ecm8000's whats the deal?

[John Mayes]

Ok so I know these dudes are dirt cheap but I read they are called "refrence" mics. what is everyone using them for. I'm temepted to get a pair even when I hvae no clue what for...I mean $30 for a cool mic...sheesh.. What are the applications your using them for? Room miking?

 

[tmix]

Many people are using them for drum overheads as well as micing acoustic guitar.
They may have a flat frequency response, but they also have quite a bit of self noise. I sent mine back because to me they were unusable. I'd go with the marshall mxl603s instead.

 

[pkmusic]

Someone awhile back recommended these mics for recording congas. Is that really the case?

 

[chessrock]

They're a specialty mic, great for spot duty, but in a typical home recording environment, they're not what I'd call a workhorse.

Like tmix said, you'd probably be happier with the marshalls on accoustic guitar and drum overheads.

I find the Behringers excell at hand percussion, and for those occasions where I want to go all crazy and use a binaural head setup. Crazy, I tell you.

 

[coplinger]

I agree. I have both the 8000's and the 603's. 603's are better on both guitar & oh's, but I liked the 8000 on tambourine and sheep-hoof-shaker-thing. They also did good as a room mic recording a rock band. The combination of 8000 (above shoulder) and sp b3 (in front of guitar) worked well on my nylon string guitar, though.

 

[cominginsecond]

They're a specialty mic, great for spot duty, but in a typical home recording environment, they're not what I'd call a workhorse.

I don’t know if I’d agree with you there. In my experience they’re good on any kind of hand percussion, steel string acoustic, nylon string acoustic, overheads, certain types of kick drum sounds, and piano. If it’s not a workhorse, then it’s at least versatile.

Like tmix said, you'd probably be happier with the marshalls on accoustic guitar and drum overheads.

The 603 is better for acoustic, but the ECM8000s slaughter the 603 on overhead in my room.

 

[Meshuggah]

60$ for a pair of nice omnis.. what could possibly go wrong?

 

[justwantyou2kno]

I have MXL 603's and ECMs and I've always opted for the ECMs. I think they give me a great drum sound even though I record in a untreated basement. And when I record vocals I put one 5 feet out and I think it helps the vocals fit in the mix more.

 

[tdukex]

Depending on how you like to mic your acoustic guitar, the ECMs can give a nice woody sound without the boominess of a cardoid when placed near the bridge/sound hole. Combined with a 603 or other condenser close on the neck, I think the punchy stereo sound this spaced pairing yields is useful for certain tracks/mixes.

 

[chessrock]

I don’t know if I’d agree with you there. In my experience they’re good on any kind of hand percussion, steel string acoustic, nylon string acoustic, overheads, certain types of kick drum sounds, and piano. If it’s not a workhorse, then it’s at least versatile.

I'll agree with you on the hand percussion one-thousand percent . . . and I've gotten somewhat okay sounds out of them as drum overheads -- phasey crash cymbal aside.

But nylon string accoustic?

Holy hissing rattle snakes.

Whatever works for you, I guess.

 

[cominginsecond]

But nylon string accoustic?

Holy hissing rattle snakes.

Whatever works for you, I guess.

The key to doing nylon string acoustic is mic'ing it about half an inch from the strings. I use it on fingerpicked stuff that's localized on three strings or less.

 

[chessrock]

Hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

 

[BasPer]

I use it (really close) on double bass sometimes, and occationally on percussion.

 

[cominginsecond]

Hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Clever, Chessrock.

 

[Recording Engineer]

I agree, the ECM8000 is noisey in a nylon guitar application, but the result I got with it in conjuction with a C3 in omni was well worth the noise.

On such the occation, place the ECM8000 using the over the shoulder method and the C3 a few feet somewhere in front where it sounds good.

Pan (yes, that's right, Pan) hard and adjust the faders for balance between each other.

The ECM8000 is also great on steel string acoustic placed roughly at the 12th fret, in conjuction with a good compressor/limiter gain reducing to hell. Don't be scared to letit pump and breath a bit if it works for the song. EQ some high-end back-in if your compressor/limiter kills the high-end too much. I use a Urei LA-3A for this. Never pumps and breaths or kills the high-end much at all.

 

[DJL]

I had a pair of Behringer ECM8000 omni's and ended up giving them to friend.

 

[jet-rocker]

I find them to be quite 'workhorsey'.

Love em on acoustics--give a very real fast sound. Very often I prefer them over octavas and my 4033. I don't find the noise distracting, not in the context of a song anyway.

They've been alright as overheads.

Best $60 I've ever spent on mics.

-J

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Just to be perfectly clear, here's part of what I said about these mics almost 2 years ago in this forum:

Ok, here's the deal. As some of you already know, Behringer cut their prices almost 50% on everything a few days ago. Normally, this wouldn't even cause me to raise my eyebrows, but there is one product in their line that MAY be a real winner in the "best bang for the buck" category.

They sell a mic called the ECM8000, which is basically a lookalike to the Audix TR-40 and MBHO series of 1/4" omni calibration mics.

The only sticking point with small diaphragm condenser mics is usually the high self noise. That's not really a problem if you use these mics as overheads to record drums. It may be a problem for recording quiet acoustic guitars. I went ahead and ordered a pair, and I'll A/B them against my Audix TR-40s when they arrive.

Am I recommending them? Yes, and no. If you're gonna use them as drum overheads, go ahead and order a pair. At the price ($70), you can't really go wrong, and there's not too many ways they could have screwed up the sound, except for self noise.

If you want to use it for acoustic guitar, you might want to hold off for a week till I get mine in, and I'll see if they're as quiet as the Audix TR-40.

When I DID receive them, they turned out to have greater output and lower noise than my Audix TR-40's.

 

[Mark7]

Blimey!

Incidentally I bought a pair sight unseen (if that's the right phrase), and not only do they match up perfectly well but I find the noise to be only really obtrusive at high gain levels (which I rarely need to use). And it's not even that unpleasant. Though, as ever, YMMV.

 

[chessrock]

hsssssss On such the hissssss occation, place the ECM8000 using the over the hissssssssssss shoulder method and the C3 a few feet somewhere in sssssssssssssssssssss front where it sounds good. ssssss

I can't here you over all that hiss, RE. Turn the dolby switch on, for crying out loud! ! !