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twoeyes
New member
Anyone have suggestions for room mics? I'm recording acoustic instruments.
Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
Sort of depends on - well, everything.
Budget? Room type / size / consistency, etc., what sort of acoustic instruments, far/near, spaced-pair, Blumlein array, --- Need more details.
If I had to throw a nice "generic room mic" in there, I'd probably suggest Avenson STO2's or something. Ridiculously inexpensive and ridiculously accurate. But if the room isn't pretty stellar, you're going to hear every little negativity of the space. If there's a resonance, you're going to hear it. If there's a null point at *one* mic and a peak at the other, you're going to hear it. If it's improperly treated, it's going to show it off.
Budget? Room type / size / consistency, etc., what sort of acoustic instruments, far/near, spaced-pair, Blumlein array, --- Need more details.
If I had to throw a nice "generic room mic" in there, I'd probably suggest Avenson STO2's or something. Ridiculously inexpensive and ridiculously accurate. But if the room isn't pretty stellar, you're going to hear every little negativity of the space. If there's a resonance, you're going to hear it. If there's a null point at *one* mic and a peak at the other, you're going to hear it. If it's improperly treated, it's going to show it off.
John Willett
Circle Sound Services
These are what I use:-
Soundfield SPS200
MS pair of MKH 30/40
ORTF pair of MKH 40 or MKH 8040
Pair of diffuse field omnis in a Jecklin or Schneider Disk (I ise Neumann KM 183-D for this)
Etc., etc., etc......
To answer properly we really need more info. and the budget you have for the mics.
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twoeyes
New member
Thanks for all the info! Here's more info for you guys:
As far as the room goes, we were hoping to record in a room with a lot of natural resonance. But is this a bad idea? We're recording banjo, viola, and acoustic guitar along with some vocals. We probably would be standing close together.
Right now I'm looking to purchase a couple mics, but my budget isn't huge. I don't think I would want to spend more than $100 per mic if I was just trying it out but for the right one I would spend a lot more than that.
As far as the room goes, we were hoping to record in a room with a lot of natural resonance. But is this a bad idea? We're recording banjo, viola, and acoustic guitar along with some vocals. We probably would be standing close together.
Right now I'm looking to purchase a couple mics, but my budget isn't huge. I don't think I would want to spend more than $100 per mic if I was just trying it out but for the right one I would spend a lot more than that.
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
On the cheap end, I like CAD m177's (or m179's) as room mics. Not hyped like a lot of cheap condensers, so they a good job of translating the room quite naturally.
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Bguzaldo
New member
I just ordered a Cascade X-15 stereo ribbon mic which I plan to use as a room mic. It was only $300 new; that maybe a little more than you wanted to spend, but I'm really excited to hear it! It's coming today so I'll let you know how she sounds.
Ribbon Microphone Stereo - Cascade X-15
Ribbon Microphone Stereo - Cascade X-15
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twoeyes
New member
A ribbon mic eh...would you say that there are any advantages in particular in using a ribbon mic?
Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
Ribbons are great - But if you're looking at $100 mics in a poorly-treated space, you'd best look for a different room first...
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twoeyes
New member
So you think ribbons are really sensitive to the room sound then? (Never used on before). I am hoping to get a really nice, natural sound but I don't want it to get swallowed up by a bad space either. When I say natural reverb that's what I want to seek out for this recording, but would a ribbon mic be bad for that or um....is that just a bad idea all around?
Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
There's very little "natural" about most rooms with a nice natural sounding verb. I wouldn't call ribbons overly sensitive to room sound, but certainly sensitive enough to keep a bad room sounding bad.
The key is almost always the room. If the room is bad, nothing is going to make the recording sound good.
The key is almost always the room. If the room is bad, nothing is going to make the recording sound good.
John Willett
Circle Sound Services
No, it's not a bad idea.
In this case, with this budget, I would record with a simple ORTF pair.
Look at a matched pair of Rode NT5 (optional omni heads available af you want them later) or the Sontronics STC-1S matched set(the Sontronics come with free omni and super-cardioid heads as well as the standard cardioid at the moment).
Both these are around your budget, I think - both these options are good value, but I would not get anything cheaper than these as both these options are good enough to keep in the mic. kit when you go on to better things later.
Treeline
New member
I've had surprisingly good luck in oddball circumstances using a pair of conference mics. These are "pressure gradient", "boundary" or PZM style mics. Mine appeared like magic after I had an ebay spasm... but I kinda like 'em. I used them to great advantage when doing sound reinforcement for an opera where the characters were moving about the stage. What is unique about the design is that these incorporate any flat surface upon which they sit into the "mic" itself. That is why a conference mic works well when sitting on a table - it turns the whole table into a receiving element.
Cheap mics will always have self noise issues and high quality mics (Crown etc) will cost hundreds. But Audio Technica manufactures conference mics under many brands and used examples pop up on ebay from time to time. They're essentially similar to the more expensive ATs - enough so that they can be useful. I picked up a pair used for about $60 and they live in my bag of tricks.
Cheap mics will always have self noise issues and high quality mics (Crown etc) will cost hundreds. But Audio Technica manufactures conference mics under many brands and used examples pop up on ebay from time to time. They're essentially similar to the more expensive ATs - enough so that they can be useful. I picked up a pair used for about $60 and they live in my bag of tricks.
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John Willett
Circle Sound Services
I've had surprisingly good luck in oddball circumstances using a pair of conference mics. These are "pressure gradient", "boundary" or PZM style mics. Mine appeared like magic after I had an ebay spasm... but I kinda like 'em. I used them to great advantage when doing sound reinforcement for an opera where the characters were moving about the stage. What is unique about the design is that these incorporate any flat surface upon which the sit into the "mic" itself. That is why a conference mic works well when sitting on a table - it turns the whole table into a receiving element.
Cheap mics will always have self noise issues and high quality mics (Crown etc) will cost hundreds. But Audio Technica manufactures conference mics under many brands and used examples pop up on ebay from time to time. They're essentially similar to the more expensive ATs - enough so that they can be useful. I picked up a pair used for about $60 and they live in my bag of tricks.
This is a speech-optimised conference mic., not a recording mic.
What you say is true about the boundary effect, but I would not use such a mic. for recording musical instruments.
Treeline
New member
That's why they live in the bag of tricks instead of being used as primary mics. My point was that they can be extremely cheap and surprisingly useful. Perhaps I should have been clearer that I don't suggest using them as the only mics.
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