Heavy-duty Boom Stand Recommendation

[Pat Waara]

Hey Everyone,

 

I am getting really frustrated with my cheap boom mic stands. I have a Townsend Sphere L22, which is a great mic (I'm still learning it), but it is HEAVY. Every time I use it, my boom starts sagging like a...well it's sagging. Does anyone have a recommendation for a boom mic stand that can hold up a heavy mic and is quickly and easily adjustable. I pretty much just mic my voice and guitar (mostly acoustic) these days, so I don't need it for overheads or anything like that. I would love to be able to grab it and adjust it with one hand. I did some Googling, but nothing leapt out at me as hitting the sweet spot.

 

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

~Pat

[KuruPrionz]

You don't mention which stands you are using? The usual bargain priced import stands?

 

Way back in the 80s I bought a pair of "AKG" mic stands made in Germany. Turns out they are Koenig and Meyer (or K&M). I still have them both, hundreds if not thousands of gigs later and they both still work as they should.

They have the tripod style base with three legs that fold out to make a base. If I don't put the boom out too far and keep it in line with one of the legs it easily supports my Neat King Bee. I just weighed the mic and without the shock mount it was 1 lb 12+oz so probably about 2 lbs complete. The clutch on the boom does not slip. I wouldn't try to mic a grand piano with that mic using the same stand though.

 

Maybe with a heavier base. Or sandbags, I used to use those when I did photography to stabilize the tripod.

Somebody put a free Latch Lake $500 mic stand with weighted boom on the Keyboard Corner Classified but I was too late. That was a beauty, it looked pretty heavy but super stable. Maybe overkill for what you need.

 

Since I started adding stuff to my home studio, I've been surfing thrift stores and I've found 3 or 4 more Koenig and Meyer stands in good shape for around $10 each. I see quite a few of the cheap import stands, or at least what is left of them. Those go cheaper because they are broken.

 

Long ago, I owned an Atlas stand with a big, heavy, cast iron triangular base. No boom but it would have supported a LOT of weight. Old school but cool, maybe eBay or Reverb has something like that.

 

Last but not least, see the attached photo. After my experimental cardboard vocal isolation box collapsed, I made a sturdier one from a plastic tub. There is a strip of 5/8" plywood on the top, from front to back.

I got a couple of goose necks and mounts on eBay and hang mics from there. I put another strip of plywood on the bottom with a speaker pole socket mounted to it and that's not going anywhere.

Maybe not exactly what you are looking for but it might give you an idea for something that works for you.

 

How do you like the Townsend mic? That's the modeling mic? Cheers, Kuru

[Mike Rivers]

Heavy duty mic stands are expensive, possibly because not everyone uses mics any more. Latch Lake currently makes some of the best, and Starbird (the brand was recently taken over from Manley Labs by Triad-Orbit) and even the classic Atlas SB36W (you'll appreciate the wheels!) are retailing in the $500 range except the Starbird which will run you close to $1500. The K&M ST212 would probably hold your Townsend mic ok but with a collapsable tripod base it's not as elegant as those others that have a heavy cast iron base. But it's also in the $200 range, but rather hard to find at US dealers for some reason.

 

That being the case, you might just start haunting eBay and try to grab a used-not-abused one in the $200 range. I have two SB36Ws that I bought used, locally (from the acoustic designer Peter DiAntonio, even) for $25 a piece, but that was 35 years ago.

[Nathanael_I]

Mike nails it. There are two choices, both entirely adequate to keep $20k of mics off the floor, and to then put them anywhere you want. I have a pair of Latch-Lake 3300s. They are a delight to use. They are heavy. They stay put. The clutches hold firm, they are easy to adjust and stuff stays where you want it, even at full extension. They were $800 each. I cried a little buying them - who wants to spend that much on stands vs something with blinky lights? But I eventually did, and I don't regret it. They won't go "bad", and I'll not need to re-buy them. I have zero hesitation in using them overhead, with big arrays, expensive mics, or expensive instruments underneath. They absolutely do not fall over when bumped in the normal course of studio work. This is critical around a drum-set, or anywhere you need height, reach, and stability all together. I find anywhere that height and reach are required, stability is too. And that is how I got to hovering a mouse over "add to cart" for an $800 mic stand...

 

My main mic stand inventory is all Triad-Orbit. I find them vastly superior to the K&M type of aluminum stand. These too are heavy, solid things with quality ball-heads and clutches. I bought them one at a time, and built up over a year or two until I no longer have lightweight aluminum stands in the studio. The best thing is that my whole studio is standardized on their quick connector. This means that taking mics on and off is trivial. It's a system purchase. I have the connectors for it on my big 3300 stands, so anything goes to anything. I have the light stud adapter, 1/4-20 adapter, etc. I have used them to hold lights for video, cameras, iPhones, iPads, etc. I like that they have three heights for the stands. I have all three, and find the small ones particularly useful (kick, snare, guitar amps, seated acoustic guitars). It is nice to have stands at the right height. But even the small ones are HEAVY. They stay put, and will hold nice things securely.

 

This purchase will fall into the unexciting "infrastructure" category. You would not want to tour these stands - they are heavy! But in a studio, I find them to be a joy to use every time I use them. Zero frustration. Zero worry.

 

Where my experience may diverge from your desire is in the cost. If you can find used great, but I found this to be one of those "it costs what it costs" aspects of studio building. I do have expensive microphones, and I've found that being happy with stands has involved more cost that I wished. My solution may be unnecessary from your perspective, but it is a place I have ended up over several years and am happy to have arrived at.

[Pat Waara]

Perfect. Thank you for the recommendations. One of the problems with living in Maui is that heavy things like this are expensive to ship here. Most places were charging $175 in shipping for the Latch Lake 3300. But lo and behold, I found a brand new Latch Lake 3300 on ebay for $645 with free shipping to Maui. I decided to jump on it before it got snatched up, or I lost focus and moved on to the next shiny object. Hopefully, it will arrive intact and fully functional. (The other problem with shipping here is that things get beat up in the mail.) I'll report back once it arrives if anyone is interested.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

Hi Pat,

 

I agree with the above. While I personally don't think much of Triad-Orbit, I absolutely adore Latch Lake products, and if I was doing more miking, especially with heavy mics, I would get one in a heartbeat. As it is, I am STILL considering getting one of the new 1100 series because some of what I do involves multiple boom arms on one stand. They're just unbeatable and I bet you'll love that 3300. (Also: any sort of "getting beat up" in shipping that would substantially harm a Latch Lake stand would probably destroy the packaging, so I think you mainly have to worry about getting it at all. Hopefully your buyer will pack it properly!

[Dr Mike Metlay]

How do you like the Townsend mic? That's the modeling mic? Cheers, Kuru

As someone who works for Townsend Labs writing blog pieces and tutorial articles, I have to be careful about saying that I think it's a dead brilliant design that does amazing work and has the potential to supplement or in some cases eliminate expensive mics that one would love to have in one's mic locker despite their exorbitant cost, making it an incredible value despite the relatively high cost of entry.

[Pat Waara]

Oh, I missed Kuru's question on the Sphere L22. First, I haven't had enough time with it to give it a thorough review, but, that said, what I've seen from it so far, I like a lot. The mic all by itself without the modeling is an excellent mic. Well constructed and solid. It sounds good all alone. Add the modeling, and you've got yourself a mic locker worth envying. Now, I have no experience with the expensive mics it is emulating, so I cannot comment on how faithful the emulations are, and frankly, I don't really care. I just want a mic that be tweaked to suit my needs. So far, it has served well in that regard. I've been swamped work-wise lately, so I haven't had time to do the recording I would like to do.

 

What don't I like? Well, not a dislike, but a bit of a pain is the calibrating required before each recording session. The levels on the mixer or interface need to be set identically so that the modeling can work its magic. I have mine plugged into two channels of my SSL SiX. The other annoyance is that it requires two inputs, so on my SiX that takes up my two SuperAnalogue channels. That makes recording both guitar and voice simultaneously problematic. I don't do that very often, so it hasn't been a real problem. Also, there is a talkback channel that I could use for vocals, but I'm not sure how well that would work given that the talkback channel is heavily compressed, and I don't think it's adjustable.

 

I enjoy Dr. Mike's writing regarding the Townsend. I still want to go back and read all the articles, but so far I've only gotten to the latest one. Not to hijack my own post, but a question for Dr. Mike: What's your take on using any processing before recording? For example, the SSL 2 has the 4K switch. Would that break the emulations? Same question on using compression on the way in. Will that detract from the emulations?

[KuruPrionz]

Oh, I missed Kuru's question on the Sphere L22. First, I haven't had enough time with it to give it a thorough review, but, that said, what I've seen from it so far, I like a lot. The mic all by itself without the modeling is an excellent mic. Well constructed and solid. It sounds good all alone. Add the modeling, and you've got yourself a mic locker worth envying. Now, I have no experience with the expensive mics it is emulating, so I cannot comment on how faithful the emulations are, and frankly, I don't really care. I just want a mic that be tweaked to suit my needs. So far, it has served well in that regard. I've been swamped work-wise lately, so I haven't had time to do the recording I would like to do.

 

What don't I like? Well, not a dislike, but a bit of a pain is the calibrating required before each recording session. The levels on the mixer or interface need to be set identically so that the modeling can work its magic. I have mine plugged into two channels of my SSL SiX. The other annoyance is that it requires two inputs, so on my SiX that takes up my two SuperAnalogue channels. That makes recording both guitar and voice simultaneously problematic. I don't do that very often, so it hasn't been a real problem. Also, there is a talkback channel that I could use for vocals, but I'm not sure how well that would work given that the talkback channel is heavily compressed, and I don't think it's adjustable.

 

I enjoy Dr. Mike's writing regarding the Townsend. I still want to go back and read all the articles, but so far I've only gotten to the latest one. Not to hijack my own post, but a question for Dr. Mike: What's your take on using any processing before recording? For example, the SSL 2 has the 4K switch. Would that break the emulations? Same question on using compression on the way in. Will that detract from the emulations?

 

Thanks Pat and Mike! It sounds like a truly great mic. Nathaniel's input is spot on as well (as usual). He's coming from a different place than I am but it sounds every bit a better place.

 

Perspective - my only heavy mic is the King Bee and I paid $100 for it. If I had a more expensive mic I would need a much better stand. I was sad when I missed the free Latch Lake!!!!

 

And Pat, I would be more worried that your new mic stand breaks free of the box and smashes everything near it to oblivion than I would be that the stand itself will sustain any damage.

 

Now, my hillbilly rig for stereo mics - I found a Gibraltar cymbal stand for $10 used. It is very heavy and very solid. I've got a short mic bar mounted on the cymbal mount - that needs a bit of improvement but it's pretty solid.

I think you could mount a bowling ball on that thing, the tripod legs spread wide. I have a pair of Neat Worker Bees mounted on that full time for acoustic guitar and it works well for my needs and budget.

 

It's nowhere near as solid as the really good stuff but I could pummel all of my K&M stands into wreckage with it and it would still be fine.

[Mike Rivers]

What's your take on using any processing before recording? For example, the SSL 2 has the 4K switch. Would that break the emulations? Same question on using compression on the way in. Will that detract from the emulations?

 

I'm not a doctor, but I played one in a Mummers play once.

 

You sort of answered that question yourself with your comment about calibrating the input gains so that they match accurately. I definitely wouldn't use compression in your recording path (or even after it, for that matter) since it's likely to affect the two channels differently. I wouldn't rely on a "stereo compressor" to apply exactly same gain reduction to both channels, not even a digital one, because that's the way they are.

 

As far as the 4K button on your SSL mixer, that's probably safe, just like using a different preamp. The only concern is that there's bound to be some phase shift through it, and you want that to be the same for both channels. If the do it with real parts, it probably won't be exact. If it's digital, it probably will.

 

A better thing to do is to take advantage of those 24 bits of dynamic range and just set the gain so that the record level stays below -20 dBFS for the loudest thing from your source. You can increase the level digitally after it's recorded and that will be bit-accurate so it won't change your gain calibration.

[Mike Rivers]

Perfect. Thank you for the recommendations. One of the problems with living in Maui is that heavy things like this are expensive to ship here. Most places were charging $175 in shipping for the Latch Lake 3300. But lo and behold, I found a brand new Latch Lake 3300 on ebay for $645 with free shipping to Maui.

 

As long as it's got a boom, that's a decent price. Sweetwater sells it for $750 without free shipping. You'll enjoy it. Your mail carrier might not, if he has very far to go between his truck and your house.

[Nathanael_I]

The 3300 is more likely to damage the guy carrying it than actually sustain any damage itself! In fact, the packaging is likely to be a bit messed up just because what is inside is so heavy. The stands are super well made. I think you'll be quite pleased that someone is still making top quality, highly functional gear that hasn't been "crapified" to save money.

[Pat Waara]

The mic stand showed up today, but alas, as I feared, it did not fare well in transit. It arrived without a base. The box was broken and taped. It likely fell out in transit. I hope to get it resolved quickly.

[KuruPrionz]

Crap! That sucks. Did you contact the seller? Poor packaging of a heavy item falls on the seller. Not sure if your payment method allows you to stop payment or get a refund but if it does, do it.

 

If the buyer wants the stand back, shipping would be on them. Good luck! Kuru

 

PS You should probably try to post a claim with the shipper too but it's unlikely they will do anything except defer to the seller and blame them for poor packaging. Of course, they were happy to accept the package. Gah!

[Dr Mike Metlay]

Shoot... as predicted, the packaging would go before anything else happened to the stand. Consider buying a base on its own rather than going through the hassle of sending the rest of the stand back.

[Pat Waara]

I'm currently trying to work things out with the seller. It looks like the base wasn't shipped. I talked to Latch Lake via email (very helpful and responsive), and the base is shipped in a separate box and is quite heavy. I think the seller thought she had a complete, new product and sold it as such, but actually only had 2/3 of a product. A base alone plus shipping is going to be around $340 ($170 + $170). I'm sure the seller is not going to be happy. She seemed genuinely concerned that I didn't get the base and was going to call Latch Lake. (Latch Lake mentioned that they had gotten such a call, but hadn't called her back yet.) I haven't heard back from her yet. Fingers crossed that it all turns out well.

[KuruPrionz]

Yikes, I'm in the wrong business.

 

Microphone stand bases, that's where it's at.

 

Good luck Pat! It will be worth it when you get your stand set up and it stays there even with an anvil hanging off it.

[Dave Bryce]

I got an Ultimate Support MC-125 a while back. Surprisingly heavy duty - holds my (8 lb.) AEA 44C very well. $200.

 

dB

[Mike Rivers]

It looks like the base wasn't shipped. I talked to Latch Lake via email (very helpful and responsive), and the base is shipped in a separate box and is quite heavy. I think the seller thought she had a complete, new product and sold it as such.

 

I wonder where or how she got a new stand without the base. Occasionally a tube mic will be sold without the power supply by a seller who doesn't know that it's part of the mic system. In some cases, it's been discovered that the mic was stolen and the crook didn't know to steal the power supply, too. Usually it's someone slipping the mic into an instrument case before leaving the studio after a session. In your case, it's unlikely that someone would slip a Latch Lake stand, less base, into a case and walk out of the studio with it, but it may have been stolen from a shop.

 

I hope you can work something out, though I suspect that the seller isn't going to buy a new base from Latch Lake and send it to you.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

It looks like the base wasn't shipped. I talked to Latch Lake via email (very helpful and responsive), and the base is shipped in a separate box and is quite heavy. I think the seller thought she had a complete, new product and sold it as such.

 

I wonder where or how she got a new stand without the base. Occasionally a tube mic will be sold without the power supply by a seller who doesn't know that it's part of the mic system. In some cases, it's been discovered that the mic was stolen and the crook didn't know to steal the power supply, too. Usually it's someone slipping the mic into an instrument case before leaving the studio after a session. In your case, it's unlikely that someone would slip a Latch Lake stand, less base, into a case and walk out of the studio with it, but it may have been stolen from a shop.

 

I hope you can work something out, though I suspect that the seller isn't going to buy a new base from Latch Lake and send it to you.

I think she should. But that's just me.

[Pat Waara]

Just a quick update to the mic stand story. The seller, to her credit, made good on working with Latch Lake to send me a new base. No haggling; she just did the right thing. Karma points to her. After an unusually long delay being processed at USPS, it appears that the base is now on its way here and should arrive sometime next week. Let's hope it arrives safe and sound, and I can put it to work. (What was it I was going to do with it again?)

[KuruPrionz]

Great news! Please keep us posted once you've got the stand holding a heavy mic.

 

I'd love one but not gonna happen for a while.

[Pat Waara]

Well, my Latch Lake 3300 is complete and set up for action. You all weren't kidding. This thing is a beast. I think I could do chin-ups on it. It adjust quickly, is super sturdy, and holds my L22 with ease. Mic stands don't usually elicit excitement, but I'm actually excited to put this to use. My first foray will be recording some acoustic guitar for a song I have in the works.

 

Thanks for all the advice and following along with my little adventure.

 

[Nathanael_I]

Nice! Enjoy! I've had mine a couple years, and they are the same as when I got them. I don't know what takes to wear them out, but I think it will take the rest of my life!

[KuruPrionz]

That's a sweet rig Pat!!!

Glad to see this one end well, enjoy.

 

And please, after you are more familiar with your Townsend mic - pop into the "Mics You and I Own - What's Good" thread and give us a mini review of it.

I'd love to see more posts in there about mics I don't own.

That would be awesome and real world! Cheers, Kuru

[Dr Mike Metlay]

Well, my Latch Lake 3300 is complete and set up for action. You all weren't kidding. This thing is a beast. I think I could do chin-ups on it. It adjust quickly, is super sturdy, and holds my L22 with ease. Mic stands don't usually elicit excitement, but I'm actually excited to put this to use. My first foray will be recording some acoustic guitar for a song I have in the works.

 

Thanks for all the advice and following along with my little adventure.

Yeah, they are beasts! And worth every penny. You'd need a bit more of a counterweight to do chin-ups, but it would hold you. I couldn't, because I can't do chin-ups any more at all.

 

Have fun, and enjoy the feeling of never having to worry about a mic moving out of position. When you get a little more money and need a little more flexibility, you can add side booms to it for multi-mic setups. They're incredibly versatile; I have a friend in North Carolina who has an entire live electronic music rig, including an 88-key controller, that is all built onto one Latch Lake 2200 with a bunch of booms and clamps and is rock-stable. (She calls it the "Monstrositree".)

[Claus H]

The K and M stands have been mentioned; I have two of their booms.

 

One thing that I find works well with them is the boom counterweights you can get from B and H and elsewhere.

They come in 3-pound and (I believe) 6-pound variants, and clamp onto the end of boom itself with a screw.

The weights are just enough to balance out at least moderately heavy mics and facilitate stretching out the boom further if needed, without destroying the clutch.

 

I use the 3-pounders for my 414s and my Vanguard condenser, and it's night and day from feeling like you're crushing the friction in the clutch head because you have to crank it.

 

C.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

The weights are just enough to balance out at least moderately heavy mics and facilitate stretching out the boom further if needed, without destroying the clutch.

 

I use the 3-pounders for my 414s and my Vanguard condenser, and it's night and day from feeling like you're crushing the friction in the clutch head because you have to crank it.

 

C.

Ah for the days when destroying a clutch could be referring to a mic stand or a car...

[Joe Muscara]

The weights are just enough to balance out at least moderately heavy mics and facilitate stretching out the boom further if needed, without destroying the clutch.

 

I use the 3-pounders for my 414s and my Vanguard condenser, and it's night and day from feeling like you're crushing the friction in the clutch head because you have to crank it.

 

C.

Ah for the days when destroying a clutch could be referring to a mic stand or a car...

My car has a clutch and a manual transmission. My service rep and I refer to it as a "millennial theft deterrent."