Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
Now to be fair, I have to preface this with the following disclaimer:
These are strictly my first impressions from a headphone mix. No monitors were available for tracking. Headphones were Sony 7506's.
So anyway, I had to record a 65 or 70 piece orchestra Thursday (and again on Friday). I don't have rights to the recordings (Union guys, you know...) so I can't post anything... Yet...
I've had these two M-Audio Solaris mics lying here for weeks, still in the boxes, and figured I'd hang 'em up and give them a whirl (This one is an archive thing, so they're good for testing new gear). They're supported from a crosspipe on a catwalk. 16 feet high, spaced 12 feet, right above the conductor and the first row of strings. Cardioid, no pad, no low cut, slightly angled in and toward center stage. Another experiment there - For another thread. Both mics are plugged into a Behringer (hey, that's what was there) UltraGain 2200 (?) preamp. No cuts, no EQ. Just phantom and level.
It's a Pops presentation, so they're playing Gershwin and the like. They go into Sing, Sing, Sing (a very "jungle beat" oriented swing tune that you'd recognize in a heartbeat if you're not familiar with the title) and my partner in the control booth is wondering why I have this strange look on my face. I handed him the headphones and he's listening for a bit.
The conversation that followed went something like this:
"Great drum mix, dude..." He says. "I didn't know you mic'd up the kit..."
"I didn't..." He listens for a bit more...
"Those are those mic's we hung earlier?"
"Yup."
"Nothing else..."
"Nope"
"Bull[CENSORED]! You've got something down there... Whadd're ya... Floor mics? What...?"
"Nope - Nothing."
"They've got to be thirty feet from that kit!"
"Yup."
He picks up the binoculars in the booth (around 100 feet from the stage area and looks around). "DUDE?!? That sounds kick-ass!"
"Yup."
"It sounds like you're standing right in front of them!"
"Yup"
"Wow! The horns sound like they're right there!"
The horn section is around 50 feet from the mics.
Anyway, we ran on and on about them. I barely ever took the phones off the whole night. The clarity was unusual. The realism was scary. I could listen "through" the orchestra and pick out any instrument - Like when you're in a room of people talking and you can pick out a single conversation. The detail was... The diaphragms on these things are 3 microns - That's one of the the thinnest diaphragms in the business. It's hard to explain after recording orchestras dozens and dozens of times to hear detail and clarity like that - after using workhorse mics over and over (81's, 414's, 491's, 184's, C-400's, even down to the venerable MC012's).
It's one thing to clearly hear the solo winds in Rhapsody in Blue - It's another thing to hear the other musicians breathing during the solo... And to be able to which person flipped his/her page over in the middle of a crescendo.
Admittedly, these are pretty ugly mics (gotta throw in something bad). However, they seems to kick an awful lot of butt for seriously cheap (I think the list is $349 which would put the GC/MF/SA price right around $299 or $279 or so). Class "A" FET all the way, heavy body... The included and proprietary shock mounts also kick major tail.
I'm assuming by the performance that these mics would be an excellent choice for anything that isn't... too loud... Vocals, acoustic instrument, high overheads & rooms... I would assume that some heavy guitars would kill it (although the specs say different). I would probably opt for its' "little brother," the Luna with a more hearty 5 micron diaphragm. Those might be next on my list...
Anyway, I "should" be able to at least "get a sample" of Friday at some point. The only bitch I've got is that I can't change the "mix" - The piano is beyond the proscenium arch and the lid is opened into the house. The drums (there's a traditional kit center stage) are too damn loud. The fact that they're angled in towards them doesn't help. I needed a Genie to hang the mics, and I'd need it to adjust them also. However, chairs & stands & cables prevent me from doing so. So, I'm stuck with it. But if I can get something up there, I think you'll get a pretty good idea of them.
I only hope that those headphones weren't fooling me too much... Or I've just wasted and awful lot of typing time...
Naw - I've tracked through cans enough to know detail like that when I hear it. The overall "color" of the mic is another story - Can't really tell you through the phones. Although, if the specs are any indication, this is a very "pure" sounding mic to begin with.
Just another pleasant surprise from the M-Audio guys...
Hey! That rhymes!
John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
These are strictly my first impressions from a headphone mix. No monitors were available for tracking. Headphones were Sony 7506's.
So anyway, I had to record a 65 or 70 piece orchestra Thursday (and again on Friday). I don't have rights to the recordings (Union guys, you know...) so I can't post anything... Yet...
I've had these two M-Audio Solaris mics lying here for weeks, still in the boxes, and figured I'd hang 'em up and give them a whirl (This one is an archive thing, so they're good for testing new gear). They're supported from a crosspipe on a catwalk. 16 feet high, spaced 12 feet, right above the conductor and the first row of strings. Cardioid, no pad, no low cut, slightly angled in and toward center stage. Another experiment there - For another thread. Both mics are plugged into a Behringer (hey, that's what was there) UltraGain 2200 (?) preamp. No cuts, no EQ. Just phantom and level.
It's a Pops presentation, so they're playing Gershwin and the like. They go into Sing, Sing, Sing (a very "jungle beat" oriented swing tune that you'd recognize in a heartbeat if you're not familiar with the title) and my partner in the control booth is wondering why I have this strange look on my face. I handed him the headphones and he's listening for a bit.
The conversation that followed went something like this:
"Great drum mix, dude..." He says. "I didn't know you mic'd up the kit..."
"I didn't..." He listens for a bit more...
"Those are those mic's we hung earlier?"
"Yup."
"Nothing else..."
"Nope"
"Bull[CENSORED]! You've got something down there... Whadd're ya... Floor mics? What...?"
"Nope - Nothing."
"They've got to be thirty feet from that kit!"
"Yup."
He picks up the binoculars in the booth (around 100 feet from the stage area and looks around). "DUDE?!? That sounds kick-ass!"
"Yup."
"It sounds like you're standing right in front of them!"
"Yup"
"Wow! The horns sound like they're right there!"
The horn section is around 50 feet from the mics.
Anyway, we ran on and on about them. I barely ever took the phones off the whole night. The clarity was unusual. The realism was scary. I could listen "through" the orchestra and pick out any instrument - Like when you're in a room of people talking and you can pick out a single conversation. The detail was... The diaphragms on these things are 3 microns - That's one of the the thinnest diaphragms in the business. It's hard to explain after recording orchestras dozens and dozens of times to hear detail and clarity like that - after using workhorse mics over and over (81's, 414's, 491's, 184's, C-400's, even down to the venerable MC012's).
It's one thing to clearly hear the solo winds in Rhapsody in Blue - It's another thing to hear the other musicians breathing during the solo... And to be able to which person flipped his/her page over in the middle of a crescendo.
Admittedly, these are pretty ugly mics (gotta throw in something bad). However, they seems to kick an awful lot of butt for seriously cheap (I think the list is $349 which would put the GC/MF/SA price right around $299 or $279 or so). Class "A" FET all the way, heavy body... The included and proprietary shock mounts also kick major tail.
I'm assuming by the performance that these mics would be an excellent choice for anything that isn't... too loud... Vocals, acoustic instrument, high overheads & rooms... I would assume that some heavy guitars would kill it (although the specs say different). I would probably opt for its' "little brother," the Luna with a more hearty 5 micron diaphragm. Those might be next on my list...
Anyway, I "should" be able to at least "get a sample" of Friday at some point. The only bitch I've got is that I can't change the "mix" - The piano is beyond the proscenium arch and the lid is opened into the house. The drums (there's a traditional kit center stage) are too damn loud. The fact that they're angled in towards them doesn't help. I needed a Genie to hang the mics, and I'd need it to adjust them also. However, chairs & stands & cables prevent me from doing so. So, I'm stuck with it. But if I can get something up there, I think you'll get a pretty good idea of them.
I only hope that those headphones weren't fooling me too much... Or I've just wasted and awful lot of typing time...
Naw - I've tracked through cans enough to know detail like that when I hear it. The overall "color" of the mic is another story - Can't really tell you through the phones. Although, if the specs are any indication, this is a very "pure" sounding mic to begin with.
Just another pleasant surprise from the M-Audio guys...
Hey! That rhymes!
John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
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It's cool to hear such a positive response. I've been meaning to try this mic out myself, as its right in that price range for me, and I was looking at other multi-pattern mics suitable for an M/S or blumlein setup along with my CAD M179s and SP B3...
