KSM44 Mic concern
- Thread starter sotorious
- Start date
PhilGood
Juice box hero
Only if you want it to.
In cardioid it will only pick up the front diaphragm. Switch it to omni-directional and it will pick up everything. Switch it to figure 8 and it will pick up the front and the rear, but reject everything 90 degrees on the sides.
Shadow_7
New member
It should be. It may not be as drastically better as much cheaper mics, but it should be better. Depending on content and usage. Total signal chain. YMMV.....
spec wise...
AT4040 - Self Noise 12dB / S/N ratio 82dB
AT4050 - Self Noise 17dB / S/N ratio 77dB / 149dB SPL
KSM44 - Self Noise 7dB to 10dB / S/N ratio 87dB to 84dB
(discontinued? KSM44A)
good mics IMO. All of them get a bit unruly in that 6kHz+ range. More so with the 4040. According to specs.
KSM44A - Self Noise 4dB to 7.5dB / S/N ratio 90dB to 86.5dB
Wow... Drool... It'd be nice to have a little more SPL tolerance, but at that noise spec you can back away a lot and still get good results. AT4050 has all the SPL tolerance you'd need. Depending on what you're recording.
Rap vocals is what im recording, maybe some singing here and there. Im using a focusrite saffire 6 usb right now, was thinking of getting a pre amp if i jump to the ksm44 or the 4050 will a preamp be needed? I heard unless you got a 1000 dollar + mic there really isnt no use for a pre amp.
dgatwood
is out. Leave a message.
For that kind of change, it better be good. They lynch people for selling junk at that kind of price.
Shadow_7
New member
For any mic > $200, you need a quality preamp IMO. Although some mics do well with ANY preamp. If you're at a point where a 7dB self noise mic makes a difference, you want a preamp that has comparable specs. Content is king tough. If the source shouts with the mic IN their mouth, probably not needed. If it's some sexy thing whispering from a couple feet out, needed.
There's quite a few < $1K-ish mics that would benefit from a good preamp IMO. And still remain under $1K with the combo. Do you need a Neve or other expensive preamp, probably not. But there's many a good preamp at or near the $500 mark. Most of which are stereo or better, so $250 a channel or less.
You more than likely don't want to use an $800 mic with a $40 a channel preamp. Unless you want that cheap / vintage / cell phone sound. But why use an $800 mic for that. Just download your voice mail.
haha just so i am clear. The mic allows you to boost the gain more with out capturing background noise? and gives it more of a warmth sound? What do you think about that pre amp that i posted in this thread that has a tube side and the other side (cant remember what the other side is called right now). Because i am mainly doing vocals right now so i would rather spend my money where i am doing most my stuff.
Also i know my Focusrite saffire 6 usb has a mic pre on it. But im sure it doesnt compare to a stand alone.
Also i know my Focusrite saffire 6 usb has a mic pre on it. But im sure it doesnt compare to a stand alone.
Shadow_7
New member
Mics with low noise floors let you record soft sources from far away. With an appropriate gain.
It doesn't matter what preamp you have, if you record with the gain too low, you have to digitally pad that missing part of the dynamic range with null bits which would have otherwise been content. Negligible most of the time. But when you start having to boost 30dB or more in post, you get some weird effects. Take a lecture for example. The teacher talks into a mic and is amped. The students / audience ask questions unamped. At 30dB of gain in post, the students questions go unrecorded for the most part. Baring a few shouted words that made the cut, sometimes mid-word. Which can really screw with clarity / context.
Also note that the mic is not the only source of noise in the chain.
It doesn't matter what preamp you have, if you record with the gain too low, you have to digitally pad that missing part of the dynamic range with null bits which would have otherwise been content. Negligible most of the time. But when you start having to boost 30dB or more in post, you get some weird effects. Take a lecture for example. The teacher talks into a mic and is amped. The students / audience ask questions unamped. At 30dB of gain in post, the students questions go unrecorded for the most part. Baring a few shouted words that made the cut, sometimes mid-word. Which can really screw with clarity / context.
Also note that the mic is not the only source of noise in the chain.
If I were in the market for such a microphone I would be looking at the AT 4047.
I already have an AT4040, trying to kind of expand my mic collection. I just hear the ksm-44 you cant really go wrong with. I need to look into pre amps a bit more i sort of got the description but don't quiet fully understand just yet.
OK ....just remember that a tube pre will sound very clean where as.....say a Golden age pre73 is a transformer in and out that can be driven very hard into a gentle kind of distortion to color your sound .....if that is what your looking for.
I don't know ....is it possible for you to audition some at a local outlet?
I know that if I go to guitar center in Boston they have just about everything under the sun in the line of mic preamps in a separate room to do just that.
I do have a guitar center, but unless there is a room i have not seen. I dont think they have anything like that for demo, mic or pre amp wise, besides the pianos and some monitor speakers.
I mean vocals you would want clear instead of the distortion colored ones right?
I dont see how they havent just made one killer mic / preamp just yet that does it all.
I am also wondering if my focusrite saffire 6 would be enough for the ksm ive heard they got some pretty good mic pre amps built into them. Err this stuff can get so frustrating.
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Shadow_7
New member
My guitar center is kind of puny too. The room of cables takes up like 2x's the space for monitors, mics, keyboards, and lights. And the room for drums and guitars is like 3x's the size of that. All of which fits in the space of what passes for a McDonalds at the front of my local WalMart (+/- the dinning room). And then there's the teeny bops that don't know anything behind the counter. Not to mention the 80 mile round trip to get there and back. Kind of sad considering that it's the capital city of the largest continental state.
You should get decent results with your interface. Not to imply optimal results. Not that you'll notice since the signal chain probably exceeds the noise spec of that mic. And you're probably not listening on $1K monitors either. Still good enough with a loud enough source and proximity which you have in a studio environment. You probably wont notice any quirks in the chain until you upgrade the monitoring portion. And your clients might not either. It'll sound just fine on their iPod(s) / iPad / iPhone / ....... And yours too.
You should get decent results with your interface. Not to imply optimal results. Not that you'll notice since the signal chain probably exceeds the noise spec of that mic. And you're probably not listening on $1K monitors either. Still good enough with a loud enough source and proximity which you have in a studio environment. You probably wont notice any quirks in the chain until you upgrade the monitoring portion. And your clients might not either. It'll sound just fine on their iPod(s) / iPad / iPhone / ....... And yours too.
2 questions here
What makes the u87 so godlike?
Also if you had a range lets just say you have 1000 dollars to spend give or take.
What mic would you go for. Anyone can answer this, what would you get. I know the "you need to test it on your own blah blah blah". But i cant do that, because my guitar center has a policy once you open it and try to return it they have a restocking fee. So i want to hear you guys opinions an i will further look into those mics.
I dont have a well treated room, thinking about also gettting a editors keys, i will be investing in a good mic pre. I will not be getting this mic right away either.
I have a deep voice, but not haunting deep. Inputs please.
What makes the u87 so godlike?
Also if you had a range lets just say you have 1000 dollars to spend give or take.
What mic would you go for. Anyone can answer this, what would you get. I know the "you need to test it on your own blah blah blah". But i cant do that, because my guitar center has a policy once you open it and try to return it they have a restocking fee. So i want to hear you guys opinions an i will further look into those mics.
I dont have a well treated room, thinking about also gettting a editors keys, i will be investing in a good mic pre. I will not be getting this mic right away either.
I have a deep voice, but not haunting deep. Inputs please.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Electro-Voice-RE20-Dynamic-Cardioid-Microphone-270009-i1126405.gc
is that the one you are talking about?
Also i did see a u87 on ebay for 1200.
But i am sure you would need a mic pre that cost just as much for the u87
is that the one you are talking about?
Also i did see a u87 on ebay for 1200.
But i am sure you would need a mic pre that cost just as much for the u87
Yes that's the EV but you can find them used all day log for about $200.
Sadly you do have to have a great mic preamp to go with a great mic ...but it's the price that one must pay to be godlike.
