NT-5 vs. C4 on OH and ac. guitar?

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Speeddemon

Speeddemon

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Hi guys, I'm ordering some mics from Humbucker Jake soon, already settled on adding a SP B3 to mine, so that I have a 'matched' pair, and an ATM25 as kickdrum mic.

Now, I do some occasional jazz-stuff with piano, upright bass, drums and vocals, and I was thinking of micing the piano with the 2 B3's.

But for overheads or acoustic guitar, should I go with the C4's or NT-5's?
 
This is cool cause I was just trying an acoustic with my new NT-5 a minute ago. I gotta say against my AT 3035 is sounded pretty dullish. It even seemed thuddy if it got out of it's 'spot' even a tiny bit. I used it to record a nylon string guitar so it isn't something you really want to take the edge off of...there's none to begin with. I love the NT-5 for my stereo cymbal overhead mics. It calms the sizzle and that's what I needed.

I still have to try the NT-5 on a bright acoustic steel stringer so I am not completely against them for guitar but from what I heard today I don't think it would be my first choice.
 
Speeddemon said:
Hi guys, I'm ordering some mics from Humbucker Jake soon, already settled on adding a SP B3 to mine, so that I have a 'matched' pair, and an ATM25 as kickdrum mic.

Now, I do some occasional jazz-stuff with piano, upright bass, drums and vocals, and I was thinking of micing the piano with the 2 B3's.

But for overheads or acoustic guitar, should I go with the C4's or NT-5's?
Click to expand...
You should try a Marshall MXL603S on your acoustic guitar.. it works great, just place it for taste, no EQ... it's a no brainier.
 
I have to say I'm very happy with the C-4's on acoustic and as overheads.-Richie
 
I have to say I'm very happy with the C-4's on acoustic and as overheads.-Richie
 
Having the matched pair of NT-5's, I gotta give 'em an 'A' for acoustic instruments. I'm totally delighted with their performance. But I don't think you can go wrong with C-4's either. And they have the shock-mounts included...
 
@DJL=I already ruled out the MXL603's, mainly because of them being bright and because they cost $320 in Holland, and even in the US I don't think you can get them for $70 a piece anymore (besides, the NT-5's and the C4's are in a league above them)

@Richie=could you elaborate. Do you have the NT-5's as well?

am I right to think that the NT-5 is a darker mic than the C4?
 
Sorry, Speedemon- no personsl experience with NT5.-Richie
 
The C4's are definitely superior over the NT5's for OH's.

On acoustic, we tried a few and here were some thoughts"

We put up a few pairs of mics:
Studio Projects C4 w/ Cardioid Caps
Schoeps CMC6 Amp w/ MK4 Cardioid Caps
AKG 451B
Røde NT5
We set the mics up in an X-Y array about 18" out from the soundhole of a Larrivee DV05 acoustic guitar. We tracked through a Millennia HV-3D mic preamp. The HV-3 is so clean, you can eat off it. It's one of the most highly-rated and most-used preamps in the world. We tracked to RADAR at 44.1K.
All the mics were cardioid, no roll-off or high-pass filter.
Anway, the Schoeps - which normally sound great using one of them right at the 12th fret about 1' out - they sounded muddy and were picking up too much low-end.
The 451's sounded very good, pretty bright and fairly transparent.
The NT5 sounded hollow and scooped in the wrong places.
The C4's sounded very good. Quite colored...

Dan Richards
Digital Pro Sound
The Listening Sessions
 
Dot said:
The C4's are definitely superior over the NT5's for OH's.
Click to expand...


Dot,

Could you elaborate on this a bit? In which respects? I'm very curious on this subject as well. BTW, How did the GT44 (or the 33, for that matter) rate as overheads?


Thanks!


heylow
 
Don't forget that different mics will interact "differently" with different guitars. A Martin D-28 will overwhelm a lot of mics with its pronounced fundamentals and strong bass. A brighter mic (isn't the 451 supposed to be rather bright?) may be just the ticket to tame a bass-heavy dreadnaught. On the other hand, a guitar with a more pronounced high-end such as a Santa Cruz OM, with its more detailed voice and complex overtones, may make your skin crawl with a mic that is too bright.

Also, using the exact same mic configuration and placement for all mics tested will not tell you the whole story of how well a certain mic interacts with a certain guitar.
 
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