get bigger stuff than that..I got a box during the summer that was proably 8"*8*8, and weighed 140lbs or so..it was crazy trying to pick that thing up because it was so small..AND I had to pay for special shipping for my Omnirax desk thing, cuz they said it was too big for UPS..which isn't true either...oh well..everything arrived in one piece, although the plastic cover on the right side of the mixer that goes over the LEDs was loose in the box and I had to snap it on.
 
cymbal FX

OK, you guys can just stop now. I gotta ship a 24x8 tomorrow and don't need any more stories of the how the UPS fairies handle their entrusted cargo... It's not going any kind of express since that's based on dimensions and starts at $280! Standard is based on weight, only $68 for the board and PSU in the original packaging. I guess you takes your chances...
Anyway, the coolest sound I've gotten with the ECM8000 so far was a ride cymbal overdub during the soft parts of a heavy guitar tune. I had the drummer give the ride a whack during the last bar of the loud part so that by the time the soft part came around, it was just ringing. Then with the Behringer in his other hand, I had him slowly move it across the surface of the cymbal, maybe a 1/2" above it. I automated the fade up at the head the part so the hit was gone and comped a couple of takes together to make it contiguous. Sounded like Skywalker's hover car a bit and added a cool alien drone to the track. Probably an old trick but it got the band all excited about trying some production ideas out.
 
Its been a while...

I cant even remember the last time I posted here. But ive been reading this thread for some time now. I ended ordering a pair the other day mainly for drum overheads. But i have no experience with omnis. What gonna be the best way to use these mics for stereo drum overheads? I was going to try x/y but im not sure how well that works. I dont really have time to try different thinks with since they band im going to be recording is paying money. Will x/y style work or should i do spaced?

Darnold
 
Wide spacing would be better. I usually position one over the triangle made by the hi-hat, snare, and crash cymbal, and the second one over the triangle made by the ride cymbal, floor tom, and china cymbal. Then, I move them around till they sound "right".
 
ACK!

This isn't the time I wanted to read UPS horror stories! I have one of those Studio Projects C1's coming to me!

Well, if it can handle 131 dBu SPL and it comes with a fancy box it should still work when it gets here (I hope!)

-signed not sleeping for 4 days now
 
Hey Guardian! Another unlucky UPS'er huh? YOu think YOU"VE seen some shit, you should see the stuff I see sometimes. I work around the primary hub and ramps in Louisville (100 inbound aircraft (20 are 767's, and about 15 are airbus) per night and (175 total per day) somewhere in the ballpark of 800,000 next day packages get moved through there every night in about 4 hours... amazing operation. Ever see one of those 2 inch thick packages that is 4 inches long, 4 inches wide and weighs 150lbs? Crazy.
But anyway... yeah, the faster you ship it the better. 3 day stuff sometimes gets shipped with the next day stuff, only it sits OUTSIDE in a container the whole time, especially on weekends. If you can manage to order and get all of our stuff shipped on Mondays, you will be much better off. Lower volume early in the week means you might actually get your 3 day shipment in 2 days (maybe 1!) and they probably wont bring you anything on the weekend except next day stuff on saturday, IF its specified for saturday delivery. So ordering and getting something shipped on thursday, via 3 day or ground, is a no-no. Dont do it. Make sure its water tight too. When unloading plane bellies, if you're stuff ended up in one, the go down a belt in open weather. Rain snow sleet, doesnt matter.
And, if its over 70 lbs, he's right, it gets some brutal ass treatment on what they call the "irreg belt".
Luckily, I havent handled packages in a nearly 5 years.
Peace!
 
How low can you go?

I just talked to my local GC. The price on the ECM8000's has dropped even further, they are now $29.99. I'm picking up their last two this afternoon.

Oh yeah, MARS is closing 8 stores including the one here in SLC...Times is rough all over.

Tom Cram
dbx Senior Technical Support
(801) 568-7530
tcram@dbxpro.com

"Jazz, pfffft...They just make it up as they go along."
-Homer Simpson-
 
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