What is a good brand of microphone stand?

R

Rudy2

New member
Hey all,

I have played with plenty of crappy boom microphone stands that slip and droop and sometimes even fall over! What is a recommendation for a good pro quality stand that meets the demands of constant use? I am not into spending money foolishly but there must be a manufacturer that offers a decent boom stand at a realistic price? Right? Right.....?

Rudy2
 
I bought two 6-packs of OnStage mic stands from a cheap eBay deal. The nicest part of the deal was the OnStage carry bag.

OnStage stands are pretty skimpy in construction. Used with adult supervision, they will do the job. But... the clutches are flimsy at best, and the boom clutch seems to require an ever-increasing amount of torque to control the boom.

That said, I picked up a TAMA stand from eBay because I needed a low boom stand. There is a HUGE difference in quality increase with the Tama. I got the MS205ST model.

The pro sound guys like K&M the best. They are pricey, but very durable.
 
Like Dot mentioned, the Quik Lok A50 is a pretty affordable stand that's rock solid. I have my Soundelux Elux 251 hanging on one right now, and that's a fairly heavy mic.
 
The D&R and the K&M brand boom stands are what I use.
I've never had one fall over, and I use them in a fairly extended position, as I mike a grand piano.

You need to make sure that one of the tripod legs is pointing in the same direction as the extended boom arm. If your boom is falling over, its probably because you're NOT doing that.

If your clutches are slipping its because the pads are worn out. I had one of my clutches slip. We have these coasters, that are made out of leather, a little less that 1/4" thick; so I cut one down to the size of the boom pads, and replaced it. Hasn't given me trouble since.
 
K&M makes nice booms and tripods, and for standard bases you want Atlas. They are the best, though their booms suck.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I recently bought 4 Hercules boom stands w quick-disconnect booms and threaded mounts. Pretty good, look good (black w yellow) but I recently broke one of the q-d levers. Tripod base, so you can squeeze several together in a small footprint, pistol grip heighth adjustment, easy to set up and sturdy.
 
bgavin said:
...That said, I picked up a TAMA stand from eBay because I needed a low boom stand. There is a HUGE difference in quality increase with the Tama.
Click to expand...
Ditto here. (Can't say as to the model number), but one thing besides a nice heavy quality in general, is that the legs don't flop around when you go to fold them up to store or transport.
"You need to make sure that one of the tripod legs is pointing in the same direction as the extended boom arm. If your boom is falling over, its probably because you're NOT doing that." :eek: Not with 'Onstage's'. They're just too damn light combined with a leg-angle that is steep and high.
:D
 
Howdy, it's a long time since this thread began but I had to share my recent experience with microphone stands. I've recently returned to the music scene after a 13 year break and I am decking out a studio and putting together a live setup. The music stores I used to deal with are no longer around so I went to onerecommended to me. I advised them. I needed a stand for a Rode NT1a condenser mic and they recommended a K&M for around $80. I took it home and found after a week that when I extended the boom horizontally it would slowly creep down toward the floor. I almost had to get a set of pliers to tighten the boom lock to get it to stay in place. I took it back to the store who showed me a K&M stand worth $400. When I fiddled around with it I found the boom very loose and easy to lower when locked off. I raised this with the staff who said it was probably due to being the display model and moved around a lot. At least they gave me a store credit and I went off to a different store to find my mic stand. I was dismayed when they produced the same K&M stand but did bring out a couple of models from Hercules which weren't up to scratch either. I asked the salesman if K&M and Hercules were the only brands available in Brisbane and I was impressed with his response. He said if I wanted a good quality mic stand I should check out Tama and he wrote down the address of a nearby drum shop who sold them. I went straight there and picked up the last one they had. It felt solid and indestructible. It had a lever for the boom lock which kept it locked in position. I took it home, set it up and rang the drum shop and ordered one more. I am amazed by the good reports I've read here for K&M. I suppose this thread was started 12 years ago and the quality of the stands may have dropped off. To me they are rubbish and would not recommend them. Compared to the Tama stands they are a toy. I just wanted to share my recent experience and pass on some advice to anyone looking for a good quality microphone stand. As a side note I will be spending a fair bit of cash at the second shop due to the great service and willingness to send me elsewhere to get what I needed.
 
In europe - K&M are the standard, and these are also re-branded with other names, like Beyer - and they never give any grief. They're not available as far as I know in the US, and many US brands are not over here - pointless shipping heavy stuff around the world.
 
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