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-   -   AKG D5,,,, a Miracle mic???? (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286913)

Bobby1note 03-08-2013 02:58 PM

AKG D5,,,, a Miracle mic????
 
A few weeks ago, I bought yet another mic to add to the locker; an AKG D5 super-cardioid dynamic mic. It must have taken me 1/2 an hour to figure out how to get into the box, without ripping it apart. :D

From the get-go, I thought this has to be one of the worst mics I've ever bought. With EQ set "flat", it sounded strident, and a lot of proximity effect,,, with plosives galore. That was the immediate reaction.

Now, after twiddling a few EQ knobs,,,, not baaaad. Try a few different angles of attack,,, and it's sounding better. The pick-up pattern is so tight, that if you're off-center of the grille by a few inches,,, volume drops like a stone, so, technique has to be spot-on. I walked away from that session, with a sense of disappointment,,, but not quite ready to give up. The lows seemed extreme, and there was a certain brittleness in the high mid vocal range, that was present at higher volumes.

I came back a few hours later, and knocked a few db's off the channels' LF eq, as well as the highs,,,,, better. I noodled around for a while, then as I turned my head to the right, to pull on my instrument cable, the magic happened. I was now singing across the tip of the grille, at roughly a 60-70 degree angle. The boominess was gone, yet there was a wonderful rich low-end response, with a mid-hi vocal-range "shimmer" that sounded good,,,,,,VERY good.

Bottom line, I REALLY like this mic now. My previous favorite was my Sennheiser e945, and I'm certainly not ready to abandon that mic for the D5, but the D5 has a certain "edge" that the Senn does not. The Senn is VERY mellow,,,, very smooth. The D5's bottom-end CAN sound just as good, if your angle of attack is across the grille, and, it will add a certain edginess and bite. Highly recommended,,,, but be patient and dial it in properly,,,, and adjust your angle of attack accordingly. You don't want to be "eating" the mic, because the side of the grille is very susceptible to noise from exhaling through your nostrils. Kissing the end of the capsule is OK, if you're at an angle, and you keep your voice VERY low. The mic takes over from there, and gives you ALL the output you need, without straining your vocals.

It's a bit quirky the first time out, but stick with it,,, experiment,,,, and you're probably gonna LOVE this mic. (I'm a low tenor btw) The best part is the price; $99. street, and I got mine for something like $85.

Stirlander 03-08-2013 04:31 PM

This is the mic I've been using for a few years. I haven't noticed it being so strident on the highs, but I'm a baritone, so maybe that's the difference.

I've always felt this mic sounds like all the good things from a SM58 and none of the bad things. I've compared the two side by side and thought the 58 had slightly more low end, but that the low end of the D5 was, while as warm, was a lot more articulate. The mids are similar and there are a considerable amount more highs on the D5. When I eq it on my PA, I usually cut the high mids about 2 dbs, keep the highs pretty flat in most rooms, low mids to taste as per room differences and boost the bass about 3 to 5 dbs depending on the room.

That seems to be a very accurate representation of my voice. I haven't noticed much more sibilance or plosives on this mic compared to the others I've used (which admittedly, hasn't been a whole lot, mostly 58s, beta 58s, a couple Audixes, and a Senheiser).

I tend to sing fairly close to the grill, not quite "eating" it though, so I usually don't have problems with volume drop offs, although, I do pull back a ways when I play the harmonica so that it's not too loud.

All in all, it's my favorite live vocal mic I've used.

I found this demo on Youtube to be a fairly accurate presentation of it vs a SM58. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2-KKoAtP9Y

Compared to the Audix mics I've used (I haven't compared side by side, so this might not be accurate) I've found the D5 has a less strident high end, with less plosives, and an overall warmer, rounder sound.

buzzardwhiskey 03-09-2013 12:12 PM

I did the sound last night for Nikki Forova and April Meservy. They brought a D5 or D7 (I didn't see which) and with a little cut of both the bass and mid the mic sounded quite good.

buzzardwhiskey 03-09-2013 06:15 PM

https://soundcloud.com/david-lane-16/full-concert

I'm not much for recording, but I started a Zoom H2 (probably a little too close to a speaker) and at about 31 minutes into the recording you can hear a pianist (Nikki Forova) sing with a slight Russian accent into the AKG mic. The other feminine singer is using a Senn e865.

34 minutes in is a another example among several others.

At about 46 minutes in is a good show of just the Senn e865.

pieterh 03-11-2013 11:56 AM

We use the D5 and D7 a lot at the theatre. Their sensitivity makes them easier to use with a little distance between the mouth and the windshield. Their frequency response too is more like a condenser than a dynamic which should make them less likely to produce the low/low-mid issues that others here have experienced, and makes them useful for instruments too.

As the OP experienced, when NOT virtually eating the mike the clarity and openness became more apparent. The D7 is particularly nice in large stage noisy situations, the noise-cancelling coil that sits on top of the diaphragm really contributes to a clear result.

buzzardwhiskey 03-12-2013 01:21 PM

An email conversation with the artists on https://soundcloud.com/david-lane-16/full-concert has clarified that the AKG mic is actually a C5.


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