Mic stand

andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
Alright, I've had it with my choice of mic stand. The first one I bought was the Guitar Center brand, and it was absolutely terrible. Fell apart within two weeks. The second has lasted my a year, but recently the twisting clamp that holds the stand at proper height became undone and I cannot get it to clamp again. It's as if the threading is bad and it just continually twists. I've since improvised and I am using my pop filter clamp further down where that original clamp should be. It's holding it just fine, but now my pop filter is unusable as it's only 2' off the ground. :)

So... without having to sort through all the results and options, can anyone recommend a nice, quality, strong, well-built mic boom stand? I only need to move it to 6' for vocals and 3' or so for the rare times I record acoustic. I am attaching two things to it: pop filter and reflection shield. It'll need to be heavy so that the reflection shield doesn't weigh it down or tilt it in any direction.

thanks!
 
I have that same one...it was a bit cheaper when I got it about 15 years ago...but damn good stands.
 
I have a couple of K&M stands. They weigh 2 or 3 times what an equivalent Ultimate or On Stage stand weighs. They stand up to much more abuse, and they are more stable. The only negative is when you've got a case with ten or so stands it gets pretty heavy.
 
Yes, in the world of mic stands, quality costs. This is however one area where the home recordists CAN save money and not compromise on sound quality. We rarely need the BSH build of Atlas stands and the shortcomings of the vastly cheaper ones can be overcome with a bit of ingenuity and gaffer tape.

Worth looking also at the 1/2 sized boom stands, These are inherently more rugged as they are shorter and the leverage on the fittings is less. Most often the homebody is sitting down to play and a smaller stand is just the right height. Also seek out small stands that have a single, heavy base plate instead of a tripod, takes up less floor space and is spot on for mic'ing cabs.

After all, if you are only paying £25/$35 and it falls apart after a year, what the harm? Most don't of course because they don't get 'gigged'.

Dave.
 
Might want to inquire too if the tripod legs, when you fold them up (down..) that they lock there. The K&M and Tama seem pretty comparable. But early on I had some (not Tama) that didn't. Go to pack in for a gig, is like trying to carry an arm full of cats.
:>)
 
Wait, I have an Atlas stand. Not K&M. Actually the stubby K&M kick drum mic stand I have stripped out recently. The one with the heavy base. Not so happy about that... But I did get that one used.
 
jimmys69 said:
That is close to what I use for my vocal mic setup, but with the heavy round base. Nothing worse than a ruined track from singer stepping on the tripod...
Click to expand...

For the majority of vocal tracking, I tend to set up in the same spot of the room...so, one day I had a crazy idea...how about if I could have a mic stand that was attached to the ceiling in that spot so I could get away from it on the floor, not to mention that I usually would put the pop filter on a separate stand, always with an attachment for the lyric sheet and small lamp....that way you could hit that stand and it wouldn't affect the mic stand.

So I screwed a small aluminum bracket to the ceiling, and drilled a hole in it for a bolt that matched the threads on the end of a On-Stage arm w/gear clutch that would normally go on the end of a boom arm.
Man, it works great, and I can loosen the gear, and rotate the arm up to the ceiling and lock it there when not in use. :)
Plus, I put a nice shock-mount on the end, so the mic is very isolated, you can jump on the floor, and it's not going to affect the mic with any vibrations.

Granted, if you need to move the vocal mic around a lot, to different spots, you need the floor stand...but I use this for the primary vocal mic setup...so I've not had the move it in over 10 years to another spot.
 
That is a great idea man. Never thought about doing that for vocal mic. Have two boom arms hanging from joists in my drum room for overheads. May just look into that.

Props!
 
Yes, I did the same thing for the OH drum mics...since the kit is always in the same spot.

I originally had (I actually still have them put away in a closet) a pair of the really big On-Stage boom stands...

On-Stage - SB96+ - On-Stage Stands

...but what a PITA having them in the room. :facepalm:

I don't have a huge space, so after using them for a bit, I realized they had to go...and that's actually when I got the idea for the ceiling mounts, and then deiced to also do it for the vocal mic.
 
Honestly, I hate K&M Mic Stand! Always unable or have to try hard to tighten the "boom joint". Tired!

And honestly again, on-stage mic stand even far better than K&M, Yup it's cheap, that's why it's light. The most consideration, the weight!
 
mactreouser said:
Honestly, I hate K&M Mic Stand! Always unable or have to try hard to tighten the "boom joint". Tired!

And honestly again, on-stage mic stand even far better than K&M, Yup it's cheap, that's why it's light. The most consideration, the weight!
Click to expand...

:D

I never had a problem tightening the K&M boom down.
Sure, the On-Stage with the teeth, are going to give you a solid lock...but there's a reason lighter/flimsy stands are not always good.
When one of your heavier mic tips it over...you'll know. :eek:
I also find the lighter stands tend to always feel "loose"...nothing feels solid when you set them up.
On my On-Stage stands w/booms, I had to add heavier counterweights on the boom arms to better stabilize them. They are OK now, just weren't that stable when I got them. I also have a few sand bags that I got from a photo supply, they're like a saddlebag, mead so you can straddle a big boom arm with them. I just throw them down on the tripod legs when I have to realy extend the boom arms.

I do like the small arms/booms with the teeth from On-Stage that you can get separately...and then put them on a better quality stand with solid tripod legs or metal base. That's really the only thing that I like about the On-Stage stands...the locking teeth clutches.

I figure, for the studio...you buy a few really good stands and booms, and they will probably last you forever, unless you've got all kinds of people coming into the studio and things get really beat up...but even then, you'll get more mileage out of the solid ones.
 
For in-studio (only) work, a stand with a heavy-enough base and boom counterweight so that a heavy condensor doesn't cause it to fall over are well worth the money!
That being said, I use some of my stands for live use, and that's where they get their abuse - not from me but from others.
Andru's initial problem sounds like mis-use. Don't force the boom up and down without loosening the tightening thingie first. Don't overtighten the height adjuster. He's the only one he's recording, so proper use will go a long way in to making the stand(s) last a long time.
 
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Costs money--but you won't go wrong with K&M....and should you be really unlucky and have a problem, they have a great service for selling spare parts for every bit of their stands.
 
K & M, if you strip these you are tightening them too tight.

The best I have is some old vintage zephyr mic stands (Australian made) from the 1950's these are the best with all steel threads and tighteners, can't buy them like that anymore LOL, the booms even have adjustable counterweights.

Alan.
 
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