cheap quality mics

[darrin_h2000]

quote:
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Originally posted by kevellus
I must say Behringer is shit, there are lots of mics that are descent for a reasonable price, it jsut depends what you want
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The joke here is that the b2 IS A REBADGED nt2.

 

[alfalfa]

Do you have conclusive evidence that a B2 is a rebadged NT2? I know the capsule is/looks the same but are the electronics definitely identical?

Rode claim that they only manufacture the capsules (for all their mics) in china and that the assembly of the electronics etc is done is Australia. If that is true then there could be differences especially with consistency and quality control.

 

[ausrock]

I'll answer that later.

I have just picked up an NT2 which I will compare with the pics I have of the Behringer circuits. If I can get a mate to photograph it for me I will post the pic ...........hopefully in the next couple of days.

 

[ausrock]

OK, I've just had a quick look inside an NT2 and compared it to the pics of the Behri B2 Wilkee sent me.

THEY ARE DEFINITELY NOT THE SAME.

Totally different circuits, component quantities are different, etc, etc.

 

[wilkee]

OK, I've just had a quick look inside an NT2 and compared it to the pics of the Behri B2 Wilkee sent me.

THEY ARE DEFINITELY NOT THE SAME.

Totally different circuits, component quantities are different, etc, etc.

Well done mate that is another one of the rumours laid to rest.

Tony

 

[BasPer]

I have used the ECM8000 for drum overheads in a smallish all concrete basement rehersal room, and I have to say that you really don't need perfect acoustics to get good results with them. I placed quite a lot of damping on the walls and ceiling around the kit to get rid of the reflections, and put another mic in front of the kit to get a little help with the bass drum, and managed to get a suprisingly satisfactory sound. But then again that kit really sounds good, and that is always a good starting point...

 

[BasPer]

Also remember that preamps really do make a difference, so don't go for the absolute bottom feeders there either.

By the way, I don't think you need to worry about noise for drum recording. But sure, for some other things the ECM8000 may very well be annoyingly noisy.

 

[Chris Tondreau]

chris just out of curiosity, what is your signal path for that recording?

Ready?? You'll maybe laugh your ass off, as I know I'm about to generate Behringer=anti-christ audio comments. I have one tube mic pre (a Peavey TMP1) which is pretty decent. I didn't use it for that particular recording because it is only a single channel, and I wanted to run both mics through the same kind of pre for no other reason than consistency. So, I used my Behringer MX802A mixer, and the mic pres in that. So I went ECM8000 - MX802A - Delta44 Sound card - Cubase. I avoided anything else, because I wanted to capture JUST the sound of the mic as un-adulterated as possible.

It came out originally as a response to another thread a while back where someone was ranting and raving about how hissy the ECM800's were. Rather than jumping up and down and disagreeing, I thought I'd post the evidence instead.

Chris

 

[ambi]

Sounds good man. Behringer works don't get too embarassed.

 

[moose54]

this may sound liek a stupid question.

but in regards to mixers. i was thinkign fo doing somehtign similar to chriss if i could get a delta 44 at a decent price here in aus... looks liek the snd card is going to be the most expensive part of the setup. Yeah so i want to be able to have 4 inputs and go out as 4 outputs.... what trait am i looking for in a mixer. then inputs i can handle i understand the phantom power concept. Is the best way to do this to use the effects sends for each channel?? so look for a mixer with an aux send and return for each channel... i believe the MX802A as you mentioned has it.... and its a nice cheap $208 rrp hear in aus...

but my stupid sounding question is this... what does it mean by the number of busses a mixing consol has??? is this like the number of outputs to drive say a power amp??? i got no idea i'm just plodding at thin air... any one????

 

[raindogred]

moose 54 - check this link out. I found this guy on ebay. he regularly sells mics there at what I reckon is the cheapest price in australia. mostly shure and sennheiser

I won an sm57 for OZ $149.00, brank spanking new. he then offers you whatever mics you want at lower than listed price
http://alanchan1024.topcities.com. his normal price is $300.00 for a beta 52. not sure what your budget is but theres no excuse to be not using shure brand.


Also check out www.musiccitysydney.com.au as I picked up a couple of Rode Nt1 for $199.00 each a couple weeks ago.

cheers
P.S also check out www.musiclab.net.au as they always have bargains listed on their front pages

I should be getting paid for this

 

[wilkee]

this may sound liek a stupid question.

but my stupid sounding question is this... what does it mean by the number of busses a mixing consol has??? is this like the number of outputs to drive say a power amp??? i got no idea i'm just plodding at thin air... any one????

In general yes, some mixers have internal busses that group inputs or FX and then that group has to be routed to another Buss or output.
The small Berry mixers have 4 busses, that is the two main outputs and two send outputs this would allow you to record 4 seperate feeds if u wanted too.

I have had my small MX802 for 18 months and use it daily as it serves my Audiophile card to and from my household audio system and it still works a dream and in my opinion anybody who thinks it sounds shit have either much better ears than mine (quite possible) or just talk a pile of horse manure.

Tony

 

[alfalfa]

My friend has a behringer mx802 and I use a mx1604. There was no way we could get 4 independent outputs out of a mx802 (a 2 bus mixer). The most we could achieve was 3 using the pre fader aux send and the two main outputs. The post fader aux send ends up in the main mix so is not independent.

To get 4 independent outputs you will have to get at least a mx1604 or ub1204pro as they are 4 bus mixers ie you get 4 outputs. Or you will need a mixer that has inserts or direct outs on the mic channels (eg a mackie or phonic or some of the even bigger behringer models).

The behringers are decent for the money but I can clearly hear the difference when they are not in the signal path eg connecting my synth directly to the soundcard input vs going thru the mixer or connecting my monitors directly to the soundcard output instead of going via the mixer. The mic pres in the UB series sound better to me than those in my MX mixer.

 

[moose54]

okay so what is a good 4 xlr input 4 out put mixer... it seems liek ti would be a simple ask... but by the sounds of it, it may not be

 

[alfalfa]

From behringer there is the ub1204pro and the older mx1604 I have. I would go with the ub mixer between those two. You might want to investigate other brands like Mackie and soundcraft if they are in your budget.

 

[wilkee]

My friend has a behringer mx802 and I use a mx1604. There was no way we could get 4 independent outputs out of a mx802 (a 2 bus mixer). The most we could achieve was 3 using the pre fader aux send and the two main outputs. The post fader aux send ends up in the main mix so is not independent.

Yep I forgot one was post fader and I cannot remember if the mod U can make to the circuit board is to reverse the post or pre fader Aux output.

Regarding the difs between the two mixers could you do it in a blind test? With perfectly set up levels etc. And it is no good answering this with a "YES" if you have not tried it.

 

[alfalfa]

Regarding the difs between the two mixers could you do it in a blind test? With perfectly set up levels etc. And it is no good answering this with a "YES" if you have not tried it.

Well then I have to say my answer is ... "NO".

I just plugged my mic in and had a listen and preferred the pre in the UB mixer. Please forgive my horrendous crime of offering an opinion without having performed level matched, blind testing

 

[wilkee]

Well then I have to say my answer is ... "NO".

I just plugged my mic in and had a listen and preferred the pre in the UB mixer. Please forgive my horrendous crime of offering an opinion without having performed level matched, blind testing

Just acting as "devils advocate" no offense meant., sorry if any was taken.

Tony

 

[alfalfa]

No offence taken. I was just having a little fun (hence the smilie).

Alf

ps - I am a little curious as to why you decided to play devils advocate on this thread when more than 99% of opinions offered on this forum are not based on level matched, blind tests, but I dont want to hijack Moose's thread. Perhaps you could start a new thread on blind testing if you would like to discuss your views on that issue with myself and anyone else interested.

 

[wilkee]

No offence taken. I was just having a little fun (hence the smilie).

Perhaps you could start a new thread on blind testing if you would like to discuss your views on that issue with myself and anyone else interested.

It is just a pet subject of mine. I just think that a lot of views given on this forum are based on pure bias and some people have not even heard the equipment they are slagging or praising, but I suppose that is life.

I will start a new thread on this subject when I have a bit more time, and again thanks for humouring this "old fart"

Tony