OT (?): Microphones for live recording

[KenElevenShadows]

 

That being said, I'm thinking about getting a pair of mics that can cleanly capture the sound in the room. The small research I've done so far seems to indicate that I should look at small diaphragm mics, as they seem to capture full frequencies better over a distance compared to large diaphragm mics. I get the impression that the large diaphragm mics tend to roll off bass frequencies faster as the sound source moves away from them, which is what makes them ideal for vocals. I know they require phantom power.

 

I'll address this first.

 

Large diaphragm condensers capture full frequencies fine, whether over a distance or not, and are not any better or worse than small diaphragm condensers.

 

LDCs do NOT roll off bass frequencies faster than small diaphragm condensers, particularly when they are placed in omni.

 

What you are probably thinking about is proximity effect, which is a function of polar pattern and not the size of the diaphragm. Omni has no proximity effect while cardioid or hypercardioid or other tighter patterns do. Proximity effect, by the way, is not really a giant issue, and many times is a bonus, as many of us recording engineers use it to great effect. Regardless, if the sound source is more than a foot or so away, it's a moot point.

 

A small diaphragm condenser reacts to transients faster than large diaphragm condensers in general because of, well, physics They're smaller. Duh. However, I would argue that this is really not a bonus if you are recording digitally, as there are an awful lot of sharp transients which you then need to address. Since I switched to digital recording, I have rarely pulled out my small diaphragm condensers for drum overheads or much of anything else despite the fact that they are really high quality. In fact, I began using either LDCs or even dynamic (not condenser) microphones for these purposes because the transients are much more musical coming straight out of the mic preamps.

 

Both SDCs and LDCs require a power source, typically, phantom power or their own power supply.

 

As aways, YMMV.