Micing Suggestions - Please Help

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aquanaut
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Aquanaut

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hi. i'm deciding what to buy. i'm on a limit budget (i'm only 16), but i've been recording drums and i want a kind of live sound (JimmyEatWorld/Weezer's Pinkerton), and i was wondering if a large diaphram condenser would be good for an overhead, the putting a sm57 on the snare, and a D112 in the kick, so the snare and kick a dominant but everything else is picked up nicely by the condenser and it gives a live room feel. would that work good? i was thinking of the Rode NT1, and later a preamp.
 
ummm when U say "later a preamp"

Do U mean later a better preamp.... or U will get a preamp later

because no preamp = useless mic

Sabith
 
That will work aquanaut - instead of getting a preamp later get another nt1 to give you a stereo O/head - it's much more effective and is a liver sound - I prefer with a four mike setup to put one mike on the floor tom (1 - 2 ft above) and one over the rack toms (1 - 2 ft above) and pan them left and right. Use the kick and snare as you suggested. The toms will now leap out and your cymbals will not swamp the sound.
cheers
 
I Agree

Sorry for not getting back to you through e-mail, Aquanaut, but I've been doing upgrading on my computer at home, so my time on-line lately has been extremely limited.

I say go for the NT-1. But ONLY if you can't afford an Oktava MC-012 for $300US from The Sound Room only. http://www.oktava.com

Do a search here in the Microphone Forum about more on this; if you don't already know. If you can't seem to find much, we can go in depth a lot more.
 
hey, i'm only 16, but should i save for the oktava, or get the nt1 and a preamp? i like the idea of the NT1 cuz of the bigger capsule, but would the mc012 not sound good without a preamp? if i went without the preamp on the mc012, i'd end up spending $300 anyway, so which is better?

NT1 w/ ART Tube Preamp

-or-

Just The Oktava MC012

thanks>>>mike
 
Wait A Minute

If you have absolutely no mic preamp already (maybe a Tascam, Alesis, or Mackie inboard pre?), you MUST buy a preamp. There are a few exceptions, but that doesn't apply to MOST mics.

Even if you do already have a mic pre and don't see yourself spending another $300-$350US for an RTT M1/M3 cap for the MC-012 or on another mic in the some time near-future, I say go for the NT-1.
 
And...

If you don't have a mic pre-amp, since you are a 16 year-old dude, check out the ART MP-1..Can pick this up around 100.00...Sound about right, RE?
 
Let's back up to be clear!

Aquanaut,

You have to have a preamp to use a condensor mic. The only exception to this are mics like the AKG C1000, which can be powered by a battery. A preamp will usually have a phantom power switch. You have to turn on phantom power to use a condensor mic. Phantom power gives condensor mics the power to operate.

With that said... Do you have a mixer? I'm assuming that you already do, since you're using an SM57 and AKG D112. If so, does your mixer have a phantom power switch? If it does, then you're alright for now and you can just buy a condensor mic(s), plug it in and go. If NOT you'll need to buy a preamp or a small mixer (which will have several preamps in it).

I just wanted to make sure that you knew what a preamp was, since we seemed to be tossing around the word with the assumption that you already knew.

Rev E
 
Lets Back-Up Even A Little More

"You have to have a preamp to use a condensor mic. The only exception to this are mics like the AKG C1000, which can be powered by a battery."

Well you have to have a preamp to use a condenser AND dynamic mic; with a FEW exceptions for some mics which already have a high enough output for line-level inputs (even then you may decide to use a preamp). An example mic for this expection is the Neumann M149.

Therefore, the AKG C1000 is NOT an expection. It does not have a high enough output to not use a preamp.

An AKG C1000 (a condenser mic) IS an example of one of the the expections to: Phantom Power is needed to power condenser microphones. This is because it uses your standard 9V battery to power it.

Other expections to that statement are power for tube condenser microphones and condensers set-up to use T-Power.
 
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