OH miking

You don't want those. Get a pair of samson C01 instead believe me you'll be a lot more happier and they cost about the same . I think the same company M. F.sell them.
 
moresound said:
You don't want those. Get a pair of samson C01 instead believe me you'll be a lot more happier and they cost about the same . I think the same company M. F.sell them.
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I was reading up that small condenser microphones are normally better for capturing OH sounds than large condensers like the C01. Any thoughts on that?

Although that would kill two birds if the C01 is better than the CAD because I'm currently using an sm58 to record vox, :rolleyes:
 
Lkoz91 said:
I was reading up that small condenser microphones are normally better for capturing OH sounds than large condensers....
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Mmmmmmmmmmm.....ahhhhhhh..... :rolleyes: not sure if "better" is right word.

IMO...if you are going to use the OH mics purely for distance ambience, then maybe SDC mics would be your choice...but if you are going for a stereo OH pair that will be the main source, I would use LDC mics (which is what I use).
 
I've got a pair of GT44s that I use all the time, the newer model is private labeled for Guitar Center/ Musician's Friend: ST44 Tube Mic

They sound great on overheads, along with acoustic guitars, etc. A bit more money then those CAD mics, but these are mics you'll use a lot, and keep a long time.

LDCs as overheads work really well, too. They have a bit of a narrower pickup pattern, generally, so are a little better for some OH techniques.

I would personally avoid the really cheap condensers, though. Maybe get a pair of the Nady Ribbon mics, like RSM5s, if you want to stay in the low dollar range!
 
Lkoz91 said:
I was reading up that small condenser microphones are normally better for capturing OH sounds than large condensers like the C01. Any thoughts on that?

Although that would kill two birds if the C01 is better than the CAD because I'm currently using an sm58 to record vox, :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

OK let me back up some ....I miss quoted the model of the Samson it's the CO2 for the small diaphragm mic.
but you can also use the CO1 as over heads!
Now depending on your budget (must be small for you to have wanted the Cads in the first place) there are many other options.
Usually small diaphragm mics are used as overheads and in kind of tight to the drums for like say...jazz drums and large diaphragm spread out some to open the stereo field on say...rock drums.
But nothing is written in stone you have to experiment some with different mic and move them around till it sounds good to you, but then it has to sound good to you once it sits into the total mix with every thing else.After a while you'll know what to do cause you'll know what sound your looking for cause you've been there done that. And the mix will talk to you - just listen.
 
I'm not a fan of most of the SDCs, and certainly not the Chinese Samson/MXL/Nady mics. I used to use them for overheads, and they generated a really poor stereo image. I've also heard a lot of negative opinions of CAD's SDCs. My favorite of the mics I've used is a stock pair (unmatched) of Oktava MK-012 mics.
 
johnsuitcase said:
LDCs as overheads work really well, too. They have a bit of a narrower pickup pattern, generally, so are a little better for some OH techniques.
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Not really true. Larger diaphragm mics tend to have less consistent off-axis response (meaning that the polar pattern varies significantly by frequency), and cardioid-only LDCs are sometimes kinda wide cardioid-ish. If you want consistency of polar response (whatever polar pattern you select), smaller diaphragms are better at it.
 
mshilarious said:
Not really true. Larger diaphragm mics tend to have less consistent off-axis response (meaning that the polar pattern varies significantly by frequency), and cardioid-only LDCs are sometimes kinda wide cardioid-ish. If you want consistency of polar response (whatever polar pattern you select), smaller diaphragms are better at it.
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And for overheads, unlike say a hat mic, you really don't want a narrow pattern or you get too much of a couple parts of the kit and poor stereo imaging. I suspect that's why I like the MK-012 so much. It's a wider cardioid pattern.
 
And just as another cheaper alternative...

I've been using the Studio Projects B1's as OH's for about a year now with pretty good results...if I do say so myself. :p

At about $100 a piece... A pretty decent mic, methinks. ;)
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, didn't realize certain large diaphrams were acceptable for OHs. I'd like to keep my price range around 100, the closer the better (unless its less).
 
johnsuitcase said:
I've got a pair of GT44s that I use all the time, the newer model is private labeled for Guitar Center/ Musician's Friend.
Click to expand...

I have the earlier versions of those same mics...when Groove Tubes was making mics for Alesis for a couple of years under the name GT Electronics...mine are labeled AM40.

I bought a bunch of those GT/AM mics when Groove Tubes and Alesis parted ways,...and then every retailer was unloading them at silly prices.
I purchased a pair of the AM40 mics, a pair of the AM62 multi-pattern tube mics (very sweet), and a pair of the AM52 multi-pattern FET mics (killer as OH mics and instrument mics).
I use the AM52 pair for my drum OH mics...running them in an M/S configuration. I liked them so much, that I bought a second pair off of some guy on eBay...so now I have four of them. :)
The prices I got them for were like 1/4 of the list price! :D

mshilarious said:
...and cardioid-only LDCs are sometimes kinda wide cardioid-ish.
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Yeah...that's why I use my LDC mics in an M/S configuration as OH mics.
With the combination of the figure-of-8 and cardioid...it's a great OH setup.

Before I went with the M/S pair setup...I even tried just a single mic in figure-of-8 for an OH....it's a great way to get the OH vibe without doing a stereo configuration. I just aimed the 8 pattern horizontally so it picked up the whole kit, and I had in inside the kit rather than outside in front.
 
The co2's are OK for now. I've had mine for about 6 months or so. It's what I have until I can afford a better set. A friend of mine has a 7 piece cad set and it'd OK for general recording.
 
Lkoz91 said:
Thanks for all the advice guys, didn't realize certain large diaphrams were acceptable for OHs. I'd like to keep my price range around 100, the closer the better (unless its less).
Click to expand...

So get the samson CO2 pair 119. maybe lower now.
Or 140. maybe lower for two CO1s
 
If time is on your side, study up and look for good deals on used mics - not that I would expect it to happen again, but I got two Oktava MC-012s for $50 (total) at a pawn shop - I'm using them as overheads now, and they're great.

I threw up a pair of nice LDCs (that I also got used, at different times) and actually took them back down because they were picking up *way* too much kick drum - this isn't to say that LDCs always have better bass response than SDCs, but it's something to think about when evaluating OH mics. I guess I could have used the bass roll-off feature on the LDCs, but maybe next time. I also had some work to do on the kick drum, as it turns out. My point is getting weaker and weaker here, but there you go.

If you need mics now, I'd order some Naiants - you'll continue to use them as (/ if) your mic collection grows.
 
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