Recording tenor saxophone (7 microphones shootout)

Which recording method you like the most?

  • Sony A5100 built-in microphones

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Shure 16AM microphone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tascam DR-40 Digital Recorder

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Shure KSM 27 microphone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tascam LD 74 microphone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • AKG Perception 170 microphones (stereo pair)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Shure SM98A microphone

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

luispa

New member
Hi folks,
I uploaded a video on which I compare 7 different microphones/recorders. Audio was recorded at the same time, so the sound source was the same for each microphone/recorder. I was surprised with the results. I'd like to know your opinions about which recording method gives the best results, I know this is a subjective opinion but it would be useful for me. The video has English subtitles

 
It was going very well until the actual sound clips - we cannot see the mics, so cannot see how they are aimed, how far they are away and height and direction. It makes the recordings impossible to put into context.
 
It was going very well until the actual sound clips - we cannot see the mics, so cannot see how they are aimed, how far they are away and height and direction. It makes the recordings impossible to put into context.

That's a good point! Microphones were placed at around 3 feet away from the saxophone bell pointing to the bell but the camera mics were at the same distance but at around 30 degrees. The SM98A was attached to the saxophone bell at 5 or 6 inches. Stereo recordings DR-40 and Perception 170 were XY format where the bisector was pointing to the bell.
 
Oh, that's a shame. Difficult to draw any conclusions if they're all in different places. Small shifts can make big differences - especially as the instrument shifts from bell only on the low notes and the whole thing on the high ones. The mics all behave differently with them have different side lobes.
 
Microphones and recorder were placed as close between them as it was possible, but it's true, with 7 mics it would be better to do separate recordings trying to using the best position for every microphone.
 
Oh, that's a shame. Difficult to draw any conclusions if they're all in different places. Small shifts can make big differences - especially as the instrument shifts from bell only on the low notes and the whole thing on the high ones. The mics all behave differently with them have different side lobes.

He would have had to find some kind of distance compromise tho. If he'd had the dynamics at 3', they wouldn't pick up enough signal; and if he'd put the condensers right on the bell, they'd have overloaded.
 
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