Tubby recording with akg C414 overhead pair

[akiva]

My recording space is well treated with Auralex. Has a sloping ceiling filled with 4" of corning 703. The walls besides having homosote, drywall on resilient channel, and Auralex are non-parallel. The space is about 24 x 17. The room is live-end (diffusors) and dead-end. The group were sitting towards the dead end.

I set up 2 AKG C414 b-xls as overheads over a 3 person group who were doing narratives and also 1 of them playing an acoutic guitar. I used A-designs MP-2 as mic-pre. Both AKG c414s were in hypercardiod polarity.

The c414s were about 3 feet apart. The logo was facing down. They were on overhead mic booms about 3 feet above the group.

diagram of the setup:

suspended bass traps from ceiling

1ft

c414---> 3 ft. apart <---c414

3 ft.overhead

head of person1 person2 person3 with guitar

The tracks sounded a bit tubby. It sounded more natural when I hyped the midrange and a bit of LF with the 7 frequency EQ Mono II ProTools plugin.

What caused it to be recorded with this tubby sound?

What should I correct about the mic placement?

 

[antichef]

Can you post a sample? Offhand, it sounds like maybe a floor problem? What was the floor made out of, and was anything covering it? I only have one C414 (B-ULS) and I've made some bad tracks with it, but it was always a room issue of some sort

 

[Weasel9992]

Based on your description of the room and the setup I wouldn't guess comb filtering...my guess is that your decay times are out of balance. You're dry as a bone up top because of the Auralex, but the low end decay time is still out of control. The result is that your getting some masking in the high mids and your high end sounds dull.

Any way you can DIY some bass traps, put 'em in the corners and give it a test run?

Frank

 

[akiva]

room treatment and audio sample

Thanks for your help.

I have Auralex bass traps (Lenrds) in the corners

I have to make more posts to have a url of an audio sample

 

[akiva]

more room treatment

I have helmhotz panel resonator bass traps on the walls (constructed as per Ethan Winer's specs)

 

[akiva]

more reply

2. I have a floating floor resting on the rubber things that Auralex sells. The floor is 3/4" plywood covered with commercial rubber floor tiles. There is insulation between the floor joists to prevent reverberation. You hear no footsteps when anyone walks on it.

 

[akiva]

more reply

The link below will play an mp3 segment of the recording.

 

[akiva]

link to audio file

The link below will play an mp3 segment of the recording.

 

[Weasel9992]

The link below will play an mp3 segment of the recording.

Link doesn't work for me.

The LNRD's might be part of the problem. They have about the same absorptive properties in the high mids and high end as they do on the low end, which has the effect of drying up the high end and leaving the lows a mess, just like a said before. The resonator should help with that though. Some pics of the room would be very helpful.

Frank

 

[akiva]

picture of the room

picture of the live room.

http://www.4themax.com/images/studio.jpg

 

[Weasel9992]

picture of the live room.

http://www.4themax.com/images/studio.jpg

Cool...finally got the link to work too.

Here's what I think is happening: I think the decay times in the room are all out of whack. The boominess you're hearing is the out-of-control low end vs. the very dry, crispy high end. The LNRDs aren't doing a lot for you, and what they are doing is matched by what they're doing to dry up more of the high mids and highs.

My advice would be to buy or make some 4" panels made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool, and try those in the corners, at the side reflection points or above the tracking area...or all three...take down the foam, of course. Track something before you do all of this (and take some room shots with Room EQ Wizard too), then track and shoot the room again afterward. If you keep working the room acoustics methodically like that you'll find a balance that you can live with.

Frank

 

[akiva]

take down foam!!!???

Thanks for your advice.

Are you saying that I should should take down ALL of my Auralex foam in the room and replace it with bass traps?

 

[Weasel9992]

Thanks for your advice.

Are you saying that I should should take down ALL of my Auralex foam in the room and replace it with bass traps?

No, not at all...but some of it will definitely have to come down to get the decay times balanced. In cases like this, though it's a pain in the neck, it can often be best to take everything down and start over treating one area at a time, running a test, then moving on. If that's not possible, then I'd get rid of the LNRD's and replace them with bass traps and see what that gets you. If it's still too boomy, then try taking down about 1/4 of the foam on the walls...test it and see where you are. Proceed methodically from there.

Frank

 

[akiva]

problem probably caused by distance miking

I did 2 different recording sessions in the same room, in the same place, but this time there was close miking for each member in the group instead of using the c414s as overheads to mike the entire group as did an engineer that I hired for the group interviews.

The comparison was significant: the tubiness was nearly gone.

However, I will take your suggestion up about the LENRDs.

 

[Weasel9992]

I did 2 different recording sessions in the same room, in the same place, but this time there was close miking for each member in the group instead of using the c414s as overheads to mike the entire group as did an engineer that I hired for the group interviews.

The comparison was significant: the tubiness was nearly gone.

However, I will take your suggestion up about the LENRDs.

Sure, that makes sense. If you close mic everybody you're not going to get all that room sound.

Frank