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  #46  
Old 08-10-2010, 11:04 AM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Aloha Chris,

Happy to find a post of yours here again.

I'm still going to do some just-M179 recordings for a microphone review on a forum (might put it on other forums too). I might even do a YouTube video of it to help others (not that many reviews on this mic it seems).

I'm very glad you liked the recordings.

The balance is indeed a bit off in the first sample, I think it'll sound better in mono as the LDC captures that body and the SDC all the subtle details, dynamics, and everything.

M-S was just slightly fixed with my M-S matrix plugin (Waves S1 Imager).

Interesting that the X-Y sounded wider. I don't have a particularly hard time dialing in the right stuff on these two mics. They don't sound all that different for such different mics. I actually think my Oktava MK-319 sounds more different than the 012 compared to the CAD.

The positioning was a bit like this:
Avg distances were about 20 cm (less than 3/4 foot).

12fr/bridge:
Both mics were level, pointing straight (on the vertical plane) at the guitar. SDC pointing at the 12th fret, moved to the left (stage left) and angled towards the soundhole. The LDC was also angled towards the soundhole in a similar fashion, only the other way and it was in front of the bridge.

M-S:
Same distance, but both mics were lifted (to about neck height or a bit lower) to avoid the boom. IOW I placed it in front of the soundhole. The SDC was angled down a bit, though.

X-Y:
Same distance.
IIRC, also placed in front of the soundhole (might have been set a bit lower than the M-S), both mics angled at a 90° angle relative to each other (or that is what I was aiming for). The SDC pointing to the fretboard and LDC to the bridge, capsules as close together as I could get them.

Samples 1 and 3 had the CAD M179 in cardioid, sample 2 obviously set to figure-8.

Now I REALLY want another MK-012 (still feel it is a little bit more robust sounding on the guitar than the CAD, however the CAD excels on the vocals - I will not be needing a U87 in a long time, well maybe an OktavaMod MJE-K47H or his Rode NT1-A mod).
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  #47  
Old 08-12-2010, 12:10 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Bump for update:
I don't have a nice convolution reverb, but I do have my favorite reverb which is the ArtsAcoustic one. I used the medium hall preset at about -16dB wet volume.

MK-012 @ 12th fret, M179 @ bridge
http://www.box.net/shared/infg1flhlx
MK-012 & M179 in M-S (yes, I fixed the balance while I was at it)
http://www.box.net/shared/i0spl6ra3l
MK-012 & M179 in X-Y
http://www.box.net/shared/7164kmql8z
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  #48  
Old 08-12-2010, 02:45 PM
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Doug Young Doug Young is offline
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Your MS track is much better! Good levels, balanced, centered. Good sound.
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  #49  
Old 08-12-2010, 04:17 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Thanks Doug. That means a lot coming from you.

Here's another bunch of dreadful performances done with JUST the M179:
http://www.box.net/shared/3ytheqzs1y
Placement notes:
12th fret - at about 1 foot distance, slightly angled towards the soundhole
Bridge - at about 1 foot distance, pointing at the 12th fret
OTS - at about 2 inches from my ear, about same distance from the guitar, over my right shoulder, pointing about 60° down pointing at the soundhole-last fret area.
Soundhole - at about 1 foot distance, pointing at the soundhole at a 45° angle

I have yet to listen to all of the recordings... but I can tell I like the Over-the-shoulder one.
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Last edited by Cue Zephyr; 08-12-2010 at 04:58 PM.
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  #50  
Old 08-12-2010, 06:01 PM
biggs2 biggs2 is offline
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Cue, nice playing. I'm not normally a fan of omni mics on acoustic (probably because I'm not knowledgable enough to use them properly) but I really liked the clarity and "up front" presence. May have to consider an M179.
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  #51  
Old 08-12-2010, 06:49 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Thank you!
It's not the omni, actually, its the mic:

Look here:


See that bump there on the omni freq response graph? Pretty sure that is playing a role in the up-front sound.

A better illustration on the effects of omni would be the MK-012 small-diaphragm microphone. The frequency response doesn't vary nearly as much between different patterns than with the M179.

You can't go wrong with the M179 though, it's cheap, and excels at it's price point.
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  #52  
Old 08-12-2010, 10:24 PM
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Nice little tune - what is that?

The cardioid / soundhole is a great sound, very dry and precise. Not sure if I like that or the omni / shoulder best. The latter is more "liquid". At first I thought the difference was that the omni is picking up more of the room but maybe it's the frequency response.
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  #53  
Old 08-13-2010, 05:30 AM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cue Zephyr View Post
Thank you!
It's not the omni, actually, its the mic:
You can't go wrong with the M179 though, it's cheap, and excels at it's price point.
That's a very unusual set of graphs for one mic.

So unusual my immediate reaction is to question their accuracy.

But certainly provocative. Worth looking at more closely.

Regards,

Ty Ford
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  #54  
Old 08-13-2010, 07:20 AM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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moon,

Yeah, I was very surprised with the soundhole configuration. I really didn't expect it to sound this good. First time trying it for me as well.
You might be right, I feel that the omni is picking up more of the room. But, it does that - as well as add that presence boost (this should sound good on some vocals).
The tune is from Justin Sandercoe's (from JustinGuitar.com) debut album 'Small Town Eyes'. It is the one and only solo fingerstyle tune on the album.

Ty,
Yes, I found that to be a bit puzzling. The little presence boost bumps at the edge of it's response do seem to show some similarities in terms of the locations on the spectrum, but I really have no idea how it can vary this much on this one microphone.
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  #55  
Old 08-13-2010, 08:30 AM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Cue,

mfgrs have been known to be "creative" when it comes to publishing their curves.

The other factor -- mic to preamp interaction -- can make a huge difference.

I have a list of stories about different mics and how they react to different preamps. I ran into this when I started reviewing mics for trade magazines. The AKG C414 (of which there are no less than five different versions which also makes comparison difficult) is very load sensitive. It can sound pretty nasty when plugged into the "wrong" preamp and quite delightful when plugged into the "right" preamp.

Some mics are more susceptible to this than others.

Regards,

Ty Ford
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  #56  
Old 08-13-2010, 04:49 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Yeah, true. All the smoothed out frequency responses... I have that Oktava MK319 and it has a true unsmoothed frequency response chart/graph.

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of trying my mics with different pre-amps. But then again, do I have the mics that are worth trying on other pre-amps? Yeah well, perhaps the Oktavas once they are modded...
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  #57  
Old 08-13-2010, 04:55 PM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Sadly, just because it comes on its own little piece of graph paper doesn't mean it hasn't been doctored.

It is, after all, only a piece of paper.

Regards,

Ty Ford
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  #58  
Old 08-13-2010, 06:18 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Nah, I believe Oktava. I think they are too unknown to even have to bother.
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  #59  
Old 08-13-2010, 07:03 PM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Believe what you like, but unknown?

You're coming a little late to the party.

I knew of Octava over 13 years ago when I was reviewed the MC012 and then the MK219.

Harvey Gerst knew enough about them and me back in 2001.
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=24914

Myles Boisen talked to me 'bout them in 1999.
http://www.royerlabs.com/articles/EM0599.html

Regards,

Ty Ford
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  #60  
Old 08-18-2010, 07:17 PM
alohachris alohachris is offline
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Default Cue - 2 Cheap M179'2 on Ebay/GS

Aloha Cue, (8/18- Weds. PM)

Check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=160470264619

alohachris
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