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Due to popular demand, I fired up my new Aston Element tonight.

 

I plugged a Steinberg UR22 MkII into my laptop, plugged in the Element, brought up an armed track in Waveform and listened with a pair of Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones.

 

I didn't record and listen back - which is a better way to assess a recording mic. I will always try a mic this way too so that's out of the way. Handling noise isn't bad, hand held I could keep from making any mic noise. I was out in the living room, there is a constant flow of traffic sound from I-5 close by.

 

I do like the purple LED on the business side. It is bright enough to see in bright light but will not blind you. Makes it easy to sing into the correct opening, nice.

 

Without the pop filter you have to be careful about distance and positioning. Up close and straight in you will get plosives plus and sibilance aplenty. This is not unusual at al, no dings on the Element.

The proximity effect is notable, so is the depth and clarity of the low frequency boost when you get close. You can sound HUGE but not boomy or indistinct. I get the impression I'll be able to sing effective low harmony parts and they will sound musical.

 

Back off a bit and it evens out, still a full, rich vocal tone, still some sibilance and plosives. I didn't try back a foot or so, external noise would not allow that in any case.

 

Off axis still sounds big, defined and very good. It reduces the unwanted vocal sounds considerably. I could find a way to use it.

 

OK, pop filter on. First, I like this pop filter, it is compact and the magnets hold it in place with no problems. Best of all, it really improves the overall sound. You can still make it pop and spit but it's reduced to a sane level. Great accessory and it comes with the mic package, a fine addition.

 

Last but not least I used a large foam windscreen I have. This is the first mic I've tried it on that sounded sort of muffled, a darker sound. There are still plenty of high frequencies but proximity effect overwhelms them. When I finish putting the studio back together I'll try it again with a HPF on and see how it records.

 

There will be more to come on this mic. I will record something and listen back to see how it sounds when I am not listening to my own voice coming out of my pie hole.

I hope to get my friend Krista over here soon, she can really sing and I have a feeling she will like this mic.

 

I'm keeping it.

What a great summary, Kuru! Thanks very much, keep them coming! I'd join you but I don't buy mics these days....

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Well, I never said that the D-224 sounded like a condenser, but the reason why I got my pair was because I wanted to use condenser mics for stereo recording because that's what everyone else did, but the recorders that I could take into the field (that is, carry) other than an occasional Nagra borrowed from the Library or Congress or the Smithsonian, didn't provide phantom power. I had a pair of Sony ECM-21 condenser mics that had an internal battery (and sounded like the $50 in 1968 condenser mics that they were), and my early version U87s can run on batteries, but that's not a mic that I wanted to take out in the field or use as a stereo pair. A friend had a couple of D-224s and he showed them off to me one day. We played some guitars and banjos into them as well as his Neumann KM84s, and I thought "Hey these sound just about as good as those KM84s I wish I could afford."

 

So, they worked, and still work, for me.

 

One of the reasons why you can point them at the sound hole of a guitar and they don't get boomy is because the boomy part is 5 or so inches behind the front grill, so it's like pulling the mic back that far but not losing level or brightness. They had, I think three mics in that series but they've all been out of production for a long time now.

Are they hard to come by these days? Have their prices gone way up?

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Well, I never said that the D-224 sounded like a condenser, but the reason why I got my pair was because I wanted to use condenser mics for stereo recording because that's what everyone else did, but the recorders that I could take into the field (that is, carry) other than an occasional Nagra borrowed from the Library or Congress or the Smithsonian, didn't provide phantom power. I had a pair of Sony ECM-21 condenser mics that had an internal battery (and sounded like the $50 in 1968 condenser mics that they were), and my early version U87s can run on batteries, but that's not a mic that I wanted to take out in the field or use as a stereo pair. A friend had a couple of D-224s and he showed them off to me one day. We played some guitars and banjos into them as well as his Neumann KM84s, and I thought "Hey these sound just about as good as those KM84s I wish I could afford."

 

So, they worked, and still work, for me.

 

One of the reasons why you can point them at the sound hole of a guitar and they don't get boomy is because the boomy part is 5 or so inches behind the front grill, so it's like pulling the mic back that far but not losing level or brightness. They had, I think three mics in that series but they've all been out of production for a long time now.

 

 

And I would not have said D-224s sound like condenser mics either but I don't have recent experience with small diaphragm condensers. You are right that putting the low frequency capsule back from the front protects it from proximity and direct air blasts. Those are advantages. Very interesting and unique microphones, I need to spend more time with mine. I'm sure you know yours very well.

 

A Cloudlifter really kicks them up a notch without taking away the unique qualities.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Well, I never said that the D-224 sounded like a condenser, but the reason why I got my pair was because I wanted to use condenser mics for stereo recording because that's what everyone else did, but the recorders that I could take into the field (that is, carry) other than an occasional Nagra borrowed from the Library or Congress or the Smithsonian, didn't provide phantom power. I had a pair of Sony ECM-21 condenser mics that had an internal battery (and sounded like the $50 in 1968 condenser mics that they were), and my early version U87s can run on batteries, but that's not a mic that I wanted to take out in the field or use as a stereo pair. A friend had a couple of D-224s and he showed them off to me one day. We played some guitars and banjos into them as well as his Neumann KM84s, and I thought "Hey these sound just about as good as those KM84s I wish I could afford."

 

So, they worked, and still work, for me.

 

One of the reasons why you can point them at the sound hole of a guitar and they don't get boomy is because the boomy part is 5 or so inches behind the front grill, so it's like pulling the mic back that far but not losing level or brightness. They had, I think three mics in that series but they've all been out of production for a long time now.

Are they hard to come by these days? Have their prices gone way up?

 

I haven't tracked their prices for a bit but a good specimen is not inexpensive for a dynamic mic. $3-400 out in eBay and Reverb world. Last year I visited a friend who got a job at a sold and reopening local music shop in town. They were clearing out old inventory to raise cash, Covid was about 2 months in. They needed help pricing items for a garage sale. Showed me a box with 2 AKG D-224 and one Sennheiser MD421.

One AKG and the Sennie had been beaten, drummer almost certainly. The other AKG was not mint but very good. They threw in a brand new in the box set of Extreme Isolation EX-25 headphones for a total of $125. The beat AKG had tape on it marked "Low Output". The "woofer" was dead. A drummer had bashed it, dented. Top snare mic would be my guess. That and some beer.

 

I got $74 for it fully described as is and plenty of sharp photos of the dents and dings. So $51, the AKG works fine, never compared it to another so I could be missing something. The MD421 works great, I've used a few of those and this one sounds just like them. As I noted to Sir Rivers, you can get 6" off and aim the D224 straight into an acoustic guitar sound hole and it sounds fine. The accentuated bass loses energy quickly outside in the real world. The AKG simply does not respond to it. It's the same with vocals.

 

Now I'm starting to wonder if the D-224 and the Element used together might deliver the magic vocal tone...

They are pretty different but both are clear and not too hyped.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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On a slightly different angle, I picked up a pair of Presonus PM-2 small-diaphragm condenser mics last November. These usually run about $130/pair, so not a high end mic. Sold as a matched pair.

 

Anyways, I'm seriously impressed with these. They have a nice clear, seemingly unhyped sound and while they are super lightweight, the build quality is perfectly good. Oddly enough, I can actually get a good sound out of them on baritone vocals, arguably a little brighter than my Audio-Technica AT-2035 large-diaphragm mic (which costs $150 for one mic). Probably a better fit for some genres actually. Anyways, I'm mostly using them for video recording audio (i.e. room mics), but I've also mic'ed up my accordion in stereo and they reproduce it really well. One of these days I hope to mic up a grand piano and see how that goes.

 

presonus-pm2-stand.jpg

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Thanks for the quick review of the Presonus PM-2 mics. I was curious about them when I first saw them but haven't, until now, heard from anyone who has actually used them. Because they include the stereo mounting bar, I suspect that they had X-Y stereo recording in mind, probably not for recording an orchestra in a concert hall, but more likely in front of a drum kit.

 

There are good and bad ways in which a mic can be "brighter." Hopefully these are bright in a good way.

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Interesting stuff, Max. My experience with the little tiny paired SDCs is that the current models coming out of China offer remarkable bang for the buck. It looks like they've got that particular capsule design thing figured out.

 

Both LEWITT and RØDE sell very inexpensive paired SDCs that have a whole lot of flexibility to them... I am very impressed, particularly with the LEWITT models.

 

LEWITT LCT 040 MATCH - stupid cheap for a pair and really tiny, you can put them just about anywhere.

 

Spend another $100 per pair and you can get a bigger version with a lowcut filter, pad, and a dual voicing switch: LEWITT LCT 140 AIR

 

The RØDE M5 is a similar beast, and there are lots of others out there.

 

Of course, if you want the best of the best and you don't want to chase down a pair of KM84s, there's always the Josephson Series Four... lovely, lovely mics.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Thanks Mighty Max, I'm seeing some real bargains even when buying brand new and this sounds like it could be one of them, a category I have not entered yet.

Please keep us posted as you try your mics for other projects, including (hopefully) a nice piano.

 

On thinking, I do have a stereo pair of SDC mics on my Tascam DR40. It's either AB or XY and both sound great depending on what you want to record. Easy enough to chug out a count of four in sync with the recording and listen to one while recording on another. 24 bit @96Khz is about as far as I can go without latency and storage issues so the Tascam does very well.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 1 month later...

It took longer than I was anticipating but I finally got a chance to do a microphone shootout with a favorite local singer. Krista got her second vaccine and was able to come over this afternoon to test mics for an upcoming project.

 

The last time we did this she chose my Shure KSM8 over a Neat King Bee, a CAD D-82 ribbon mic, a Sennheiser MD421 and a CAD M9 mic with a Tesla E83CC gold pin tube on board. I thought the KSM8 was the best mic but kept quiet until she chose it.

 

This time, I put up an Aston Element, Shure KSM8, Blue Encore 300 and Heil PR40. The Aston has it's own pop filter, I used a Blue pop filter for the others and I set the volume to a particular louder phrase in one of her songs. She is a very consistent performer although I will be the first to admit that this was not a "scientific" or "correct" test by any means. It was interesting to hear how much quieter some mics were on the verse when the chorus peaked at -6db on all of them.

 

We tracked a verse and chorus of the song with each mic, Krista sang and strummed guitar. I didn't mic the guitar, it did bleed a little into the vocal tracks. No harm done that I could tell.

This time, the KSM8 won again, if she had to choose only one. She loved the Aston Element, it had a smooth, full low frequency reproduction without losing any detail. I told her we could use both, in some cases simultaneously.

 

The Blue Encore 300 sounded better than I would have thought but was a bit less "full" sounding and the highs were just a little too detailed. The Heil sounded very full, very clear but the highs are more like a condenser mic, just a bit over the top for a vocal since I'd like to just go straight in and not have to tweak too much in post. I would use the Heil for instruments without hesitation, it doesn't miss a thing.

 

Gotta give kudos to the Aston Element, new at $200, it held it's own against a mic that cost more than twice as much used. I wouldn't use it at a gig and I use the KSM8 all the time, it just makes singing much easier with the controlled proximity effect and nearly perfect cardioid pattern at all frequencies. For recording, the Aston is a bargain and very useful.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Very cool to learn about the Element. I should research that one for voiceover work, which is by far my biggest mic application these days.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Very cool to learn about the Element. I should research that one for voiceover work, which is by far my biggest mic application these days.

 

It's a friendly package, the shock mount and magnetic pop filter both work well and the vocal tone is full and clear. The sweet spot is back from the pop filter 4" or so and with the mic set at a slight angle so you are not hitting the entire diaphragm with a straight-on blast of air. Clear, full and smooth sounding with clarity. Quite an accomplishment, especially at the price and with a 10 year warranty.

Well woth the $200.

 

It hangs upside down just fine too, sometimes that's a better way to do things. Once the shock mount has been snapped into place, it's not going anywhere.

 

Your mileage may vary. Krista has a great ear and was torn between the 2 mics, finally she asked if we could put up both and I agreed.

One value added feature to recording with 2 mics that I hadn't considered is that the quiet passages become quite a bit louder (while still "sounding quiet") and the loud passages now go well past -6db so I can automate volume changes on the peaks and get a more even performance without using a compressor or limiter. A more natural sounding way to even up the peaks and valleys. Sort of like "riding the knob" but post performance so any mistake in attenuation can be easily adjusted/corrected.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I've been using a pair of Neat Worker Bees in AB for acoustic guitar mics. It's a nice sound.

I started thinking one of my preamps was "glitchy" because even turned way down the LED meter was showing some signal coming in, apparently from nowhere. The LED was blinking on and off, could either be a low frequency or an intermittent noise. I didn't hear anything.

 

I moved the mics straight to the interface (trying to keep similar preamps even if they aren't matched) and the problem continued. It appears that one of the Worker Bees generates some sort of signal, maybe sub bass? I can't hear anything, it's a smooth transient if there is one. I'll try a high pass filter and see if it goes away. Still sounds great, weird problem.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Try to record this noise. Your DAW acts like a storage oscilloscope and you if there's actually something coming from the mic and getting through the interface, you'll see spikes in the audio waveform.

 

Another trick to isolate the interface or preamp from the mic is to make a dummy mic. Connect a 150 ohm resistor between pins 2 and 3 of an XLR male plug. If you see the noise with the mic connected and it goes away when replaced by the dummy, then the noise is coming from the mic. If the noise continues with the dummy, then it's coming from further downstream.

 

I discovered a weirdness with a PreSonus interface where, with a low frequency steady tone going in, the meters would start bouncing up and down. There's no recorded or monitored audio that follows the meter indication, apparently it was a problem with aliasing in whatever was driving the meters. A friend discovered it when he was playing alignment tones from his tape deck and happened to glance at the interface's meters.

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCMxM3m3lEwZnxNmhrm2b2A

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Thanks Mike, you've reminded me to eliminate variables. I forget that important step sometimes, it's nice to get a brain-jog!

 

The first step will be to swap the cables with the mic that doesn't produce the sound. If the sound moves to the other mic or the same mic continues to make the sound, that answers the question regarding the source of the noise. It is a minimal signal path right now, mics are plugged straight into the audio interface. The preamp that was showing the noise initially was hooked straight into the interface as well, I eliminated that variable and still have the noise.

 

If it is the cable, I have others. If it's the mic then that needs a solution too. At least I can settle where it is coming from. Then I can try some of your procedures and learn more if needed.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Inexpensive but still pretty good?

 

I have an AKG Perception 200 and a 220, the older blue/silver ones. I am very pleased with the results I get on different sources, and the 200 is my daily vocal mic for the radio gig.

I haven't directly compared them to the newer ones, but I've heard those and they seem okay, too.

 

I'm a lot more like I am now than I was when I got here.

 

 

 

 

 

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Inexpensive but still pretty good?

 

I have an AKG Perception 200 and a 220, the older blue/silver ones. I am very pleased with the results I get on different sources, and the 200 is my daily vocal mic for the radio gig.

I haven't directly compared them to the newer ones, but I've heard those and they seem okay, too.

 

Thanks wraub, I haven't tried those but it's good to know about them in case I have an opportunity.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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And on a completely different mic tip... :D

 

Some of you know that I perform live online two or three times per month, creating improvised electronic pieces. Y'all might not be aware that for a small percentage of these, I actually turn up my mic and make up science-fiction or fantasy stories as I play, fitting the music to the words. I did one of these this past Sunday; it was really sloppy but I liked the basic idea and the audience adored it. So last night, for a benefit performance online to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life, I redid the piece with a bit more preparation.

 

For the show, I had to create the sound of a garbled transmission from a distant spacecraft, and let's be honest, if you don't have a carbon mic from a tank intercom or a rewired old telephone receiver, the Placid Audio Copperphone Mini is just dead brilliant. It's not cheap and it's not an all-rounder, but by God I love mine. The Carbonphone would technically be more accurate, but I like its sound less.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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And on a completely different mic tip... :D

 

Some of you know that I perform live online two or three times per month, creating improvised electronic pieces. Y'all might not be aware that for a small percentage of these, I actually turn up my mic and make up science-fiction or fantasy stories as I play, fitting the music to the words. I did one of these this past Sunday; it was really sloppy but I liked the basic idea and the audience adored it. So last night, for a benefit performance online to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life, I redid the piece with a bit more preparation.

 

For the show, I had to create the sound of a garbled transmission from a distant spacecraft, and let's be honest, if you don't have a carbon mic from a tank intercom or a rewired old telephone receiver, the Placid Audio Copperphone Mini is just dead brilliant. It's not cheap and it's not an all-rounder, but by God I love mine. The Carbonphone would technically be more accurate, but I like its sound less.

 

 

Nice, we need more "off the beaten path" options!!!! :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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This may be my last post for a bit but I wanted to share it and see if others have had similar experiences.

 

I'm working with a singer/songwriter who has a very dynamic voice, Krista goes from soft to loud smooth as butter. We did a second "mic shoot out" to see if the Aston Element I recently bought was a contender against the previously chosen Shure KSM8. It was, Krista still chose the Shure but asked if we could use both mics. So I set that up, diaphragms close together and behind a Stedman pop filter.

 

I have each mic set to peak at -6db when she cuts loose. The quieter passages are pretty quiet. When I sum both mics, EVERYTHING gets louder and the peaks set the output section meter up into the red.

The quiet passages have more volume, sound fuller and have more detail (there is another secret ingredient I plan on sharing soon, let's just say I capture everything going in at this point).

 

Now I'm thinking I can "ride the faders" in post by automating a volume curve to turn the louder passages down so the total peak volume is -6 db. I will allow the increase in volume for the quieter passages and it should get much closer to even. The sense of dynamics remains, all the transients are untouched, it's sort of an idealized form of compression without any of the artifacts.

 

Worth trying if you haven't. If you have, I' love to hear how you go about it.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Now I'm thinking I can "ride the faders" in post by automating a volume curve to turn the louder passages down so the total peak volume is -6 db. I will allow the increase in volume for the quieter passages and it should get much closer to even. The sense of dynamics remains, all the transients are untouched, it's sort of an idealized form of compression without any of the artifacts.

 

Worth trying if you haven't. If you have, I'd love to hear how you go about it.

This sort of volume riding is precisely what compressors were invented to circumvent, since mixers of the day weren't automated. Nowadays, compressors tend to be primarily valued for their sonic qualities, since level riding is much easier than it used to be. But to do it well takes a lot of patience.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Now I'm thinking I can "ride the faders" in post by automating a volume curve to turn the louder passages down so the total peak volume is -6 db. I will allow the increase in volume for the quieter passages and it should get much closer to even. The sense of dynamics remains, all the transients are untouched, it's sort of an idealized form of compression without any of the artifacts.

 

Worth trying if you haven't. If you have, I'd love to hear how you go about it.

This sort of volume riding is precisely what compressors were invented to circumvent, since mixers of the day weren't automated. Nowadays, compressors tend to be primarily valued for their sonic qualities, since level riding is much easier than it used to be. But to do it well takes a lot of patience.

 

 

Thanks Dr. Mike, it's been a rough weekend, I am back, more or less, sort of... I haven't tackled this yet in terms of actually doing it. My thoughts below, all feedback is most welcome.

 

In this case, the peaks are easy to spot on the wave form, it's just a couple lines on the wave form in the chorus. Careful micro watching at one point of violation should provide the "magic turn down point". Any waveform that exceeds that horizontally will need to be reigned in. The trick will be getting that smooth, fortunately Waveform provides a nice set of curves that can be dropped in place for these situations - one curve to turn things down and one to turn them back up. Since the end points will remain stationary I can just go left to right and make the corrections.

 

Yes, it will take some time and patience, I want to learn it just to know it and also because I want to keep all the subtle inflections of the vocals. A couple of the songs are straight up rockers, a bit of compression shouldn't mess anything up too much and it's easy enough to experiment. Some of the tunes are more "delicate" and I feel like a lighter touch will serve them better.

 

Of course, the old "move in close for quiet and pull back for loud" trick when tracking works wonders. My singer may have to move from side to side instead of up and down since the mics are stacked vertically and the Aston exhibits considerable proximity effect (the KSM8 has much more controlled proximity, one of the reasons I love it.)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Thanks Dr. Mike, it's been a rough weekend, I am back, more or less, sort of... I haven't tackled this yet in terms of actually doing it. My thoughts below, all feedback is most welcome.

 

In this case, the peaks are easy to spot on the wave form, it's just a couple lines on the wave form in the chorus. Careful micro watching at one point of violation should provide the "magic turn down point". Any waveform that exceeds that horizontally will need to be reigned in. The trick will be getting that smooth, fortunately Waveform provides a nice set of curves that can be dropped in place for these situations - one curve to turn things down and one to turn them back up. Since the end points will remain stationary I can just go left to right and make the corrections.

 

Yes, it will take some time and patience, I want to learn it just to know it and also because I want to keep all the subtle inflections of the vocals. A couple of the songs are straight up rockers, a bit of compression shouldn't mess anything up too much and it's easy enough to experiment. Some of the tunes are more "delicate" and I feel like a lighter touch will serve them better.

 

Of course, the old "move in close for quiet and pull back for loud" trick when tracking works wonders. My singer may have to move from side to side instead of up and down since the mics are stacked vertically and the Aston exhibits considerable proximity effect (the KSM8 has much more controlled proximity, one of the reasons I love it.)

All sensible. Good luck, but more importantly, best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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  • 3 weeks later...

I recently dropped some cash on mics in the hopes of doing some home recording this summer, especially with the help of the missuz (a drummer):

 

mics.jpg

 

From left to right:

 

1. Shure SM58. Mainly for vocals, natch, esp. when I'm going for that classic rock / blues sound.

2. Shure SM57. For my guitar amp and my wife's snare drum.

3. Shure PGA52. Mostly for the bass drum, though I'm wondering if it would work well on my upright bass (recorded acoustically) wtih the next two ...

4.&5.: two AKG P170s. For the two overhead drum set mics, Glyn Johns style. :) Per above, also wondering if I could combine them with the PGA52 and get some nice tone out of my upright bass.

6.AKG P220. Mainly for vocals, esp. for quieter styles of singing. Not sure what else it would be good for. Acoustic guitar maybe?

 

I have some minimally respectable gear here; now I have to learn to use it! The drums will be the hardest part. Thinking we might get some new heads, definitely make sure they're tuned up right. The room we're using isnt' bad, but I'd like to do just a bit more work on the sounding proofing. Anyway, I'm on my way! :D

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Looks like a good start.

 

There are about a dozen different "Glyn Johns" setups here and there. A good way to start the setup is to put one of the overheads looking straight down at the snare and measure the distance between the mic and the snare head. You can use a piece of string for that, Then set the snare mic out front and use your string to set it to the same distance to the head as your overhead. That will go a long way toward having the mics that get most of the snare in phase.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great to see this chugging along!!!

 

Quite a few of the mics I started this thread with are long since gone and there have been some additions.

 

Currently in use are:

Aston Element

Shure KSM 8 (these two are in my coveted storage tub "vocal booth" with the diaphragms close together and a Stedman pop filter in front. The combination of the two mics is a great vocal sound and doesn't pick up much noise at all.

Directly underneath the vocal booth is a pair of Neat Worker Bees in A/B for acoustic guitar. I've positioned all 4 mics to reduce cross bleed from the vocals and the guitar. It works pretty well, everything sounds good at least.

 

Neat King Bee - while my foot recovers I have that over near my studio chair so I can record vocals, guitars or percussion without setting anything up or moving much. It's a nice mic, I should have bought 2 of them when they were $99. So it goes.

 

That's it at the moment. At some point you have to settle in for a while and get to know your gear. I am learning these mics before expanding.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Just for fun, tonight I checked out all the used microphones on the Guitar Center website. There were well over 1,000 of them, I skimmed along seeing what they had now.

 

Prices ranged from around $20 well into the $2k+ range, there were some mic preamps and other items related as well.

 

And there were some bargains to be had, some overpriced mics too. A real mixed bag but one could surf there once in a while and eventually add some nice mics at reasonable prices.

The good thing about their business is that you can go to your local GC and try the mic out in the store before you commit to keeping it. If it doesn't come up to what you were hoping for you can return it on the spot. You may pay a little shipping but most mics ship cheap and you'll probably get something good more often than not. Still, it's reassuring and easier than shipping something back on eBay.

 

No affiliation with GC by the way. I've bought a couple of used items online and would do it again.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Just for fun, tonight I checked out all the used microphones on the Guitar Center website. There were well over 1,000 of them, I skimmed along seeing what they had now.

 

Prices ranged from around $20 well into the $2k+ range, there were some mic preamps and other items related as well.

 

And there were some bargains to be had, some overpriced mics too. A real mixed bag but one could surf there once in a while and eventually add some nice mics at reasonable prices.

The good thing about their business is that you can go to your local GC and try the mic out in the store before you commit to keeping it. If it doesn't come up to what you were hoping for you can return it on the spot. You may pay a little shipping but most mics ship cheap and you'll probably get something good more often than not. Still, it's reassuring and easier than shipping something back on eBay.

 

No affiliation with GC by the way. I've bought a couple of used items online and would do it again.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Probably not especially interesting but a mic I bought on eBay last week arrived in nice working and physical condition.

It's a CAD D90, super cardioid moving coil dynamic mic. The auction looked like it would end low and it did - $22 including tax and shipping.

 

Why this mic? I noted the ability to deal with 150db peaks and a high frequency presence peak and thought it might make a good mic for the bottom of a snare drum or close up for high hats. With a neodymium magnet it has a higher output, that and a super cardioid patter could work well if I am trying to isolate bleeding of external noise or other instruments nearby.

 

I will try it for live vocals, if it sounds good enough I can stop taking my KSM8 out to bar gigs, I like having stuff on gigs that I don't have to worry about. I did test it in the studio as a vocal mic and it sounds fine, although it would not be my first choice.

 

It doesn't take much to get $22 worth of use out of something!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I'm keeping an eye out for an MXL 990 microphone working or not, if anybody has one they are selling.

 

I won the Mic Parts contest for a full upgrade kit, capsule and circuit board with transformer. The kit is specific to that microphone so I'm surfing around for one.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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