Does anyone have any recommendations for a stereo pair of medium diaphram mics

[Jeff_D]

what type of acoustic treatment? It's a living room 13 x 20 x 8.5H--furnished, part carpet (under piano) and part w\hardwood floor, past piano in connecting kitcen----I can sell the recentl purchased barely used mics I have if I need to, to fund another pair of mics---

Most typical diy treatment would be 2'x4' rigid fiberglass (Owens Corning OC703) mounted in a 1x4 wood frame and wrapped with fabric. Most people hang them on the walls. You'll get the best treatment by diagonally spanning the corners of the room. If you dont like the look, you could easily do something that you could hang on a hook or something portable that you can mount to a stand that you can push into the closet when they arent in use. '

Check out the Studio Building forum here. There are some pretty smart people in there. Actually, if I recall, Ethan has a piano in one of his rooms.

 

[halfred]

Most typical diy treatment would be 2'x4' rigid fiberglass (Owens Corning OC703) mounted in a 1x4 wood frame and wrapped with fabric. Most people hang them on the walls. You'll get the best treatment by diagonally spanning the corners of the room. If you dont like the look, you could easily do something that you could hang on a hook or something portable that you can mount to a stand that you can push into the closet when they arent in use. '

Check out the Studio Building forum here. There are some pretty smart people in there. Actually, if I recall, Ethan has a piano in one of his rooms.

thanks I'll look into that

 

[darrin_h2000]

Just try the moving blankets first...they are the cheapest room treatment you are going to ever find...and you can take them down easy to keep the room nice looking.

 

[sdelsolray]

Microtech Gefell M295

Edit: Whoops!! Not under $1k a pair.

 

[Shadow_7]

---I can sell the recentl purchased barely used mics I have if I need to, to fund another pair of mics---

The only problem with that approach is that if you end up liking the old mics better, you're generally out money getting back to where you were.

For me, I record brass ensembles. Which use the full spectrum of frequencies. And for my old AT4033a the group was well ballanced. I even shifted the mics to favor the baritone voice and it was still lacking in that register. That mic does sound good on strings, but it's not even across the full range. And 7+ octaves is more range than 3-ish octaves of most other instruments. Not that you can't compensate with EQ. But it's generally more trouble than it's worth.

MXL 603's might also be nice. Not to imply problem solving.

Omni's tend to have a distance roll off. Further away sound softer than closer sources faster / more than a cardioid mic. And more than reality might hint at. Sometimes usefull, sometimes problematic.

 

[halfred]

The only problem with that approach is that if you end up liking the old mics better, you're generally out money getting back to where you were.

For me, I record brass ensembles. Which use the full spectrum of frequencies. And for my old AT4033a the group was well ballanced. I even shifted the mics to favor the baritone voice and it was still lacking in that register. That mic does sound good on strings, but it's not even across the full range. And 7+ octaves is more range than 3-ish octaves of most other instruments. Not that you can't compensate with EQ. But it's generally more trouble than it's worth.

MXL 603's might also be nice. Not to imply problem solving.

Omni's tend to have a distance roll off. Further away sound softer than closer sources faster / more than a cardioid mic. And more than reality might hint at. Sometimes usefull, sometimes problematic.

think I've ruled out omnis because of the space I'm recording in. my microtrack has to be sent back for repair so I have nothing to work with until I get my new recorder in a few weeks. The microtrack I'm selling to a piano student of mine who wants to buy it--when i get it back from m-audio. I just listened to a lot of piano solo recordings of the same Chopin piece by major artists. In all cases i could tell it was a large diaphram mic, just the way the sound of the piano was so smoothed out. when you really listen closely to each note when you play there is such variation from note to note.a constant struggle to balance. the further back you listen from the less noticable that variation is. I noticed that when i recorded myself with the NT1A's it was very satisfying to hear that smooth sort of larger than life quality but I was a little shocked because it's not what I'm used to hearing. But when i listen to recordings, I know that it's not quite what the artist is hearing either. I'm going to continue experimenting with them as soon as I can. Then I was thinking of one NT1A and one pulsar a few inches in front of it--can you do that?

 

[Shadow_7]

I noticed that when i recorded myself with the NT1A's it was very satisfying to hear that smooth sort of larger than life quality but I was a little shocked because it's not what I'm used to hearing. But when i listen to recordings, I know that it's not quite what the artist is hearing either. I'm going to continue experimenting with them as soon as I can. Then I was thinking of one NT1A and one pulsar a few inches in front of it--can you do that?

You do realize that everything in your chain colors the sound to some degree. If you're listening to what you recorded on an iPod, of course it wont resemble the source. But that doesn't mean that the recording isn't a close match. My studio monitors (BX8's) are not stellar, but there is a stark difference in ones perception of the recording versus reality, when compared to say traditional stereos, laptops, or pc speakers. If I take a track and put it on the Korg MR-1000 and play it back, completely different animal with those same monitors. I wouldn't really expect to hear it as "is it live or ..." unless you have some stax headphones, magnapan speakers, and/or other high-ish end gear on the back end.

As far as two mics, nothing says you can't. But in terms of one mic per ear, it wouldn't make much sense to have two dramatically unmatched sources on separate ears. If you're going to mix them, you really should have the mic elements the same distance from the source. Otherwise you're going to have some strange phase-ish issues. Which might not be noticeable, or it might be worse than either mic by itself.

 

[halfred]

The only problem with that approach is that if you end up liking the old mics better, you're generally out money getting back to where you were.

For me, I record brass ensembles. Which use the full spectrum of frequencies. And for my old AT4033a the group was well ballanced. I even shifted the mics to favor the baritone voice and it was still lacking in that register. That mic does sound good on strings, but it's not even across the full range. And 7+ octaves is more range than 3-ish octaves of most other instruments. Not that you can't compensate with EQ. But it's generally more trouble than it's worth.

MXL 603's might also be nice. Not to imply problem solving.

Omni's tend to have a distance roll off. Further away sound softer than closer sources faster / more than a cardioid mic. And more than reality might hint at. Sometimes usefull, sometimes problematic.

thanks for the info. Someone led me to Marik who specifically knows recording pianos, classical music, knows microphones, an accomplished calssical pianist himself, etc. A really great resource for getting a decent recording within some of the limits that I have

Yeah, I'll have to keep experimenting with what I have, but now the prospect of ribbon fig 8's, MS and Blumein recording has reared it's head. Marik feels that given my room situation, MS recording with a Ribbon fig 8 and probably an SD omni "M" might be a really great option. The Blumein option is probably out, as there is probably no way I can afford two ribbon fig 8's.So many variables. Soon as my microtrack gets fixed ro I get my new recorder, I'll be back in business. A shame the SP LSD2 has fig 8's not ribbon fig 8's. It would offer a lot of options at an affordable price. Haven't totally ruled it out though. Waiting for some feedback on that option.

 

[ksounds]

Rode NT3. Great microphone.