what do you mean by bright, warm, colorful.

Many multi-pattern mics have 3-4 fixed patterns (Omni, Cardioid, Super/Hyper Cardioid, Figure 8) with all having distinct sound differences. The Omni picks up 180 degrees in all directions...the Cardioid is one-side focused...the Super/Hyper even tighter focus...and the Figure 8 is two-sided, like the "8".
There are a variety of uses for these patterns, depending on your source and the sound you are after.

The really nice thing about a multi-pattern tube mic like the ADK TT/CE (and some others) is that it has 9-positions/patterns starting with Omni at one end, Cardioid at the middle and Figure 8 at the opposite end...but you also get stuff in-between. The TT/CE being a tube mic, has an outboard power supply, and on it is the 9-position rotary switch. Omni is at 8:00, Cardioid at 12:00 and Figure 8 at 4:00.
For my own vocals, I use the 1:00 and 2:00 positions the most...which is mostly Cardioid but with a touch of the back side from the Figure 8 pattern.

So....you get a LOT of tonal variations with it!!! When you consider it's a two-sided capsule/mic...you actually get 17 different sounds depending on which side of the capsule/mic (front or back) you are singing into.
Yeah, it's not a cheap mic...but worth every penny. You really can hear where the money went! ;)

What kind of voice do you have?
Mine is a pure baritone voice, and I could not find a mic that really held up the low end without sounding dull or muddy as well as the TT/CE...but it also sounds as good on female/soprano vocals.
Now, with the ADK Custom Shop capsule upgrade...I would have to go to a $4k - $5k mic to really improve on it.

Contact ADK, email ADK Founder Larry Villella (larry@adkmic.com) or call 1-503-296-9400 for a consultation. Tell him what you are after and he can recommend a few ADK mic options for you. He’s friendly and they have good support.
There are a couple of decent ADK mic deals on eBay right now.
 
miroslav said:
Many multi-pattern mics have 3-4 fixed patterns (Omni, Cardioid, Super/Hyper Cardioid, Figure 8) with all having distinct sound differences. The Omni picks up 180 degrees in all directions...the Cardioid is one-side focused...the Super/Hyper even tighter focus...and the Figure 8 is two-sided, like the "8".
There are a variety of uses for these patterns, depending on your source and the sound you are after.

The really nice thing about a multi-pattern tube mic like the ADK TT/CE (and some others) is that it has 9-positions/patterns starting with Omni at one end, Cardioid at the middle and Figure 8 at the opposite end...but you also get stuff in-between. The TT/CE being a tube mic, has an outboard power supply, and on it is the 9-position rotary switch. Omni is at 8:00, Cardioid at 12:00 and Figure 8 at 4:00.
For my own vocals, I use the 1:00 and 2:00 positions the most...which is mostly Cardioid but with a touch of the back side from the Figure 8 pattern.

So....you get a LOT of tonal variations with it!!! When you consider it's a two-sided capsule/mic...you actually get 17 different sounds depending on which side of the capsule/mic (front or back) you are singing into.
Yeah, it's not a cheap mic...but worth every penny. You really can hear where the money went! ;)

What kind of voice do you have?
Mine is a pure baritone voice, and I could not find a mic that really held up the low end without sounding dull or muddy as well as the TT/CE...but it also sounds as good on female/soprano vocals.
Now, with the ADK Custom Shop capsule upgrade...I would have to go to a $4k - $5k mic to really improve on it.

Contact ADK, email ADK Founder Larry Villella (larry@adkmic.com) or call 1-503-296-9400 for a consultation. Tell him what you are after and he can recommend a few ADK mic options for you. He’s friendly and they have good support.
There are a couple of decent ADK mic deals on eBay right now.
Click to expand...

thanks for that piece of info.

here is the mic i was just looking at form adk

http://www.amazon.com/ADK-Microphones-9-pattern-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B0027P9DCM

I was also thinking of that new ksm44a since it has multipattern as well, along with the old ksm44.

My is deep not to deep when i tend to "rap" i sort of take the deepness away. here is a youtube link of how i sound and if you scroll threw some of the other videos you can hear some other songs or how i sound when i am not rapping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6GATMgBUHE


what i was sort of thinking of doing if i ever got a multi pattern microphone was.. use cardinoid (if thats what its really called, i just learned what that word ment yesterday, excuse the mis spelling) as my main vocal track, and for backing vocals, record in maybe the figure 8 or a 180 degree, just to get a different sound.
 
sotorious said:
I have the 4040 already, looking to expand my mic collection a bit. I dont like how my voice really sounds on it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it's not that different from the 4033a then. On the at4033a there was a dip in the baritone voice. Generally favored for female singer because it has a nice alto range. And Bass is pretty good too. But that tenor / tenor II (i.e. typical male voice) is a bit absent. Some EQ in that 500Hz to 2kHz range might help bring out the sound you want, or not. That plus I needed the cash was why I sold that mic. Otherwise a pretty awesome mic that I almost wish I still had.

Also make sure that you're singing into the front of the mic. The switches are likely on the back of the mic, the LOGO should be the front side. It's kind of hard to tell on some of them. Especially if the shock mount hides those elements. The AT4033a that I had was a wide enough cardioid, it was almost OMNI IMO. But still had a noticeable dip when addressing the rear of the mic.
 
Steenamaroo said:
you mean you don't already have one?

you'll be saying you don't have a lava lamp next!!!!
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it .....I don't!

And you know that's kind of funny cause if you look at the *show me your studio* thread almost everyone of the pictures of peoples studios have a lava lamp in their studio .... I feel so out of the loop.:(

But we do have two magic 8 balls!






:cool:
 
sotorious said:
Is that really worth the price, what mics does that compare to? Also would tube be the way i want to go?
Click to expand...

It's the exact same mic you linked to on the Amazon website...only $200 less. :)

What does it compare to...?
Well...not any of the cheaper ($200-$600) mics out there. ;)

It's a wonderful vocal mic with plenty of tonal variety thanks to it's 9-patterns plus two-sided capsule for a total of 17 different tones.
IOW...you can probably dial it in for most any vocalist, and/or have multiple tones for your own vocals.

You wanna get crazy...have them drop an ADK Custom Shop capsule in there like the TT 12 Au...and a hand-picked NOS tube. For a total of about $1200, you'll give a Telefunken C12 a run for its money (LOTS of money), but even stock, the ADK TT is a killer vocal mic IMHO.
 
moresound said:
Will do then ....... Death to tyrants ~ and all lava lamps. :laughings:
Click to expand...

Now come on... Fess up... You're running a lava lamp screen saver. And have been for years. You even upgraded to the deluxe version with the disco ball and laser light show.

lavalamp_300x225px.gif
 
Shadow_7 said:
Now come on... Fess up... You're running a lava lamp screen saver. And have been for years. You even upgraded to the deluxe version with the disco ball and laser light show.

lavalamp_300x225px.gif
Click to expand...

Do you have to wait 30 minutes for the PC lava lamp to warm up before it starts to operate? :laughings:






:cool:
 
Those “blob” lava lamps are so passé…mine is one of those iridescent rainbow glitter "lava" lamps....does that count?


:D
 
miroslav said:
It's the exact same mic you linked to on the Amazon website...only $200 less. :)

What does it compare to...?
Well...not any of the cheaper ($200-$600) mics out there. ;)

It's a wonderful vocal mic with plenty of tonal variety thanks to it's 9-patterns plus two-sided capsule for a total of 17 different tones.
IOW...you can probably dial it in for most any vocalist, and/or have multiple tones for your own vocals.

You wanna get crazy...have them drop an ADK Custom Shop capsule in there like the TT 12 Au...and a hand-picked NOS tube. For a total of about $1200, you'll give a Telefunken C12 a run for its money (LOTS of money), but even stock, the ADK TT is a killer vocal mic IMHO.
Click to expand...

haha i dont think im ready for mods just yet, maybe in the future. I think that ADK may be on top of my list. But how i was picturing it was getting a none tub mic with a tub compressor so i can have that versatility, because i ive read that is a better combo but maybe i can go the other way. I also read tube on tube can get nasty.



Also make sure that you're singing into the front of the mic. The switches are likely on the back of the mic, the LOGO should be the front side. It's kind of hard to tell on some of them. Especially if the shock mount hides those elements. The AT4033a that I had was a wide enough cardioid, it was almost OMNI IMO. But still had a noticeable dip when addressing the rear of the mic.
Click to expand...

its definitely on the right way. I had that problem when i first purchased the mic. I was like why in gods name does this sound so hollow?!?! then i got to thinking and i pulled the mic off and started looking at it, then i saw the logo then i started looking threw the mesh grill and i was like uh oh i think i have it on backwards...

It also sucks that guitar center doesn't carry this, because just incase i dont like it i can return it. But i guess i can do the same if i order this off of ebay.

Man there needs to be a website with just microphone test files. Sort of an imdb of microphones.


Another question on my mic do i want to keep it at 0db at all times? or switch it to -10db when i about to do something loud? or vice versa or what.
 
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Generally 0dB. You're not likely to get that loud with just voice. And about all that the pad does is increase the noise floor because you'll have to use more gain on the preamp to get the same result.

There is a database of sorts, but I think this site mangles the URL. google for studio and audition and jam session. A fairly good selection, but not complete by all means. And samples don't mean much without a context. And if you want samples other than guitar, male/female voice, and drums, good luck with that.

Some microphone manufacturers will send you a sampler CD. Earthworks did, and all I had to do was give up my personal (shipping) information. Not that the sample did much outside of convincing me to not buy their mics. But it helped me to better understand what I want from a microphone. (low end reach / low noise specs).
 
Shadow_7 said:
Generally 0dB. You're not likely to get that loud with just voice. And about all that the pad does is increase the noise floor because you'll have to use more gain on the preamp to get the same result.

There is a database of sorts, but I think this site mangles the URL. google for studio and audition and jam session. A fairly good selection, but not complete by all means. And samples don't mean much without a context. And if you want samples other than guitar, male/female voice, and drums, good luck with that.

Some microphone manufacturers will send you a sampler CD. Earthworks did, and all I had to do was give up my personal (shipping) information. Not that the sample did much outside of convincing me to not buy their mics. But it helped me to better understand what I want from a microphone. (low end reach / low noise specs).
Click to expand...

yea, i been doing some reading and a lot of people have been complaining about the highs a bit on the ADK Area 51 TT. that they can become a bit harsh and when they eq it feels like they loose to much. have you had a chance to toy around with that mic at all?
 
sotorious said:
yea, i been doing some reading and a lot of people have been complaining about the highs a bit on the ADK Area 51 TT. that they can become a bit harsh and when they eq it feels like they loose to much. have you had a chance to toy around with that mic at all?
Click to expand...

Nope. Like the 414 type mic, but not the company / web site. Too media rich. A real PITA for us low bandwidth types. Or developers with beliefs that a website should not hog 90% of ones CPU. Or more, given that we used to do so much more with a 75MHz CPU, versus the 2GHz+ chips of today.
 
Shadow_7 said:
Nope. Like the 414 type mic, but not the company / web site. Too media rich. A real PITA for us low bandwidth types. Or developers with beliefs that a website should not hog 90% of ones CPU. Or more, given that we used to do so much more with a 75MHz CPU, versus the 2GHz+ chips of today.
Click to expand...

Didnt fully understand what you tried to tell me here. Also i got some good news that i can return my at4040 for a full refund because i had bent the grill and they i am able to return it. so thats an extra 300 bucks in my pocket as well. Well guitar center gift card. I really have my eyes on the KSM44 but if since you guys vouch that the adk is a better mic i will go for that.
 
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