ecm 8000's....help!

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Executivos

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I bought some behringer ecm 8000s...around christmas time when we were all buying them...I haven't had a chance to use them until now...I usually only record vocals at my studio, drums and heavy miiking are done elsewhere.


So we setup the stereo set of ecm 8000s in my bands rehearsal space...I planned on using them just for stereo recordings of practices to remember new material or sending raw demos to someone whos going to be producing stuff soon.

They sound terrible!

The room sounds good....acousticall treated....bass traps, some foam, diffusers etc.

For some reason the cymbals and kick are totally distorting...I'm using an audio buddy....not peaking on that and not peaking going to the computer....If i turn the gain WAY down there's no peaking but then again the signal level is terrible.

Just to test we swapped them with 2 sm58s and the sound was MUCH better.

Is it just that we're louder than the mics max spl? I tested them with drums alone and still the same...I thought you could use them for ohs?

Any ideas??? please help


oh yeah before trying the sm58s i tried my c1 and it sounded like ass too. i thought a condenser as a room mic in the back works well?
 
When you say stereo micing if you are talking about xy formation the ECMs won't work.Being omnis they need to use a spaced formation.
 
How are they on other sources? Not having an Audio Buddy, does it provide enough phantom power for two at the same time, Randy, or anybody?
-kent
 
Hi Kent.I have really only used them on drum overheads.The Audio Buddy has plenty of power for a pair of ECMs,matter of fact,I used a pair of ECMs with my small Behringer MXB1002 mini mixer that only supplies something like 23v phantom power.The info on the ECMs said they only take 15v to power.
 
You don't say what configuration you're using, but being omnis the ECM8000s won't work well if you use them in a coincident config (X/Y). If you use them in a spaced config, you will need to make sure that the distance between the mics is at least 3 times the distance from the mics to the nearest sound source

The problems you're getting might be due to phase cancellation caused by the slight difference in the distance between the sound source and each of the two mics. It tends to be more obvious on high frequencies (cymbals etc).

For further info, use the "search" function with the key-words "3 to 1 rule", or "comb-filter", or "phase-cancellation".

Good Luck -

- Wil
 
Randy and Wil,

Not disagreeing with you, but by coincidence I received a pair of ECM's this afternoon and earlier tonight we did a couple of "test" recordings on acoustic guitar............using an X/Y configuration..........the results were great considering I hadn't used omnis before, let alone done any X/Y micing.

Go figure...........might have been beginners luck, but it worked fine.

:cool:
 
ausrock said:
Randy and Wil,

Not disagreeing with you, but by coincidence I received a pair of ECM's this afternoon and earlier tonight we did a couple of "test" recordings on acoustic guitar............using an X/Y configuration..........the results were great considering I hadn't used omnis before, let alone done any X/Y micing.

Go figure...........might have been beginners luck, but it worked fine.

:cool:
Click to expand...
I had the same result using X/Y micing and my first stereo pair of omnis.

Christopher
 
I don't understand how you can get any stereo separation using omni mics in X/Y - I would think you needed directionality for this to work. Otherwise the mics are receiving the same signal.
 
thanks for responding guys....I'm NOT using xy config...(being that they are omnis) They are spaced about 4-5 feet apart not really the 3 to 1, but close. I guess I could move them closer but i don't think phasing is the problem. If it were phasing wouldn't there be the same problem on the sm58s in the same position.

It's more of a bass drum and cymbals sound like crap problem? hahahah sorry...maybe i should explain.

I listened to tom's clip...his sound fine...the bass drum is tight and nice. I guess the way to explain it is it sounds like it's being severely compressed or limited....you know what it's like when you REALLY squash drums? (not using any compression yet)
 
That sound strange. I've had nothing but success with my pair! I've used them as overheads, on vocals, Organ, and various percs. On drums they sound very uniform and balanced, and cymbals have a nice decay. Could be a bad set?
 
Could be the Audio Buddy?

You said that the "cymbals and kick are totally distorting", and that this happened with the C-1 as well, but not the 57. According to some (see "mic pre poll" and Audio Buddy vs DMP3" threads) the Audio Buddy is prone to clipping, even though the clip indicator light doesn't come on. If that's true, then I would think that it would clip more on condensors than dynamics. The Audio Buddy's input impedance is reported by some to be a better match for dynamics, also. This is only what I've read, but your experience seems to confirm this.

Tom and Randy seem to have used this particular combination successfully, so perhaps it's just a mic placement issue, and they could address this.

Good luck.
 
Audio Buddy clips long before its light comes on. Could you be peaking without knowing it? Can't rely on the indicator lights - I asked about this in a thread a few months ago and others agreed.
 
I'm green

Pardon me for being green, but couldn't you put a -3db pad on the mics? I may be wrong but I figured it would be the simplest solution. Lower the sensitivity and bring up the gain.
 
People brought up good points about possible clipping on the Audio Buddy.When I set levels on the Buddy,I just use my ears,I don't really pay any attention to the little indicator lights on the Buddy.I love my Buddy but I don't think the indicator lights are very accurate.When I set levels most of the time the sig light never even comes on.Just use your ears,its pretty easy to do.
 
Have you thought about the distortion beign on the mic itself?
Maybe your band reaharsal is way too loud.
 
I'd investigate the Audio Buddy first based on what Randy and others are saying. They're not known for their headroom.

Now that you mention it, the first time I tracked drums with the ECM8000's I was amazed how low I had to set the input trims on my mixer to keep from clipping. We are after all talking about a rather high SPL source.

As for suspecting the mics themselves, I repeat my original question: how are they on other sources, like a speaking voice? Any distortion there?
-kent
 
Hey Jeronimo

I think it's been established already that the distortion's source is the mic's. Who are you debating? I think the question is why the distortion from the mics.
 
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