Shock mounts?

[Garak]

Do shock mounts do much?

I've seen them on tv in studios all the time and the C1 that I expect to get any day now comes with one.

Besides looking really cool are they really that usefull?

Can you get them for SM-57's or to fit other mics. I just want it because it looks cool.

On a simliar note what are good mic stands to get for around the studio. Right now all I have are some dirt cheep tripod boom stands. They feel like they are going to fall over most most of the time. The band I'm working with now has some nice little pole stands with heavey round bases which seem to stand up better but when they do fall they fall hard. Are their any cheep stands out their that mix tripod and heavy base.

 

[Queue]

YES!

They isolate the mic from any low frequency noise that might come up through the floor, through the stand and transfer into the mic body.

I saw a website where a guy was selling a "universal shock mount" that was basically a piece of 4" PVC pipe with a couple of bungees strung across it. I think you could make one of those yourself...

Queue

-they do look cool, too...

-to REALLY be cool, you must add a "Pop" filter, another cool looking, but very functional device

 

[Garak]

After doing a little searching here is what I have sofar
http://www.oktava.com/mofcart/sabra.html
http://www.music123.com/Item/Item.asp?po=AAT8410A&uid=FD024EAA1635419EAD3315D100002EF9

Has anyone used the Sabrasom shockmounts?
What about the A-T one?

Has anyone ever made their own mic stands out of stuff like copper pipe?

What about pop filiters? I've heard people say that pantyhose will work. Any one have any little tricks for makeing a nice mount/stand for it?

 

[Slackmaster2K]

The only shock mount I've got is the one on my V67, and yeah it makes a difference. Without it, any floor vibrations are transfered directly to the mic and I get a lot of subtle background noise. You will notice the difference even if you're a total amature like me!

I've heard of people using shock mounts on dynamic mics too, most often on drums, but I can't personally say how much they help in that case. I do know that I haven't ever had a problem with floor vibrations using an SM57, but I'm not exactly sophisticated and I haven't recorded real drums yet.

These look real interesting: http://www.shockmount.com/

As far as mic stands go, some people spend a whole shitload of money on them. Personally I've got a lot more important things to sink big bucks into, and I've found that boom stands in the $50-70 range are pretty good, but try to avoid the shit companies like Peavey. For instance, I've got two nearly identical boom stands both of which I purchased for $60 (each). One is made by Peavey and the other by Tama. The Tama stand has is very stable and easy to adjust. The Peavey, while weighing about the same, is considerably less stable, and doesn't hold position very well due to some really cheapo clamps. If I had been able to play with the Peavey before buying it, I would have waited until the music store got more of the Tama booms in stock.

The tall weighted-base straight mic stands are only good for a few things and I wouldn't recommend using them in your studio or you will end up with broken mics (aside from short ones that you can set in front of an amp or kick drum). Likewise the real lightweight boom stands are equally worthless. Get some solid sturdy boom stands with clamping mechanisms that hold tight. You absolutely must have enough mic stands around for everything you need to do. There's nothing worse than proping a mic up against a pile of magazines Tip: when using a boom, make sure that one of the three legs on tbe base is pointing in the same direction as the boom if possible....man it sucks hard when a mic hits the ground.

Slackmaster 2000

 

[Bodhisan]

Just to pass on that I received last week a shock mount from shockmount.com. After some reviews, I was apprehensive about using the one that came with the C1 -- although it actually appears to be just fine now that I have it; that said, since the people who know say these expensive mikes need to be "stored" when not in use so as to keep out moisture, I daily take mine out of the case and pop it into the shock mount. Because of that, the shock mount that came with the C1 just seemed a little fragile for daily use like that, and although I don't know enough about dynamics to advise on the engineering of the shock mounts from shockmount.com -- i.e. are they good at elminating vibrations/noise that expensive shock mounts elminate -- I can testify that my mike isn't going to fall to the floor, like it might due to the little elastic threading breaking on the C1 mount. The shockmount.com unit ain't lettin' go. It's gotta grip equivalent to that of a thirsty man on a longneck. Because the C1 is, I take it, a little wider than some mikes, it's kind of a b-i-t-c-h to get in there, but in my eyes, it's worth the insurance to go thru the inconvenience. And Queue is correct: It appears to be a PVC pipe with bunjee strung through it, and a standard mic stand connector that has been cut to mount flush on the pipe. You obviously could make one, but for $25 (that includes shipping), it really is professionally done. Although I've got my own popper-stopper, I wish I had forked over the extra $12, I think it is, to have a 6" pop screen mounted onto the shock mount, which evidently can be swayed out of the way if you don't want to use it all the time. If the mike you're wanting to mount is 2" or wider in diameter, be sure to ask for the heavier bunjee cord. He makes it using two different gauges of cord.

Bottom line: Security in knowing my C1 is staying afloat? A+

 

[Angie]

Check out some good, inexpensive shock mounts here.

http://www.tensimount.com/index.htm

 

[philboyd studge]

I second the motion:

http://www.tensimount.com/index.htm

The small ones fit my Oktava 012's perfectly and 57 sized mics fit well too.

 

[Guardian]

shocks

Ok, here's some stuff for ya peeps..The Rode NT2 shockmount is like $40 from www.bpmmusic.com <a STEAL..musicians friend sells for DOUBLE that price.>. It's really solid, feels like metal looks like plastic.

As far as mics falling..assuming the stand doesn't fall, here's somethin to do..make sure you run your cables really nicely, and when you wind them around the boom/mic stand, make an extra 2 loops around the tip of the boom, and THEN go into the mic..a 'safety loop' as I say, so that if the shockmount fails or the mic isn't tight in it, and it does fall, it SHOULD be suspended from the boom by the mic cable, and swing there.

--Sal

 

[Michael Jones]

YES!

I saw a website where a guy was selling a "universal shock mount" that was basically a piece of 4" PVC pipe with a couple of bungees strung across it. I think you could make one of those yourself...

I saw that too! It might work but, I aint hagin' none of my mics on that piece of junk!