amp mic'ing.....why do we......

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bryank

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what has been pondering my mind for a day or so now is..............

alot of people say to find the sweet spot on the speaker when you mic an amp, you would crank the amp at a decent volume (sometimes turn up the highs on the eq knob of the amp).......and move the mic around untill you get the most "hiss", while monitoring it on some headphones.

but what i dont understand is........would'nt you ALWAYS find the most hiss on the center of the dust cap? everyone knows that the when you move the mic closer to the center of the speaker...the brighter it gets, and thus produces more hiss.

is doing the the whole 'finding the sweet spot" a big waste of time then?
 
bryank said:
would'nt you ALWAYS find the most hiss on the center of the dust cap?
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The dustcap is not part of the speaker driver. Well, OK, it's glued to it so it's part of it physically I guess, but the dustcap is just that; it is literally just a dust cap. That's why they are often made of nothing more than paper. Any noise that comes off the dust cap is a necessary evil and is not intended to be an accurate part of the loudspeaker's reproduction. If one gets the best sound from miking the dustcap, it is purely coincidental that the best sound from the loudspeaker driver is coming from inside the voice coil.

Typically and in theory the most accurate HF response is indeed coming off the inner diameter of the speaker cone near where the voice coil connects to the cone. But finding this location is not always easy on cab with non- removable grille cloths. Listening is better than guessing ;).

Also in an average cabinet there is more than one loudspeaker (e.g. a 4x10, etc.), depending on the distance of the mic from the cabinet surface, it is possible to have phase cancellation and comb filtering of some high frequencies if you are not right up on the grille.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
The dustcap is not part of the speaker driver. Well, OK, it's glued to it so it's part of it physically I guess, but the dustcap is just that; it is literally just a dust cap. That's why they are often made of nothing more than paper. Any noise that comes off the dust cap is a necessary evil and is not intended to be an accurate part of the loudspeaker's reproduction. If one gets the best sound from miking the dustcap, it is purely coincidental that the best sound from the loudspeaker driver is coming from inside the voice coil.

Typically and in theory the most accurate HF response is indeed coming off the inner diameter of the speaker cone near where the voice coil connects to the cone. But finding this location is not always easy on cab with non- removable grille cloths. Listening is better than guessing ;).

Also in an average cabinet there is more than one loudspeaker (e.g. a 4x10, etc.), depending on the distance of the mic from the cabinet surface, it is possible to have phase cancellation and comb filtering of some high frequencies if you are not right up on the grille.

G.
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do you ever miss the nail head??? Mr. G. :p
 
slidey said:
do you ever miss the nail head??? Mr. G. :p
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Oh hell yeah, if you saw what my thumbs look like you wouldn't need to ask that question :o ;) .

There's a couple of threads going now where I'm variously thought of as condescending, a dickhead, insulting, and even a racist. In the past I've also been backhanded and a blowhard too. My hammer often misses the nail and hits other people's hands, apparently.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
Oh hell yeah, if you saw what my thumbs look like you wouldn't need to ask that question :o ;) .

There's a couple of threads going now where I'm variously thought of as condescending, a dickhead, insulting, and even a racist. In the past I've also been backhanded and a blowhard too. My hammer often misses the nail and hits other people's hands, apparently.

G.
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And that's why they'll probably jack up health insurance for industry professionals in the near future. :cool:
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
I'm variously thought of as condescending, a dickhead, insulting, and even a racist.
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And what do the people that don't like you think???

Seriously, though...I can't imagine anyone seeing you as other than classy even if they don't agree with you.
 
RAMI said:
And what do the people that don't like you think???
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HAHAHAHA, you saw through me on that one! The people that don't like me say things I can't even print on the Internet! :D Oh, and did I mention that off the forum there are some band members that I work with that have recently referred to me as a "monkey" and even "a fucking idiot"? :eek: :)

You can't please everyone. Considering the number of people that visit this board and the number of posts I've made, it's suprising I don't get more hate posts than I do. Someone here once said that you have to have a thick skin to survive on an Internet forum, and that's true.

And we are all only human. I have been occasionally wrong and at fault both emotionally and technically in the past and will continue to be. Nobody is perfect.

But enough about that. Let's talk about miking speakers again. It's someone else's turn now :).

G.
 
OK

hows about micing a big nasty farting 18inch bass speaker with a 10inch ATC speaker as the mic....................there's a lot of talk about the speaker mic (subkick) & it figures that it might work well on a bass cab or on some metal freaks all low end guitar sound

I was reffered to as a clueless twat recently......................

what's that old old old rhyme

sticks & stones will break your bones




























especially if I'm holding or hurling MWAHAHAHA :D
 
I was called a "red neck christian punk racist" recently - by an atheist! Does that count?

But then, that was in the same forum where someone claimed woddy guthrie was a famous communist organizer....


I say use the best mic that you can afford from this list:

AKG D770
Shure SM57
EV ND468
Apex 210 ribbon
EV RE20
Senn MD421

And if you really enjoy a challenge, take the back off the cab and add a second mic behind the speaker. Can you say "phase reversal" boys and girls??
 
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soundchaser59 said:
I was called a "red neck christian punk racist" recently - by an atheist! Does that count?
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You're hanging around the wrong forums, mister... :D :p :)
 
RAMI said:
You're hanging around the wrong forums, mister... :D :p :)
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Yeah, I can handle being called names, but saying Woody Guthrie was a communist.....Now THAT really pissed me off! :mad:
 
bryank said:
what has been pondering my mind for a day or so now is..............

alot of people say to find the sweet spot on the speaker when you mic an amp, you would crank the amp at a decent volume (sometimes turn up the highs on the eq knob of the amp).......and move the mic around untill you get the most "hiss", while monitoring it on some headphones.

but what i dont understand is........would'nt you ALWAYS find the most hiss on the center of the dust cap? everyone knows that the when you move the mic closer to the center of the speaker...the brighter it gets, and thus produces more hiss.

is doing the the whole 'finding the sweet spot" a big waste of time then?
Click to expand...

Finding the sweet spot is not the same routine for every amp or every cabinet. Not even every mic or every guitar player. It depends entirely on what sounds the best and what works the best for the song. Finding the brightest sound in front of the speaker is only the right spot if you like the brightest sound the best, you know what I mean? Sometimes the high end you get when micing the center of the speaker is totally unusable.
I definitely wouldn't call it the "sweet spot". At least that's my opinion.
I think it's possible that you can place a mic somewhat by listening to the hiss through some headphones, but it would be more a process of listening to the "shape" of the hiss rather than just listening for the brightest and loudest hiss. Besides, I'd rather listen to the sound of the amp through the headphones, and do some trial and error recordings to find a good mic placement.
 
metalhead28 said:
Besides, I'd rather listen to the sound of the amp through the headphones, and do some trial and error recordings to find a good mic placement.
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Why would you do that? That's too much fun...... :eek:

Homing in on hiss and hum is much more professional......
 
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